Week in Review: Predicting 5 trends for 2021 | Controlling aerosols | Dentistry's roller coaster

Dear DrBicuspid Member,

It's the first Saturday of December, and the end of the year is coming fast. While we're certainly ready to put 2020 in the past, we're also already looking ahead to what 2021 might bring.

That includes which trends will affect our industry in the new year. From dental service organizations to taxes, Kyle Francis offered his thoughts on what will affect dentistry the most in 2021.

Of course, we need a baseline of what happened in 2020 to predict what might happen in 2021. That includes data points that show exactly where we've been -- before, during, and after the COVID-19 shutdown. There were some pretty stunning numbers discussed in an article I wrote earlier this week, based on data compiled from more than 10,000 dental practices throughout the U.S. If you wonder just how much of a roller coaster dentistry has been on this year, I invite you to read the article.

But is the roller coaster on the way back down? The ADA Health Policy Institute reported that patient volumes at dental practices continue to slide. They fell to 76% of pre-COVID-19 levels during the week of November 16, and those numbers have some experts wondering what's next.

With those sliding numbers in mind, it's important to do everything you can to boost your business right now. One step is to make sure your insurance reimbursement numbers are where they should be. If you're looking for ways to clean up your insurance game and maximize your cash flow in that area, Ashley Bond detailed seven tips to sending clean insurance claims in one of our most popular articles of the week.

Finally, on the clinical side, one of the biggest discussion points in 2020 has been how to reduce aerosols in the dental practice to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. With that in mind, Dr. Joe Blaes offered five tips that every dentist and team member should know to control aerosols in your practice.

Once again, my team and I want to thank you for being a DrBicuspid.com subscriber. We appreciate your readership and wish you a fantastic weekend ahead.