USA: Dental spending in 2021 was higher than in pre-pandemic years as patients returned to continue their dental treatments at practices and the federal government provided funding relief to health care providers.
"Patients were flocking back to the dentist as we started getting back to normal preventive health care routines and providers adapted to new clinical protocols," said Marko Vujicic, PhD, ADA Health Policy Institute chief economist and vice president.
National dental spending increased by 11% from $146 billion in 2020 to $162 billion in 2021, according to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and US Census Bureau. Spending totaled $152 billion in 2019.
"These data show that in 2021, it was full steam ahead for the dental economy," Dr Vujicic said.
Funding from COVID-19 government relief programs to the dental sector totaled $7 billion in 2021, but even without these programs, HPI estimates that 2021 national dental spending would have been $155 billion, still above pre-pandemic levels.
Dental spending by government programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program, the US Department of Defense and the US Department of Veterans Affairs, increased by 25% from 2020 to 2021. Within these programs, Medicare and Medicaid spending each increased by about $2 billion.
Private health insurance spending was up by 11%, and out-of-pocket spending increased by 13%.
"Looking ahead, this time next year, we expect more modest growth," Dr Vujicic said.
