Dental Continuing Education
Oral Health and Dental Professional Statistics
Dental continuing education information for dentists: The CDC reports that 76% of children in the US between the ages of 2-17 have had a dental visit within the past year. 64% of adults between the ages of 18-64 have had a dental visit in the past year and 56% for adults ages 65 and older. The US Dept. of Labor notes that in 2006 there were 136,000 general dentists in the US. There were 9,200 orthodontists, 7,700 oral and maxillofacial surgeons, 1,000 prosthodontists, and 6,900 dentists from all other remaining specialties combined. The US Dept. of Labor notes that salaried dentists averaged $136,000 per year but self-employed dentists in private practice earn more money than salaried dentists. The Dept. of Labor notes that most dentists work 4-5 days per week and between 35-40 hours per week. Dentists establishing new practices work more hours per week and dentists from established practices often work fewer hours. Also, it is common for dentists to continue a part-time practice beyond the standard retirement age. The US Surgeon General’s report on oral health notes that dental services in 1998 made up 4.7 percent of US health expenditures: $58.8 billion out of a total $1.1 trillion dollars spent on healthcare.
The US Department of Health & Human Services reports that 44% of the US population had a dental visit in 2004 with an average annual expense of $560 per person. The average number of visits per person for persons with a visit was 2.5 annually. 58% of people from a high-income family had at least one dental visit in 2004 while only 30% of people from a family of low-income. 57% of people with private dental health insurance had a least one dental visit in 2004, 32% for people with public dental coverage, and 27% for people with no dental coverage. The average annual dental expense in 1996 was $450 rising to $560 in 2004.
The US Dept. of Health & Human Services reported that in 2004, approximately 128 million people in the US had at least one dental visit and accounted for a total of 572 million dental procedures for the year. This accounts for 316 million visits to the dental office for the year. Approximately 81.6% of all dental visits were to a general dentist, 2.7% to an oral surgeon, 13.2% to an orthodontist, and 1.5% to periodontists and 0.9% to endodontists for a total of 316 million office visits.
