Dental office appointment schedules were 86.2 percent full in August, continuing a pattern of steadiness since practice schedules began increasing in February, according to an August poll by the American Dental Association's Health Policy Institute.
The poll was taken as part of the ADA's monthly "Economic Outlook and Emerging Issues in Dentistry" report. The HPI surveyed about 11,460 dentists on their practice schedules.
Here is how full practice schedules were in the last eight months:
- January: 76.7 percent
- February: 83.4 percent
- March: 87.7 percent
- April: 86.9 percent
- May: 86.2 percent
- June: 86 percent
- July: 84.9 percent
- August: 86.2
The dental agency also surveyed 965 dentists on the reasons preventing a full practice schedule in August. Here are the top reasons dentists gave:
- Trouble filling vacant staff positions: 36.8 percent
- Not enough patients making appointments: 41 percent
- COVID-19 safety protocols: 14.3 percent
- Patient no shows/cancellations less than 24 hours before appointment: 81.5 percent
- Patient cancellations more than 24 hours before appointment: 37.9 percent
- Other: 5.7 percent