Technology and AI are becoming more prevalent in the dental industry, which some leaders see as good, while others are not as sure.
These six dental industry leaders recently connected with Becker's to share their big predictions for 2024 in the dental space.
Note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What is your big prediction(s) for dentistry/the dental industry in 2024?
Daniel Burke. Chief Enterprise Strategy Officer of Pacific Dental Services (Irvine, Calif.): 2024 will be a remarkably good year for the dental industry — and for the profession. Innovative technologies will continue to help dentists see more sooner, permitting them to continue the pivot towards predictive and preventative care. Look for saliva screening to play a more significant role as it moves towards becoming a standard of care in all dental practices. Patients and clinicians will continue to grow in awareness of the mouth-body connection, which will ultimately lead to better health outcomes at lower cost. As we continue to recognize dentistry as integral to overall health, we will begin to realize the massive untapped value of oral health in the greater healthcare system. In 2024, we will hear more and more from the medical profession and patient advocacy groups about dental care being a critical component of chronic disease management. We at Pacific Dental Services could not be more excited about the bright future ahead.
Kristen Cusack. CEO of Phase 1 Equity (Southlake, Texas): Technology-enabled growth. We continue to help our practices find new ways to identify and serve more prospective patients. We expect more practices will leverage technology and digital marketing tools to improve their reach, patient communications and conversion in 2024.
Michael DiFrisco. Executive Director of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (Monona, Wis.): In the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry's most recent state of the esthetic dental industry survey, members and nonmembers said that one inevitable change is that some of what has already occurred: increases in use of CAD/CAM and 3D printing. Additionally, respondents specified increasing digital imaging, most often for impressions (15%). While better materials and better smile design also remain as expected trends, artificial intelligence diagnosis and better implants are increasingly on the horizon.
Heather Fotch. Founder and CEO of Quality Imaging Solutions (Bellevue, Wash.): Practice owners need to start utilizing data to make better business decisions for long-term growth. This includes using innovative tools like AI to improve patient retention and patient engagement. Dental business owners need to ditch the old school email marketing services tools and approach new patient acquisitions as a "sales" function. To gain more new business, dental practices will need to become a trusted thought leader in their communities through improved patient engagement. People don't like to be "sold" to, and this is what we as consumers have happen to us every single day. Instead, their marketing teams should focus more on what their future new patients find of value instead of assuming what that is or misunderstanding what keeps them up at night. If they approach it like they are solving a problem their patient has and provide them with tangible real value — without flat out asking for their business simply because they have teeth and the business is a dental practice — they will begin to see that real relationships get formed with these new patients and they earn their trust … and their loyalty.
David Sopp. Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at First Choice Dental (Madison, Wis.): Delivering a positive patient experience, staffing and regulatory measures will continue to be primary themes during 2024. To be more specific, as a consumer/retail-like healthcare service, the patient experience is paramount. Utilizing technologies like AI to deliver personalized patient-centric care models will become more prevalent. 2024 will also see dental offices increasingly focusing their attention on serving their employees so that they can, in turn, provide the best care for patients. By connecting employees' work with a higher purpose and providing them with the tools and an environment to be leaders, patient care will be transformed, and employer/employee relationships will strengthen. Lastly, regulatory changes like Massachusetts' dental medical loss ratio, which will be instituted during 2024, will give independent dental practices a better chance to survive, and hopefully thrive, in a rising cost environment. Other measures, like the bills proposed to authorize dental therapists or expanding the infrastructure to graduate more hygienists and dental assistants each year, will make progress as there is a growing need to preserve access to care.
Robert Trager, DDS. Dentist at JFK Airport (New York City): New technology will become so advanced and prevalent in dentistry that dentists will eventually just become technical engineers. Right now there are robots doing implants and in the future they'll be cleaning teeth, extractions, filling a tooth or cutting a crown. There will still be a need for dentists for some things, but skills will be taken over by AI. Because of this, it will become less hands on for the dentist and there will not be as much of an interpersonal relationship with patients anymore. In addition, DSOs won't have to hire a bunch of dentists in the clinic.