I WENT IN FOR my six-month dental checkup, and the dental waiting room seemed unusually quiet. I told my hygienist, Kim Langenderfer, RDH (Registered Dental Hygienist), at Dental Group West that it seemed like there were fewer people around. I had just listened to a radio news story about the shaky economy and asked her if she noticed any changes in patients coming to the dentist because of it.
Kim said, “I bet our waiting room was empty because you were the last appointment before lunch hour!” She added that Dental Group West in Toledo had not seen a downward trend and believes patient loyalty is the reason. “We treat our patients with a custom, individualized plan for their oral-health needs. We discuss health issues that may relate to their oral health and help our patients achieve their optimal oral health. We genuinely care about each of our patients.”
Dr. Tracy Poole, DDS, added, “We have not seen a shortage or a slowdown in our office, and clearly seeing the price of eggs go down is a good sign for everyone!” One shortage, though, she reports is a shortage of dental hygienists. “If there was not a hygienist shortage of 88,000 across the country, I would love to hire two new hygienists to help accommodate our wait list, but currently, there are none available to hire.”
Patients seem to know the importance and value of early detection when it comes to their teeth. Poole states, “We haven’t seen a decrease in patients and treatment because our patients understand the importance of treating problems when they are small. They know that if they let them go they’ll experience pain—and with an increase in pain comes an increase in the cost of treatment—so they normally take care of problems early.”
During these tense financial times, people might not go to see their doctors or dentists as often as they did when they were more financially secure. People are putting off medical visits at this time as they lose insurance benefits and as they struggle to pay for the day-to-day things of family life: food, rent or mortgages, gas, and tuition. They are cutting costs wherever they can. Spending money on doctor appointments, preventive medical tests, and prescription drugs is down.
For many people, the struggle with rising healthcare costs has already reached a critical point. More than two in five American adults under 65 had trouble paying their medical bills last year, according to a recent study by the Commonwealth Fund, a New York-based health policy research group. Of those people, many had used up all their savings, others had racked up credit-card debt, and some said medical bills left them struggling to pay for everyday necessities.
Health spending in the US increased by 7.5% in 2023 to $4.9 trillion or $14,570 per capita. This growth rate is significantly higher than the 4.6% rise in 2022, and apart from the 10.4% rise in 2020 due to the COVID19 pandemic, it is the highest growth rate seen since 2003 (8.5%).
The data are from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics National Health Care Survey (www. cdc.gov/nchs) and come at a time when Americans now are cutting back on healthcare spending. A recent survey by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) found that 22% of Americans say that they have cut back on the number of times they see a physician as a result of the weaker economy; 11% say they have cut back on the number of prescription drugs they take or the dosage of those medications to make the prescriptions last longer.
Delaying medical treatment and regular physicals puts consumers at risk for potential health problems. Cutting back on personal healthcare can be tragic. For years, the trend has been wellness—to prevent disease and to take care of our dental and overall health. As people do not visit healthcare professionals or take their prescribed medicine, it can lead to health problems down the road.
We all need to take care of our teeth and body. We understand the importance of early detection. We try to eat well, get our rest, and visit our doctor, dentist, or other healthcare professional. If we can skip eating out occasionally, or try to cut our expenses even more, it might be a wise investment but a difficult decision for our future.
Sister Karen Zielinski is the Director of Canticle Studio. Canticle Studio is a part of the Sisters of St. Francis of Sylvania, OH’s overall advancement effort and has a mission of being a creative center where artists generate works, products, and services in harmony with the mission of the Sisters St. Francis. She can be reached at kzielins@sistersosf.org or 419-824-3543. ✲
