Forecasting what could lie ahead for dentistry in 2026

In this conversation that took place at the 2025 Greater New York Dental Meeting, DrBicuspid's Editor-in-Chief Kevin Henry and Jay Millikan of Fluent discuss the dental industry's outlook for 2026, focusing on patient volume trends, the impact of Medicare Advantage on dental insurance, and strategies for how dental practices can grow in a flat market. 

Millikan emphasizes the importance of leveraging data to identify growth opportunities and the need for practices to adapt to demographic changes, particularly targeting the over-65 population.

Learn more about Fluent, and be sure to refer to the figures below, which are mentioned by Millikan during the podcast episode.

Figure 1: Executive summary of treatment volumes across procedure categories from 2023 to 2026.

Figure 2: 12-month forecast - by procedure category.

Fluent.

Figure 3: Executive summary of patient traffic and billing trends for 2026.

Fluent.

Podcast takeaways

• Patient traffic and treatment volume are expected to remain flat in 2026.
• The influx of new patients with dental insurance is minimal, except for Medicare Advantage.
• Imaging is the only category expected to see significant growth in treatment volume.
• Dental practices should focus on retaining and growing their existing customer base.
• Cross-selling opportunities can be identified through data analysis.
• Targeting patients over 65 can be a key growth strategy for dental practices.
• Understanding market trends is crucial for manufacturers and distributors in the dental industry.
• Data-driven insights can help pinpoint specific growth opportunities for practices.
• The dental market is facing challenges that require strategic adaptation.
• Practices need to be proactive in their marketing and patient engagement efforts.