How Often Patients Consult a Dentist in the US: Location Based Facts and Stats
Ideally, patients visit a dentist twice a year to maintain a good oral hygiene routine. We conducted a survey to find out how frequently patients throughout the US consulted a dentist. Here we discuss the findings of the survey and the conclusions that we can draw from it.
| Sample Size | 1431 | 71 | 183 | 211 | 89 | 272 | 82 | 164 | 100 | 234 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| How often do you visit a dentist per year? | Total | New England | Middle Atlantic | East North Central | West North Central | South Atlantic | East South Central | West South Central | Mountain | Pacific |
| US | ME, NH, MA, RI, CT | NY, NJ, PA, DE, MD, DC, VA | IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD | IA, KS, MNMO, NE, SD, ND | DE, MD, VA, WV, NC, SC, GA, FL, DC | AL, KY, MS, TN | AK, LA, OK, TX | CO, MT, NM, UT, WY, AZ | CA, WA, OR, NV | |
| Once a year | 43% | 51% | 42% | 44% | 51% | 38% | 37% | 42% | 51% | 41% |
| More than twice a year | 27% | 15% | 30% | 27% | 22% | 33% | 21% | 28% | 24% | 27% |
| Less than once a year | 21% | 22% | 22% | 20% | 19% | 21% | 40% | 25% | 13% | 19% |
| More than twice a year | 9% | 12% | 7% | 9% | 9% | 8% | 2% | 5% | 12% | 14% |
The respondents in the above table are divided based on their regions and the frequency of their visits to a dentist in a year.
Key Findings
The key findings of this survey are:
- Once a year visit: New England, West North Central, and Mountain region have the highest number, i.e., 51% of patients visiting a dentist once annually. This is followed by the East North Central region, with 44% of patients visiting a dentist once a year. 42% of patients from the Middle Atlantic and West South Central regions visit a dentist once a year. East South Central region ranks lowest in this category, with 37% of patients. Overall, 43% of patients in the US region visit a dentist annually.
- Twice a year visit: These figures drop drastically for visiting a dentist twice a year, with 27% of patients doing so in the US. South Atlantic has the highest number of patients i.e., 33% of patients visiting a dentist twice a year, followed by the Middle Atlantic region with 30% patients. New England ranks lowest in this category, with 15% of people visiting a dentist twice a year.
- Less than once a year visit: East South Central has the highest number i.e., 40% of people visiting a dentist less than once a year. This is followed by 25% of patients from the West South Central region. 22% of patients from New England and Middle Atlantic regions visit a dentist less than once a year. The Mountain region has the least number of patients, which is 13% in this category. Overall, 21% of the US population visits a dentist less than once a year.
- More than twice a year: This category has the least numbers, i.e., only 9% of people visiting their dentist over twice a year. Only 14% of patients from Pacific regions visit a dentist more than twice a year, followed by 12% of people from both the New England and Mountain regions. This is followed by 9% of patients from East and North Central regions and only 2% of people from the East South Central region.
This data shows that dental practices need to increase the footfall to their clinics, especially in regions like East and West South Central areas, which have the highest number of patients visiting dentists less than once a year. Digital marketing will play a key role in this. In recent times, people spend more time on the internet.
Dental practices can spread awareness among potential and present patients and encourage more visits by using proper marketing strategies. Some strategies that the dentists can effectively use to increase the footfall into their practice are discussed here:
- Have an easy to navigate website with engaging content. Include the details of your dentists, your services, products, and timings. Highlight any major credentials, USPs, and reviews.
- Use the power of social media to connect with your patients and build your brand value. Create simple, easy to read infographics, post pictures and videos of your procedures and office, and encourage customer-generated content.
- Post informative videos about your office and procedures on your website and social media platforms. You can also post video testimonials from patients.
- Most people look for reviews while searching for a dentist. Encourage your patients to write their reviews on your websites, through email, and on social media sites. Respond to negative reviews and resolve their issues to improve your online reputation.
- Patients are often reluctant to visit a dentist due to high costs. Provide incentives like discounts for new customers and repeat customers, referral programs, discounts on special days, etc. to attract customers. Advertise these through email campaigns and social media platforms to attract customers.
Also, offline marketing ideas are obsolete for now due to social distancing norms. Therefore, dental practices risk losing potential customers and profits if they don’t use a custom online dental marketing practices.
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