(By Dr. Joseph D. Lim and Dr. Kenneth Lester Lim, BS-MMG, DDM, MSc-OI)
IN 2020, an American spent $430 in dental care. That’s P22,123 equivalent.
That’s the average per capita dental spending as calculated by the Health Policy Institute (HPI) of the American Dental Association.
The HPI analyzed new data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, US Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the US Census Bureau.
It found dental spending actually decreased from $442 in 2019 to $430 in 2020.
To get the big picture, and see how huge dental expenses are in America, the data showed that national dental expenditures decreased by 1.8 percent – from $145 billion in 2019 to $142.4 billion in 2020. That’s roughly about P7.3 trillion.
“These data show a pretty muted overall effect in 2020 of the COVID-19 pandemic on dental spending, given dentistry had almost a two-month shutdown,” said Marko Vujicic, Ph.D., HPI chief economist and vice president. “The data also show, for the first time, how critical government relief programs, like the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), were for dentists. Hats off to our government affairs team for ensuring dentists were eligible for what, in reality, was a true financial lifeline.”
According to the HPI analysis, pandemic-related government relief program spending was $8.7 billion in 2020. Without these programs, such as PPP and the Provider Relief Fund, HPI estimates that 2020 national dental spending would have been $133.7 billion, representing a 7.8 percent decrease in 2019.
National dental expenditures by source of financing showed that out-of-pocket spending decreased the most, by 12.7 percent. Private health insurance spending fell by 4.9 percent and government program spending by 2.1 percent.
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Dr. Joseph D. Lim is the former Associate Dean of the College of Dentistry, University of the East; former Dean, College of Dentistry, National University; Past President and Honorary Fellow of the Asian Oral Implant Academy; Honorary Fellow of the Japan College of Oral Implantologists; and Honorary Life Member of the Thai Association of Dental Implantology. For questions on dental health, e-mail jdlim2008@gmail.com or text 0917-8591515.
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Dr. Kenneth Lester Lim, BS-MMG, DDM, MSc-OI, graduated Doctor of Dental Medicine, University of the Philippines College of Dentistry, Manila, 2011; Bachelor of Science in Marketing Management, De la Salle University, Manila, 2002; and Master of Science (MSc.) in Oral Implantology, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany, 2019. He is an Associate professor; Fellow, International Congress of Oral Implantologists; Member, American Academy of Implant Dentistry and Philippine College of Oral Implantologists. For questions on dental health, e-mail limdentalcenter@gmail.com/PN
