Baby Boomers And The Dental Boom

Since the 1960s and 1970s, including the early 1990s, the Baby Boomers marked a demographic change in the field of dentistry as Boomers made up the most of dentist population. Approximately, there were thousands of Baby Boomers who graduated in that generation as dentists.

In an instant, there were a good number of professional dentists who provided the needed services in the communities.

The result of sudden increase on dentists' population contributed to a competitive market wherein advertising was introduced, where there was a good offer on discount dentistry, where there were chains of clinics that have been opened, and not just that, the companies of insurance also entered the marketplace of dental service.

However, these Baby Boomer dentists are now soon to retire. The bad thing here is that the numbers of these retiring dentists will not be reached by the numbers of graduating dentists today.

There is an estimated 50 percent or more females to graduate as dentists today, while there are only about 30 percent or less than 50 percent males. Yet, some of these graduating students are expected to work as employees, and some will be as independent contractors.

The existence of a great number of dentists is viewed by most as the greatest thing that happened in dental profession. But the presented facts of the next generation of dentists will diminish the managed dental care industry and the discount dentistry created by these Boomer dentists.

It will not be too long and the so-called "sellers market" formed by the Boomer dentists will be replaced into "buyers market" with the new set of dentists today. The moment these Baby Boomer dentists retire, there will be a decline in the dental practices value.

The reason, in starting up a practice, having a number of selections to choose from is easier. And this is mostly true when it comes to specialties; the sad thing is that most of these specialists belong in the Baby Boomer Generation who are now soon to retire.

The people cannot do anything about this anymore. Like it or not the Baby Boomers are about to retire in providing dental services. This time, as they are aging, they will be the one to be the beneficiaries of the dental service.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report that about a half of the physicians' visitors in the year 2001 were the ones who belong to 45-year-old or older. This report denotes that the Baby Boomers are seriously taking care of their health.

Now, as these Boomers have surpassed the years where they are prone to cavities, they will now be facing the phase of gum problems and other dental issues.

An adult person meets countless of dental disorders. There are four out of five adults who are affected by these. Most commonly, the problem begins with halitosis or bad breath which also comes from gum disease.

Most often, these adults are not aware that there is a developing disease in their gums. And unfortunately, it will be too late before they realize that there is already a forming filling of silver amalgam at the back of their teeth, close enough to root canal and fracture. Another worse thing is that there is also a forming yellow stain in between those teeth.

Another dental problem encountered by adults is the missing teeth. This is due to the decreased flow of saliva caused by numerous drug therapies such as anti-anxiety agents, anti-hypertensive, anti-depressants and antihistamines. There is also the problem in decaying of the teeth's roots.

All of these dental problems are causing too much stress to a number of adults. In fact there are approximately hundred of Americans who suffer from missing teeth, while there are about ten million of them who are having denture difficulties. Hence, they are interested enough to find solutions to these dilemmas.

Indeed, the time when the Baby Boomer dentists were the ones to provide a comfortable smile to its patients are soon to be over the moment they retire. This time their generation will be the one to demand for dental services. And who knows, there might also be remarkable demand in dentists' services like what these Baby Boomers marked in the history of the consumer industry.