Dental Market Research Trends To Grow Your Practice

Operating a dental practice without conducting market research means you’re simply guessing at what your patients want and need. Dental market research is your compass for making informed decisions about your services, pricing, communication, and brand positioning. In the growing dental industry, this research helps you navigate emerging trends like technological advancements and the growth of aesthetic dental procedures while coming out ahead of your competition.

So, how do you find actionable market insights? What can your practice do with this information?

In this guide, our team from Weave offers a comprehensive overview of market trends and growth factors in the dental industry in 2025. With tools like Weave’s dental software, you can turn this research into real growth that drives your marketing efforts.

The Dental Market Size and Landscape in 2025

Market research for the dental industry involves collecting information about the global market, your target patients, and the key competitors in your area to better position your practice for growth. Below, we go over some key figures.

Market Size and Global Growth

Analyzing market expansion allows your practice to forecast industry competition and potential opportunities. If you can understand the factors driving market growth, you can capitalize on them.

Fortune Business Insights projects the global dental market to grow from $41.03 billion in 2025 to $87.65 billion over a forecast period of seven years, representing a compound annual growth rate of 11.5%. Not only is dentistry growing in the global market, but North America dominates much of this expansion. In 2024, the continent accounted for $14.79 billion of the dental market size, representing a 39% share.

Some of the key market players driving the growth in this forecast period include:

• Dental products
• Equipment
• AI tools

Key Growth Drivers

You can drive through a seemingly small town, such as Montrose, Colorado, with a population of around 20,000, and find dental practices on nearly every block (25+). So, what is driving this market growth in the dental industry? Here are just a few factors to consider:

• Rising incidences of oral diseases: Oral health problems are on the rise. According to dental market research from the World Health Organization, periodontal disease affects about 19% of the population worldwide, which is approximately one billion people. Cases like severe periodontal disease, tooth decay, and malocclusion drive people to schedule more dental services.
• An increasing demand for cosmetic and aesthetic dentistry: Many patients these days are seeking dental services for aesthetics rather than health. Cosmetic dental procedures, like veneers and teeth whitening, continue to gain popularity.
• Dental technology advancements: As dental equipment and technology advance, oral health care businesses can provide better, more efficient, and more affordable care to patients. Some advancements driving dental market growth include intraoral scanners, AI-based diagnostics, CAD/CAM software, and teledentistry services.
• The post-COVID rebound: As people return to in-person appointments, the healthcare infrastructure as a whole has seen the effects. We’re back to in-patient dental visits, and clients are more comfortable investing in elective care.

Restraints in Dental Market Growth Factors

Despite these impressive figures, certain factors still limit many independent practices from capitalizing on the market growth in the forecast period mentioned above. To start, dental treatments come at a high cost. The dental consumables segment, in particular, may be driving growth, but it also leaves many patients hesitating when they see the out-of-pocket spending requirements.

Dental implants, for example, often cost $3,500 to $5,000 per tooth. Insurance often doesn’t cover cosmetic dentistry, so patients may be left to fork out incredibly high upfront costs.

Because of this, dental professionals are seeing patients delay their care, even for necessary oral health treatments.

Patient-Centered Trends Shaping Dental Clinics

Dental market research helps your practice understand forecasted industry growth, but what do you do with this information? By learning about the upcoming trends in dental health, you can position your practice to ride that wave of growth instead of falling behind. So, what are the hot topics in dentistry right now?

Dental Implants and Aesthetic Dentistry Are on the Rise

Between rising disposable incomes and challenging beauty standards, we’re seeing an increased demand for patients seeking a “smile makeover.” Young adults and women tend to drive this dental market, seeking cosmetic dentistry procedures, such as prosthetics, aligners, and whitening services. In 2020 alone, about 15 million Americans received bridge or crown placement procedures, which can often be necessary for oral health but may also be placed simply to improve appearance.

You can capitalize on this trend by offering cosmetic procedures at your practice. Of course, this is easier said than done, as you would need to invest in various dental prosthetics and hire the right healthcare professionals.

The Shift Toward Invisible Orthodontics

Dental restoration products are constantly advancing to improve patient comfort and outcomes. As technology advances, patients are increasingly opting for invisible aligners over traditional braces due to improved aesthetics, enhanced comfort, and streamlined appointment scheduling. Dental providers can customize these aligners to the exact needs of each patient, who can easily remove them at any time if they’re experiencing discomfort.

In 2021, Align Technology announced that the volume of its clear aligners grew by 54.8% in the previous year. That same year, ClearCorrect LLC increased its production of clear orthodontics by 30%. In 2022, OraPharma, a healthcare business of Bausch Health Companies, announced its launch of clear aligners in the US, designed to correct malocclusion.

If you want to stay ahead of this trend in dental market research, consider urging your healthcare professionals to complete the specialized training needed to provide clear aligner therapy to patients.

The Digital Dental Equipment Segment

Another major trend shaping patient care in dental clinics is the surge in new technology. The demand for intraoral scanners, CAD/CAM systems, and dental radiology equipment continues to rise as practices seek better ways to serve their clients.

Emerging technology allows dental hygienists to take digital impressions of patients’ mouths that dentists can use for 3D treatment planning. With software like Weave, practices can store this data in a central platform that’s connected with communication and teledentistry tools, enabling efficiency, remote consultations, two-way texting, and more.

These dental programs are becoming a must in the industry. For example, in 2023, Henry Schein, Inc., acquired a major stake in Biotech Dental S.A.S. to add diagnostic planning software to its digital dental services.

With your clients now expecting these highly intuitive and convenient patient experiences from all of their healthcare services, your practice needs to deliver. You can stay ahead of this trend by keeping your eye on the latest tech advancements and adopting comprehensive software that integrates with everything you use.

Key Trends That Dental Practices Need To Watch

The dental market research we’ve covered so far may seem overwhelming for your family practice. You can’t begin offering a bunch of new dental services while adopting the latest expensive technology all at once.

You’re not a major dental chain that can suddenly recalibrate its operations. Understanding the latest trends is important, but it’s often more helpful to know what upcoming changes your office should prioritize.

So, the question becomes: What is the future of the dental market, and how will your practice fit into this future? Here are the key developments you should be aware of:

• Tech advancements are reshaping care, with AI diagnostics and intraoral scanners becoming a must. To keep up, your practice needs to adopt efficient software and equipment.
• Access to care is expanding through global health initiatives and inclusive partnerships. Increasing your accessibility by offering financing programs, affordable partnerships with more insurers, easier patient scheduling, and virtual visits can make your dental services more appealing.
• The industry continues consolidating as DSOs grow into new and underserved areas. If you don’t want to be “bought out,” you need to meet patients’ rising expectations by delivering customized and convenient experiences.

Conducting Dental Market Research in Your Competitive Landscape

To conduct dental market research effectively, you should look beyond the global picture of worldwide cases, as provided by authorities like the World Health Organization. Yes, this data is helpful, but what does it say about the people in your city? To better serve your target dental market, you need to research data relevant to your location and patients.

We recommend starting by identifying your ideal patients and what matters most to them. Do you serve an aging population that needs dental implants, or are you working primarily with younger adults with common oral diseases?

Next, we recommend reviewing your current marketing campaigns to identify what is or isn’t working. You can survey patients and analyze local competitors to discover potential opportunities. Use these insights to refine your strategy, and be sure to measure performance over time with clear KPIs.

Segmenting Your Market for Greater Impact

Segmenting hyper-specific target audiences allows you to cater your marketing campaigns and services to each patient’s needs. This prevents you from advertising clear aligners to an aging population that’s likely more concerned about dental diseases or restorative treatments.

We recommend grouping your patients by age, dental disorders, insurance provider, and treatment needs so you can better tailor your services. This segmentation in patient data will also allow you to spot trends, such as a rising prevalence in gingivitis, for example.

Tools like Weave provide you with detailed patient data in an all-in-one platform, allowing you to stay competitive with DSOs. You can use this data to address gaps in your oral health services and leverage the tools to offer flexible payment options.

Using Weave To Operationalize Market Research in the Dental Industry

The biggest problem facing dentistry today is difficulty finding new patients. So, how do you translate your dental market research into actionable insights that actually help you reach new clients? Weave’s dental software empowers you to set dental office goals and monitor results with comprehensive analytics.

You can:

• Target high-demand services with email campaigns.
• Empower your trained staff to easily handle increased call volumes with IVR phones.
• Reduce no-shows with automated reminders.
• Speed up intake with digital forms and online scheduling.
• Build trust and attract new patients with review generation tools.
• Streamline billing and payments with convenient financial management.

Dental Care Market Research Creates Real Growth for Your Organization

Dental market research is essential for small practices. It ends the guesswork and allows you to know your patients and competitors for smarter decision making.

Let Weave help you turn research into real growth. Request a demo today to experience smarter communication, smoother operations, and stronger patient loyalty.

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