Aspen Dental<\/a>, the study spoke to the mixed emotions Americans experience when it comes to dental visits, including fear, anxiety and discomfort which, for many, has led to delayed care.<\/p>\nAnxiety Keeps Many From Visiting the Dentist<\/h2>\n
Anxiety is the top culprit keeping Americans from visiting the dentist (24%) and more women (29%) than men (17%) expressed feelings of anxiety when it comes to dental appointments.<\/p>\n
Twenty-two percent agreed the actual dental work puts them off, with baby boomers feeling the most uncomfortable with having dental work done (25%). And 13% have avoided the dentist\u2019s office because they’re embarrassed about their poor dental hygiene.<\/p>\n
The survey also revealed that nearly a quarter of Americans (22%) experience discomfort or soreness in their mouths at least once per week, with millennials experiencing more discomfort each week than other generations (34%).<\/p>\n
These feelings may contribute to the 45% who have not visited a dentist in the last year and the nearly one in five Americans (19%) who haven\u2019t seen the inside of a dentist\u2019s office in five years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Digging more into the embarrassment and avoidance factors, the results revealed that a third of those who have lied to the dentist (33%) simply didn\u2019t want their dentist to think less of them, while a fifth (19%) said they don\u2019t mean to be dishonest, but that \u201cpanic lies\u201d accidentally slip out, especially among Gen Z who seem to tell more panic lies to the\u00a0 dentist more than other generations (27%).<\/p>\n
However, when leaving the office determined to maintain better dental health, respondents said their good dental hygiene habits last only eight days, on average, before slipping back into bad habits.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaintaining adequate oral health can be overwhelming. That\u2019s why it\u2019s so important to have a dentist who you feel comfortable connecting with, who shows empathy and leaves all judgement at the door, \u201d said Dr. Taylor Sutton, multi-practice owner and practicing dentist at Aspen Dental. \u201cEveryone wants access to high-quality, non-complicated dental care, but many said that finding a skilled and trustworthy dentist (37%) and dental hygienist (34%) is nearly impossible. It\u2019s important to us that everyone is able to receive excellent, quality care that\u2019s convenient, comfortable and no-nonsense.\u201d<\/p>\n
And while most Americans (89%) know that going to regular dentist appointments is important, almost half (48%) prioritize going to the doctor more than the dentist.<\/p>\n
And 30% of all respondents are still searching for the perfect dentist.<\/p>\n
\u201cOral care is not just about maintaining a beautiful smile, it’s a crucial part of overall health and well-being,\u201d said Dr. Tracy Redden, multi-practice owner and practicing dentist at Aspen Dental. \u201cNeglecting oral hygiene \u2014 whatever your reason \u2014 can lead to serious health issues. Your mouth is the gateway to your body that can affect your overall health.\u00a0 Maintaining oral health is not a choice, but a necessity for our overall wellbeing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Survey methodology:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nTalker Research surveyed 2,000 general population Americans;<\/strong>\u00a0the survey was commissioned by\u00a0Aspen Dental\u00a0<\/strong>and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between\u00a0Jan. 25 and Jan. 30, 2025.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\nSource link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Does anyone actually floss anymore?\u00a0A new survey found that over half of Americans have lied to their dentist about their dental hygiene and feel guilty […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-319941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319941"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":319943,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319941\/revisions\/319943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}