The ADA’s latest State of the U.S. Dental Economy (Q1 2026) has been released and paints an interesting picture.
According to the report, on the surface, things look stable. Dentist confidence is holding, and consumer spending on dental care continues to inch upward. But underneath, the same pressures that have been talked about for years are getting worse.
About one-third of dentists now report they are not busy enough, that wait times are declining, and that patients are hesitating to undergo treatment. At the same time, dentists cite low reimbursement rates and rising costs as their top concerns.
The report includes a number of quotes from dentists, such as “managed care/dental insurance reimbursement rates are downright abysmal,” “when general economy suffers, generally, so does dentistry. People tend to consider dentistry elective despite our best efforts,” and “I already see the production falling. Patients with uncertainty hesitate to treat even routine procedures.”
The report makes it clear that practices are being squeezed from both sides. Prices for supplies and equipment continue to rise faster than reimbursement rates, and wages are climbing while insurance payments lag behind. The result is what the ADA itself calls a “fiscal squeeze.”
Dentists are responding by dropping insurance networks, holding back on hiring, and struggling to recruit staff, particularly hygienists. In short, demand for care remains, but the economics of delivering it are becoming harder to sustain under the current insurance model.
Here is a copy of the report for download.