The COVID-19 pandemic may have been costly for the dental industry, causing an overall decreased spending in dental care, but it has been beneficial in accelerating innovation in this field. Workarounds to adjust to the pandemic have now been adopted by dental care providers. Just as 2022 had its dentistry trends, these emerging dentistry trends are expected to shape 2023 and the years ahead.
Teledentistry
We’ve seen online meetings and video conferencing become mainstream during the this pandemic. Now, more and more dentists offer to “see” their patients by telephone, smartphone, and computer. And their patients have grown accustomed to the convenience of connecting virtually for consultations and discussions of treatment plans. Given its ease of access and proven effectiveness, teledentistry is bound to become a permanently available option for patients seeking easily accessible dental care.
Expanding Clinics Suburb-by-Suburb
The costs of opening and managing a dental practice can be difficult for individual dentists to afford. Group dentistry is regarded as more efficient in terms of sharing best practices and costs of goods (or technology) while ensuring a well-equipped dental practice. Dental House keeps up with these emerging trends and offers high-quality care that prioritises comfort and convenience. This Melton dentist is one of the latest Dental House clinics to open in Victoria. They’ve also opened in Diggers Rest, which is about 20km away. The Dental House multiple clinic operation is run by an experienced team of professionals who aspire to be known as the most gentle dentists in Melbourne.
Do the majority of 2023 dentistry trends focus on improving patient care & the overall patient experience — including comfort, accessibility, affordability, and advanced treatments? Or are they more focussed towards the comfort – psychological and financial – of the dentist?
— Dental Marketing Directory (@dentistnearyou) September 1, 2022
Laser Dentistry
Laser dentistry is gaining traction as a minimally invasive, energy-efficient, and painless treatment. Nowadays patients are becoming more aware of the advantages of using dental lasers, which also include reduced post-surgical bleeding, reduced chance of infection due to the sterile nature of lasers, and reduced removal of healthy tissue due to the extreme precision of laser light. Laser dentistry is now being used on a broad range of general, restorative or cosmetic applications and it will only be a matter of time till lasers become adopted as mainstream technology in dental care.
3D Printing
In recent years, 3D printing has become more popular and accessible to a wide range of industries, including dentistry. This technology allows dentists to design mouthguards, prosthetic restorations, and retainers. Dentists can also print dental implant products and tools like screws and drill guides. As 3D printers become cheaper and easier to operate, they are expected to become more common, particularly in the field of dentistry.
The overarching themes of these dentistry trends are comfort and convenience, not just for the patient for the dental care provider as well. Teledentistry, consolidated practices, laser dentistry, and 3D printing are just some of the latest trends that are picking up steam because they improve not only the patient experience but also the dentist’s ability to provide care.
If you are a dental care provider looking to expand your practice, check out these video blogs about growing your practice. And if you are looking to optimising your revenue through the online platform, you can this article on how a Dental SEO course can improve your clinic’s revenue.
Do the majority of these 2023 dentistry trends focus on improving patient care and the overall patient experience —including comfort, accessibility, affordability, and advanced treatments? Or are they more focussed towards the comfort – psychological and financial – of the dentist? It’s true there are a lot of technological developments making their way into the dental field, so we can’t judge them in simple pejorative black and white. Although dentistry isn’t the first health field to increasingly adopt virtual technologies, it’s gearing up to be full of cutting-edge treatments in 2023 and 2024 – and beyond.