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Written by: Peter Minkoff
Over the last couple of years, the dental industry experienced a fair share of ups and downs, most of the latter, as you can probably guess, was related to the devastating outbreak of COVID-19. Fortunately, mid-through 2022, we can now safely say that we have left most of these hardships aside.
Still, even though it once again got the opportunity to flourish, the dental industry isn't quite in the same place we left it back in 2022. So, what are the new trends shaping this booming sector, and how you can leverage these developments to make your own dental business thrive?
Let us try to find out.
The growing popularity of 3D printing
If you take a look at any list of hot new trends at least ten years back, you will see 3D printing sitting at the top of all these roundups. What changed in the meantime is that, while up until recently 3D printing was usually associated with large-scale construction projects, the technology has, by now, matured and become affordable enough to crawl its way to other smaller-scale industries. First, we have seen the use of tech in the field of prosthetics. Now, 3D printing is making a very welcome breach into the dental sector.
Higher focus on digital marketing
The dental industry always traditionally relied on a heavy dose of walk-in and local clients to keep the markets sustainable. But, this arena is quickly becoming crowded, patients more sophisticated, and the public awareness about health is probably bigger than ever in history. A growing number of dental care companies are using this situation to their advantage by investing more resources into digital marketing and elevating their brands from medical services to public forums and engaging sources of knowledge.
Breakthrough in dental equipment
The dental practice was never considered a very fertile ground for tech innovation and fresh work models. To an outsider, the dental clinics look and feel just the same as they did decades ago. Still, if we take only a bit closer look we will see that this business corner is far from stale. The constant tide of new and more streamlined dental tools ranging from a simple magic strip assortment kit to complex surgical tools is definitely pushing the industry forward and making it simpler and more open to newcomers.
Spiking interest in laser dentistry
Laser technology found itself a very fertile ground in the dental sector covering an entire slew of various more or less demanding purposes. In some cases, the laser tech was even used to successfully replace the traditional dental drill surgical methods. Keeping in mind how the general public feels about these procedures, it shouldn’t be a surprise that laser dentistry is scoring a healthy rise in demand – by 2025, their number should grow by 11% and we can expect to see even stronger numbers in the years after.
Prevention taking the front seat
Last but not least, we would like to remind you that the Millennials are, generally speaking, the generation with incredibly developed personal health habits and awareness. Therefore, this large chunk of the global population is putting much more effort into prevention than the previous generations and healthy dental habits are definitely no exception. Still, the dental industry can still make a profit off this trend by changing its focus to a more advisory role, dental checks, and rolling out unique dental care products and tools.
We hope these few examples gave you an idea about the general direction the dental sector will keep moving by the end of the year. Even though this sector may look a bit stale at first glance, dental services are currently undergoing a huge shift. Your dental practice can only benefit by setting itself at the forefront of this evolution. Most of the companies playing the catch-up game will, unfortunately, be left behind.