Dental spending was higher in 2021 than in pre-pandemic years, according to a Dec. 22 article on the American Dental Association website.
Four things to know:
1. In 2021, national dental expenditures increased to $162 billion — an 11 percent increase from $146 billion in 2020.
2. Medicare and Medicaid spending increased by approximately $2 billion each.
3. Private health insurance spending increased by 11 percent while out-of-pocket spending increased by 13 percent.
4. In 2021, funding from COVID-19 government relief programs to the dental sector totaled $7 billion. Without these programs, the ADA's Health Policy Institute estimates that 2021 national dental spending would have been $155 billion — still above pre-pandemic levels, according to the article.