Dentists’ overall confidence in the U.S. economy, their individual practices and the dental care sector continues to decline, according to a new report from the American Dental Association’s Health Policy Institute.
In the ADA’s “Economic Outlook and Emerging Issues in Dentistry” report for the second quarter of 2025, 30.8% of responding dentists said they were “somewhat” or “very” confident in the U.S. economy, compared to 38.3% during the second quarter of 2024. About 45% of dentists shared their confidence in the dental care sector, compared to 57.7% during the second quarter of 2024. About 50% of dentists were confident in their individual dental practice, down from 64.4% during the second quarter of 2024.
The top four reasons for dentists being confident in the U.S. economy were faith in current leadership, belief that the U.S. economy is resilient, current trade and tax policies, and key indicators being stable or improving, such inflation and interest rates.
The top four reasons for dentists being skeptical of the U.S. economy were lack of confidence in current leadership, concerns about tariffs, rising costs, and too much economic uncertainty.
