These days it seems the actress Maggie Smith is in our living rooms or movie theatres all the time. Being old is not only topical, perhaps it is cool. At the very least, it sells.
And so it should. In the western economies, we are now at the demographic tipping point of being an old society. Between 1 in 4 and 1 in 5 citizens will be age 60+ in the foreseeable future (Chart 1). There are now more retired and soon-to-be-retired folk in my community than there are youngsters.
Chart 1:
Source: http://www.census.gov/population/international/data/idb/informationGateway.php
Curiously, the dental profession seems to be overlooking this profound shift in demand. For example, a Google search using the phrase “dental visits by age” yielded 10 websites on page 1. All dealt with dentistry for youngsters, except for the CDC website which showed that when Americans retire, they significantly reduce their purchase of dental services (Chart 2).
Chart 2: The decline in use of dental services by Americans as they age
Source: http://www.cdc.gov/features/dsdentalvisits/index.html
The combined effect of Chart 1 and Chart 2 is a significant drop in dental purchasing in many dental practices over the medium term. For example, in a practice where half of patients are entering pre-retirement or retirement years, a decline of visits by perhaps 10% can be expected over the next few years.
Whether we like it or not, Maggie Smith is our dental patient. We need to find her inner preferences and wishes for dental services, serve them well, and then get her to broadcast her improved dental experiences to all her fans.
Ross Perry
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