February 24, 2009

TIME Magazine Letters
Time & Life Building
Rockefeller Center, NY 10020

Dear Editor:

Although there are pockets of prosperity in some sectors of the nation’s economy, survey data from the American Dental Association (ADA) contradicts your headline, “Dentists: Smiling in the Face of Recession,” (Time, Feb.19,2009). Unlike the anecdotal evidence presented in your article, the ADA’s survey data is from a statistically representative sample of professionally active dentists across the country. More than half of the 1,749 dentists surveyed during the last quarter of 2008 reported declining incomes and, just as your article noted, an increase in open appointment times.

Unfortunately, this means that patients may be deferring even the preventive care that could save them from experiencing severe oral health problems and additional expenditures in the future.  Dentists take pride in delivering efficient and effective oral health care. But just as the economy is affecting patients, it's affecting dentists, too. 

Sincerely,

John S. Findley, D.D.S.
President, American Dental Association

Return to Top