Jared Kaltwasser

More expectant mothers are seeing a dentist during their pregnancy, according to a new survey from Delta Dental Plans Association.

Delta Dental found 63% of pregnant women saw a dentist this year, up from 57.5% last year.

“This is positive news, and we’re glad expectant mothers are increasingly visiting the dentist,” said Bill Kohn, DDS, the association’s vice president of dental science and policy, in a press release. “Oral health issues have a heightened risk of occurring during pregnancy, so being aware and on top of these is crucial.”

The survey coincides with “Pregnancy Awareness Month,” which occurs each May in the United States.

Delta Dental says the best time for pregnant women to receive dental care is during the second trimester. They encourage patients to avoid routine dental care in the first trimester or the latter part of the third trimester.

The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, encourages its members to perform a routine oral health screening at a patient’s first prenatal visit, and also urge patients to see their dentist.

The ACOG issued guidelines in 2013 affirming the safety of teeth cleanings and dental x-rays during pregnancy. Diana Cheng, MD, who chaired the ACOG committee that issued the recommendations, said at the time that OB-GYNs have an important role to play in communicating with their patients about dental care.

“We can all reassure our patients that routine teeth cleanings, dental X-rays, and local anesthesia are safe during pregnancy,” Cheng said, in a press release. “Pregnancy is not a reason to delay root canals or filling cavities if they are needed because putting off treatment may lead to further complications.”

However, Kohn said pregnant women should wait until after their baby’s birth to have elective procedures, such as tooth whitening.

Kohn said he hopes the survey will help get out the message that a dentist’s appointment should be a routine part of pregnancy.

“This is an exciting time during the lives of expectant mothers, and we’re reminding them that making a routine trip to the dentist is one step that shouldn’t be skipped,” he said.

Articles

Health experts have long urged pregnant women to see a dentist as part of their routine care plan. A new survey suggests the message is beginning to hit home.

More Pregnant Women Seeing Dentist, Survey Finds

STORY UPDATED HERE: See the highest-paying states for dentists in 2017

Like many facets of the economy, supply and demand plays a major role in how much a dentist gets paid in a given area. Areas with a high concentration of dentists tend to pay less than average, even if those locations are also high-cost states, such as New Jersey and California.

That’s just one of the findings in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ dental employment data.

 used BLS data from May 2015 (the most recent data available) to compile a list of the states with the highest average pay for dentists. The list is diverse geographically, but the states in the Top 10 tend to have a relatively small number of physicians. For instance, four of the five highest-paying states for dentists have fewer than 1,000 dentists.

On average, according to the BLS, a general dentist earned about $166,000 annually in 2015. For comparison purposes, the BLS estimate is slightly lower than the $174,000 average the 

American Dental Association found in a 2014 survey of its members

. The ADA data also show that dentists who own their practice (either as a solo practitioner or partner) earn nearly $50,000 more than dentists who are employed.

It’s also notable that a lot depends on the city in which a dentist practices. Jackson, TN, is the highest-paying metropolitan area for dentists, according to the BLS. But Tennessee overall ranks in the middle of the pack in terms of dentist pay.

All that said, the BLS state-level data give a good indication of where dentists might want to practice if they’re looking to maximize their earning potential. What follows is a list of the 10 states with the highest average annual income, according to the BLS. Also included in each capsule are the Kaiser Family Foundation’s count of the total number of professionally active dentists in the state, CNBC’s cost of living rank for each state (where 1=the lowest-cost state; 50=the highest-cost state), and the average home value in the state according to real estate website Zillow.

Number of Professionally Active Dentists: 3,458

Number of Professionally Active Dentists: 1,904

Number of Professionally Active Dentists: 2,517

Number of Professionally Active Dentists: 1,612

Number of Professionally Active Dentists: 3,380

Number of Professionally Active Dentists: 5,319

Number of Professionally Active Dentists: 431

Number of Professionally Active Dentists: 605

Number of Professionally Active Dentists: 883

Number of Professionally Active Dentists: 446

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show dentists can earn a top-notch salary if they're willing to go to states with relatively low numbers of dentists.

The 10 Highest-Paying States for Dentists

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Our weekly look at the five most popular stories from the previous seven days.

The DMD Top 5 for the Week Ending May 13

The beagle may have reigned supreme at the Westminster Kennel Club’s Dog Show earlier this month, but if the event were a popularity contest, a very different breed would have taken home the top prize.

The American Kennel Club each year releases its list of the Most Popular Dog Breeds in the US. The most recent list covers in 2014. The list is populated by familiar breeds—Golden Retrievers, Poodles, German Shepherds—and others. Most of the entrants in the Top 10 in 2014 were also on the Top 10 list 5 years ago. Only the order of the list has changed for the most part. Just one breed fell out of the Top 10 from 2013 to 2014. The Dachshund slipped to No. 11, having been displaced by the French Bulldog.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals estimates there are 70-80 million pet dogs in the US. The American Pet Products Association says that means 37-47% of US households likely have a pet dog at home. Most of those pets aren’t purebreds. Only about 28% of US dog-owners get their pets from a breeder, according to the ASPCA.

All told, the pet industry in the US (including dogs and other household pets) totaled $58 billion last year, according to the APPA.

So it’s clear Americans love their dogs. But which dog breeds are the most beloved? What follows is the Top 10 breeds in the US in 2014, according to the American Kennel Club. Also listed are the breed’s ranking for 2013, and its ranking for 5 years ago. 

Fun facts: The Rottweiler was first registered by the AKC in 1931. They’re known for being show-offs who love to please their owners.

Fun facts: The French Bulldog has made the Top 10 for the first time in nearly 100 years. The breed is quick-witted and easily adapts to new situations.

Fun facts: Though the German Shepherd is today considered the chief police dog, Boxers were one of the first breeds German police trained as sidekicks. The dogs love to stay active and have high energy.

Fun facts: The regal Poodle is unmistakable with its puffy white or black hair. The hypoallergenic coat makes the dog a good fit for allergy sufferers, though it also requires regular grooming.

Fun facts: These tiny dogs were first registered by the AKC in 1885. Their long hair made them popular in the late Victorian Era, though they also need upkeep in the form of regular brushing.

Fun facts: Beagles are described as happy and curious. The breed was originally a hunting dog, and even today they need plenty of exercise.

Fun facts: The AKC describes bulldogs as calm and content to avoid exercise. However, just like humans, just because they don’t want to exercise doesn’t mean they don’t need it.

Fun facts: The Golden Retriever wasn’t recognized by AKC until 1925. However, for many Americans the loyal, golden-haired pets have become synonymous with the phrase “Man’s best friend.”

Fun facts: The German Shepherd is known as a confident and courageous breed, so it’s no wonder it’s a common police dog. Perhaps that confidence comes in part from the fact that it consistently ranks as one of the most popular dogs in the US.

Fun facts: Labrador Retrievers are whip smart and family friendly, so it’s no wonder they’ve topped the most popular list for a whopping 24 straight years. Still, AKC Vice President Gina DiNardo suggested the breed shouldn’t get too comfortable.

“The Lab is truly America’s dog,” she said, “but the lovable bulldog breeds are clamoring to dominate. Watch out for an upset next year.”

Click here to read the AKC’s entire ranking of breeds

 from the Labrador Retriever, to the Norwegian Lundehund.

Americans love their pets, and when it comes to dog-lovers, everyone has their favorite breeds. But which breed is top dog?

America's Most Popular Dog Breeds

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Our weekly look at the most popular stories on Dentist's Money Digest. 

The DMD Top 5 for the Week Ending May 6

Dental professionals attending the 2016 Texas Meeting were reminded of the increasing importance of social media before they even stepped foot inside the exhibition hall.

Just outside the entrance to hall was a “selfie wall” encouraging attendees to take their photo in front of a Texas Dental Association sign and then share the photo on their social networks.

Like it or not, social media and Internet marketing are becoming nearly indispensable for dental practices. More and more patients use social media and online review boards to choose dentists, or to vent their frustration if they have a bad experience.

Gary Kindle, an Internet marketing advisor at the web design and marketing firm 

, said dentists and practice administrators can’t ignore their web presence, and social media in particular.

“It’s huge,” he said. “It’s the closest thing to word-of-mouth business.”

Kindle said even dentists with basic websites may be missing out because websites today need to do much more than they did a decade ago.

“Websites used to be used as a business card,” he said. “Now they’ve grown into so much more. You can use it to market yourself directly to patients.”

Modern practice websites are mobile-friendly and interactive with maps, one-click calling, patient intake forms, payment system integration, and yes, links to a practice’s social media pages.

Chad Jenson, a marketing consultant with 

, said maintaining a practice’s social media isn’t as much of a challenge as some might think because technology can now enable near-seamless social media integration.

To wit, his company’s software integrates photography, HIPAA compliance, and social media sharing altogether in one app. They even supply customers with an iPad.

For example, a receptionist can ask a satisfied customer if they’d like to show off their newly perfected smile at the end of a visit. If the patient says yes, they can take the photo using the iPad’s camera. The app then directs the patient to sign a HIPAA compliance form. Once the patient authorizes the practice to share the photo, practices can post it on their own social media pages all at once with the tap of a button. Meanwhile, the patient gets a text message with a copy of the photo so they can share it, too.

“This platform makes it super easy to manage social media from one spot,” Jenson said.

The service comes with a one-time up-front fee, and then a monthly service fee thereafter.

The platform also makes it easy to review a practice. It sends patients a link to review the practice on Google. Positive reviews are published; negative reviews remain unpublished but are sent to the dentist for review.

That’s key because online reviews have become a major way people choose dentists, and they’re the first thing a person sees when they search for a practice on Google.

Jenson said the immediacy of the request, along with the ability to do the review on a mobile phone, makes patients much more likely to review the practice. The company says 55% of patients who are asked to review using the company’s software say yes. By contrast, only about 6-8% of patients comply when the review request comes in another form, such as by email.

Both Jenson and Kindle said interest in their services has been high at The Texas Meeting, though many practices have yet to adopt a robust Internet marketing strategy.

For Kindle, the message to dentists—reluctant and otherwise—is simple. Internet marketing is a business essential.

“It absolutely does add value to your practice,” he said.

Tech consultants say practices that don't have an Internet marketing presence are falling behind and missing growth opportunities.

Practices Urged to Harness the New 'Word of Mouth': Social Media

As thousands of dental industry professionals gathered in San Antonio this week, one trend was hard to miss — the growth of corporate dentistry.

 had a major presence at the Texas Dental Association’s 2016 Texas Meeting. The chains are also having a major role in the careers of dentists in transition.

Andrew Edmister, who helps dentists buy and sell practices through his company 

, said dentists who are retiring often get offers from corporate dentistry chains.

“We’re seeing corporate dentistry being pretty aggressive, trying to buy practices while still making it easy for them (the retiring dentists) to stay on,” he said.

Edmister said purchasing companies like having the retiring dentist stay on board for a while in order to smooth the transition and ensure patients stick with the practice.

Traditionally, a retiring dentist would sell to a younger dentist who was looking for her or his own practice. That type of arrangement still makes up the majority of the deals Edmister facilitates. However, as the cost of dental school climbs, many young dentists are opting against taking on the new debt required to buy their own practice.

“With such high debt they’re getting funneled into working for somebody to work down their debt,” he said.

However, Edmister said firms like his can often work with lenders and other parties to find ways to help even debt-laden new graduates buy a practice.

Nitia Morris, of the Dallas-based dental staffing firm 

, said corporate and chain clients have become a big part of her work, too.

“I’ve been doing this 36 years,” she said. “In the beginning, it was all private practice.”

When corporate dentistry came on the scene in Texas, they didn’t initially use firms like hers, Morris said, because the chains were large enough to have their own human resources departments. Now though, with demand increasing, the chains need outside help to keep up.

Morris said many new dentists coming out of school have a difficult time opening up their own practices. Those that choose to work for a chain can sidestep the challenge of running their own businesses. Most chains standardize or centralize the business parts of dentistry (such as marketing, payroll, and collections), freeing their dentists to focus on caring for patients.

However, as with any large organization, dentists who work for a chain give up the independence of small business ownership.

That shift has been uncomfortable in some corners.

Edmister said many of his clients would prefer to sell to an independent dentist.

“For most of my dentists, selling to corporate is a second option,” he said. “It’s an option for them, but it’s not their first.”

For her part, Morris said 10 years ago, the dental professionals she places might have had concerns about a placement at a chain. Now, however, they don’t bat an eye.

“Offices have changed,” she said. “Attitudes have changed.”

Large dental chains and corporations are growing in Texas and elsewhere, and changing the career trajectories of many dentists.

Corporate Dentistry Having Major Impact in Texas

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The Texas Dental Association's Texas Meeting kicked off Thursday. These are some of the highlights from social media.

The Texas Meeting: Social Media Highlights

Texas Dental Association’s Smiles Foundation

 held its first Texas Mission of Mercy program, the organizers had no idea how many people would actually show up.

Texas Mission of Mercy (TMOM) events provide basic dental services free of charge to people without access to care. Michael L. Giesler, DDS, the chairman of the foundation, still remembers a conversation he had with fellow organizer David Nichols, DDS, en route to that first event.

“He said, ‘We’ve done a lot of work. I don’t know if there will be a lot of people here,’” Giesler recalled.

Before they could pull into the parking lot, their question was answered.

“There were car lights as far as you could see,” Giesler said.

Since then, TDA’s Smiles Foundation has been holding four events per year around the State of Texas.

A typical event features 40 dental chairs in one large room or event space, and a team of dozens of volunteer dentists, hygienists, and others.

Giesler said the need for dental care is greatest among adults, since children often qualify for dental coverage through Medicaid. The care patients receive typically is worth several hundred dollars, not to mention the money patients save by avoiding the consequences of long-term oral health neglect.

Still, Giesler’s address to the TDA House of Delegates Thursday in San Antonio also included a word of warning. While the Smiles Foundation has made a tremendous impact, the need for these types of services appears to be growing.

“As the economy has tanked and our middle class has become smaller, fewer people can access care,” he said.

When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studied the issue in 2014, they found 83% of children had seen a dentist in the past 12 months, but only 62% of adults had. For many, though not all, the lack of regular care is due to an inability to pay.

That lack of routine care often leads to much more serious consequences. According to a 2014 study in the 

Journal of the American Dental Association

, four million Americans went to the emergency room for dental problems between 2008 and 2010. Most of those visits could have been prevented had the patients received regular care in a dentist’s office, the authors concluded.

The benefits of prevention are already evident in the places where the Smiles Foundation has held events. Christus St. Michael Health System, in Texarkana, 

 a dramatic reduction in the number of emergency room visitors seeking help with dental problems after the health system began working with the Smiles Foundation to hold TMOM events in 2011.

The Smiles Foundation relies heavily on funding from the TDA, but also raises money through fundraising, grants, and partnerships with local organizations.

However, Giesler said grant money is getting more difficult to come by because the same economic troubles that are driving up demand for free and low-cost dental care are also driving up demand for other types of services. But the pool of grant money available to groups like the Smiles Foundation isn’t increasingly accordingly.

“There’s a lot of people like us trying to access that (grant) money for poverty issues,” he said.

Even as it works to increase its fundraising, the foundation is also expanding its offerings. They’ve launched a program in which participating dentists provide total rehabilitation services for needy patients in their local communities. The costs of that program are split between the dentist and the foundation (which pays the lab bills).

In November, the Smiles Foundation will host its first TMOM event specifically designed for veterans. Giesler said he was inspired to launch a veteran-focused event after learning from a patient that many veterans, particularly those who fought in more recent wars, have difficulty accessing dental care following their service.

Those wishing to contribute to the foundation may do so 

A statewide program to provide free dental care to uninsured patients. However, the chairman of the foundation says the need is only growing.

In Texas, Foundation Brings Dental Care to Uninsured

“I’m from the government. And I’m here to help you.”

That’s how Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) began his talk to the Texas Dental Association’s House of Delegates Thursday morning. And while he used President Ronald Reagan’s famous quote as a laugh line, Babin said he meant it sincerely.

One reason he wants to help is that Babin isn’t just a guest speaker. He’s also a dentist and a longtime member of the TDA, which is hosting its annual Texas Meeting this week in San Antonio.

However, much of Babin’s speech was focused on asking TDA members to help themselves, by remaining organized and lobbying elected officials to ensure new legislation and regulations don’t harm the industry.

“It is only by getting actively involved in organized dentistry that you will have a voice in the regulation of your own profession,” he said. “Believe me, it doesn’t happen by accident that dentistry does not have to withhold state sales tax here or have non-dentists owning your dental practices. Your association makes that happen by standing up for you in Congress and in the state legislatures across this country.”

Babin said now is a critical time for the dental industry. He noted a number of pieces of federal legislation that could have significant impacts on dentists and their practices.

, a bill that would repeal an Affordable Care Act provision that requires dentists to either enroll in or opt out of Medicare in order to write prescriptions for patients with Medicare Part D.  Dental industry trade groups are strongly opposed to the requirement, fearing that it would subject dentists to more regulation if they opt in, or limit access to care for seniors if a large number of dentists opt on.

Babin said dentists are right to fear an incursion of Medicare.

“This is simply the camel’s nose under the tent and I’m doing everything I can to stop it,” he said.

He said it’s a “no-brainer” that dentists ought to be able to serve Medicare Part D patients without having to be permanently bound to Medicare. Babin and his colleagues have succeeded in delaying the implementation of the mandate until next February, by which time the US will have a new president.

Babin also said he’s fighting for HR 3323, which would limit insurers’ control over what dentists charge for non-covered or barely covered services. Many states already have such limits, but this bill would apply to insurance plans that fall under federal regulation, and thus aren’t affected by the state laws.

Finally, Babin spoke in favor of repealing the McCarran-Ferguson Act, a 70-year-old law that protects the insurance industry from antitrust regulations. The 1945 law was originally intended to protect small insurers, but he said today’s insurance market is vastly different, and often dominated by an increasingly small number of behemoths.

“It’s time to eliminate that exemption and make [insurers] have to abide by the same rules that all other industries have to,” he said.

Babin said he’s fighting for that legislation, but he needs the support of groups like the TDA. He also said he needs their financial support. He invited the members to a fundraiser scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

In a speech before the Texas Dental Association, dentist and congressman Brian Babin said dentists won't have a voice in legislative and regulatory affairs if they don't have a strong, unified voice.