Survey: About 30% Of Americans Have Not Visited Dentist Since Start Of Pandemic

USA Today  (8/19, Wedell) reports, “Nearly 1 in 3 Americans haven’t been to the dentist since before the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to a new survey from invisible aligners company Byte.com.” Although “the sample size of that survey was small,” USA Today spoke with several dentists who “said that figure wouldn’t surprise them.” Even prior to the pandemic, “some Americans delayed care for years.” According to the Byte survey, the “top reasons for delaying dental visits” are cost (59%), dental anxiety (44%), not wanting to go (39%), concern a dental procedure is needed (34%), and lack of dental coverage (33%). With families seeing “rising costs for groceries and other necessities” this year “due to high inflation, many have let dental visits slide further down the to-do list because of the out-of-pocket costs incurred with or without insurance.”