Dentist offices tend to be stable businesses open for years, which some economists say makes them a good indicator of the total economy, according to The New York Times.
"If you look at your typical dentist office, nothing went wrong with their business model," said Betsey Stevenson, PhD, economics professor at Ann Arbor-based University of Michigan. "It's just coronavirus that happened."
The pandemic has had exaggerated effects on the dental industry, which has seen both a steeper decline and faster recovery than other sectors. Half of all dental professionals lost their jobs in March and April. The industry made up 35 percent of all healthcare jobs lost, despite the fact that its workers only account for 6 percent of all healthcare staff, according to analysis by the Altarum Institute.
How long it takes dental professionals to return fully can indicate whether Americans feel safe returning to normal activities, and if they have the economic means to do so.
"If the only thing we're doing is putting the economy on pause, and then going back to normal, all of them should be coming back," Dr. Stevenson said of dentists. "We're not really recovered until all the dentists are back to work."
For the first week of June, 77 percent of dental offices had hired their full staff back, according to data from the American Dental Association cited by NYT. However, the dental industry still has 289,000 fewer workers than it did pre-pandemic, which means the industry and the economy are far from recovered, Dr. Stevenson said.