Rising costs and staffing shortages have led one dentist to pull out of some insurance networks and adjust his patient schedule.
Reggie Thurston, DDS, has practiced at Ora Dental Studio in Chicago for two years, and recently partnered with a DSO to receive additional support for the increased costs affecting dentistry.
"COVID really changed a lot of things. Everything got more expensive. There are shortages, then you have rising operating costs with team members, especially hygienists. [They're] very hard to find, and everything in general has gone up," he told Becker's. "[Reimbursements] are not really in sync. Many of them are actually going down."
Dr. Thurston said dropping insurers has caused him to see slightly fewer patients each day, leading him to make changes to his appointment schedule to accommodate. His practice is now booked out about four or five months in advance.
"We're doing our best … If a new patient is coming in and we're booked up quite a bit, we offer to bring them in on my schedule, and we can do the X-rays [and] diagnosis, and then schedule them back for the cleaning. So, if there are any immediate concerns or anything, we can address those right away, and then schedule a cleaning when we have availability," he said.
Dr. Thurston's practice has already dropped nearly a handful of insurers, and he has plans to drop more in the future once their contracts expire. Despite these changes, Dr. Thurston said he has not lost too many patients.
"We just wanted to remove the lower reimbursements first, and then go from there ... If someone's coming in, we don't want to shock them [because] they're going to end up paying more. We just say, 'Hey, listen, we're going out of network. These are the reasons why'," Dr. Thurston told Becker's. "We want to provide the best care ... I've had some patients here for 10, almost 15 years, and I hate to see him go. It's a case-by-case basis, but we've just been working through that whole process now. The patients have been understanding for the most part."
Staffing shortages have also led Dr. Thurston and other associates to take up hygiene appointments, a common trend for other dentists in the industry.
A 2024 report from the American Dental Association found that 30% of dentists are doing more hygiene procedures compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic due to workforce shortages. More than 72% of dentists said they found it extremely challenging to recruit a hygienist. The second most common reason for doing more hygiene services was having too many patients.
"We prefer to have the new patient visits [done] with a hygienist, and we come in to do the exams. Traditionally, that's how we'd like to do it, but we have to do what we can with what we're working with," he said. "We're booked out quite a bit now, so it's a struggle, and we just need to find more help."