Dental Management Survey Results: Patients Delaying Treatment

Dentists say the economy is still causing patients to delay treatment….

When dentists in our recent survey were asked if they’re seeing patients postpone dental care for financial reasons, the majority said “Yes”.  There’s some hope on the horizon, however.  Read on to find out what the doctors had to say.

Here’s a breakdown of our dentist survey results:

• Eighty two percent (82%) of doctors said they have had patients who delay major dental care because of the economy.
• When it comes to cosmetic dentistry, 47% of the surveyed doctors have had patients decide against cosmetic dentistry procedures foreconomic reasons.

One Texas dentist offered a likely explanation, which may be true for the rest of the responses as well: “This trend started in 2008 after the market crash and has persisted.”

However, the responses were not all doom and gloom. Many dentists are implementing a workable solution to their patients’ tight budgets.

• Seventy six percent (76%) of our doctors said their patients have been responsive to choosing less expensive or phased treatment.
• And 12% said they’ve seen an improvement lately, even though they’ve had patients postponing care.

Let’s hope that upward trend is spreading!

What dental care decisions are your patients making in response to your local economy?