Although the future of clinical dentistry is bright overall, dentists can expect a few new obstacles this year that could create more challenges for dentists and patients, according to Barry Lyon, DDS.
Dr. Lyon, the dental director for Main Street Children’s Dentistry and Orthodontics and the chief clinical auditor for Dental Care Alliance, spoke with Becker’s about what the future may hold for dentistry and patient care.
Editor’s note: This Q&A is part of a weekly series featuring Dr. Lyon focused on topics in the dental industry and DSO field. The views expressed are those of Dr. Lyon and do not necessarily reflect those of Main Street Children’s Dentistry and Orthodontics or Dental Care Alliance.
This response was lightly edited for clarity and length.
Dr. Barry Lyon:
Dentistry is entering a potentially challenging and difficult economic time due to factors we never dreamed would happen. Yet, the outlook for the quality of care for patients is bright.
With advances in artificial intelligence and digitization, the diagnosis and treatment of dental diseases will reap huge benefits for our patients. Further, augmented and virtual reality will allow dentists and dental education to advance in ways we never imagined. Dental care using regenerative dentistry and Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats will become reality. Imagine being able to perform gene editing for the treatment of periodontal disease, dental caries, head and neck cancer, or being able to regrow lost tooth structure or individual teeth.
While the future of caring for patients is bright, the future for individual dentists is less clear. The American Dental Association Health Policy Institute’s latest poll revealed a significant drop in dentists’ economic optimism. During the fourth quarter of 2024, 56% of dentists had confidence in the U.S. economy. However, in the first quarter of 2025, only 35% of dentists felt confident in the economy. This number may be even lower now after the potential impact of Trump’s tariffs are considered. Dentists have every right to fear supply chain disruptions and significantly inflated operating costs.
Further challenging dentists will be the effective management of patients impacted by the removal of fluoride from community drinking water. Pediatric dentists can expect the number of children needing hospitalization for odontogenic infections and treatment under general anesthesia to increase quickly. The removal of fluoride will lead to treatment considerations many dentists have never encountered.
