The rising costs of operating a dental practice over the last few years have created ongoing challenges for the dental industry, leading owners to make tough decisions to stay afloat.
Here are six ways inflation has affected the dental industry:
1. Increased costs were cited as one of the biggest challenges facing dental practices in 2024. Here is the percentage of dentists who referred to higher expenses as one of the biggest challenges in a recent survey:
- Increasing overhead/expenses: 36.1%
- Increasing cost of staff salary/benefits: 14.2%
- Inflation/economy: 13.7%
2. The price of dental services rose by 5% between July 2023 and July 2024, with a 0.1% increase between June and July of this year. Seasonally adjusted rates show no changes between May and June of 2024, and a 0.3% increase between June and July of this year.
3. Inflation has led dentists to lean into new technology that will save costs in the long run.
4. Becker's has reported on more than a dozen practice closures so far in 2024, several of which have been the result of financial constraints facing owners.
5. Thirty-seven percent of dentists have seen up to a 10 percent increase in staff wages, according to recent data from the American Dental Association. To see how costs have changed for six dental practice expenses, click here.
6. Dental practice expenses rose higher than revenue in 2022, according to data from the ADA. Median annual practice expenses for general practitioner owners were $540,928 between 2013 and 2017. That number hit $582,730 between 2018 and 2022, a 7.7 percent increase. The median annual practice revenue for general practitioner owners was $741,195 between 2013 and 2017. That number rose to $757,549 between 2018 and 2022, a 2.2 percent increase.