After a turbulent year across the UK & most of Europe, we have just begun to see light at the end of the pandemic tunnel in recent months. Businesses are finally coming back to full capacity, and a looming sense that society is getting used to the new normal. However, this has been a long time coming with generous efforts from everyone around the world. Even though vaccine drives have proven incredibly beneficial to getting business restarted there are many other ways people were able to return to their normal activities. These include adapting to the pandemic situation as well as additional precautions to keep business staff and customers safe.

These initiatives have paved the way to create new norms for businesses but also have accelerated certain trends. One of the main industries that has adapted as a result of the pandemic has been the dental industry. Many dental offices have adjusted their ways of service to ensure staff and patients are safe from any possible spread of the virus and have found ways to still provide an outstanding service. Not only this, but because of their incredible efforts to adjust to the pandemic, certain dental trends has grown in popularity. If you have been waiting a while to see your dentist due to the pandemic, you may notice differences in how you are handled when you arrive so you can be dealt with safely and efficiently. During this time if you have moved and not registered with a dentist then you will need to do so as soon as possible, whether you have been looking at practices like Dr. Silman Smile Spa or ones in your local vicinity, you will need to get the ball rolling as soon as possible.

In the next year, we can expect to see more of these trends develop even further:

Virtual appointments and new preventative measures

While lockdown was a difficult time for all businesses, dentists had to find ways to still provide their services to people in need without coming to the clinic unless it was a dental emergency. Therefore, many dental clinics began running virtual appointment where dentists could contact their patients on Zoom and have their consultation through video. That way dentists could advise their patients until they could come into the clinic safely. This proved a great new way to minimise the amount of people in the clinic and still provide a great service. Many clinics have chosen to maintain virtual appointments as it proved convenient for both staff and patients.

Along with this, in the instances where patients must come to the clinic due to dental emergencies, for example, new safety measures were put in place. Apart from the general rules of socially distancing where possible and washing hands, dental clinics had excess measures to keep staff and patients safe during the pandemic. These included staff wearing PPE during treatments, longer time gaps between patients to allow for cleaning and air filtration, and asking patients screening questions prior to their appointment.

These new measures provided incredibly beneficial for dental clinics by providing more safety and organisation while still giving patients the care they need in a less stressful manner. Meanwhile across the Atlantic, dentists in Hamilton Canada saw a massive increase in patients feeling safe and stress free to come into the clinic thanks to these processes.

Rise of cosmetic dentistry

According to Dr. Sahil Patel a cosmetic dentist in London working at Marylebone Smile Clinic from Harley Street, the developments in the dental cosmetic sector have all contributed to the recent surge in popularity of cosmetic dentistry.

Considering the introduction of more technology to our everyday activities and virtual dental appointments becoming used more frequently, it was natural for the dental industry to adjust their treatments to include more tech. Cosmetic dentistry has grown in popularity over the past year thanks to social media, influencers, and advancements in the dental cosmetic industry. Treatments such as teeth whitening can now be done with much more ease and the use of tech makes it easier than ever to have a white smile. Also, increasing access to dental health and services may attract more and more people to cosmetic dentistry such as teeth whitening. However, these individuals should be aware of things not to eat after teeth whitening, which can reverse the process. Having proper knowledge of the procedure you are undergoing can be useful. Coming back, with society slowly coming out of the pandemic, its normal for people to want to not only improve their appearance but to also improve their oral health and general wellbeing. Cosmetic dentistry is a great way to improve confidence, improve oral health and general health. Because of this, people have more interest in going to the dentist and allows to prevent any oral problems that can escalate into more serious health situations. Some popular cosmetic dentistry treatments at the moment include veneers, whitening, dental crowns, teeth aligners and bridges.

Eco-friendly dentistry

The pandemic made us all realise the harm we were doing to our planet and that we should make a much bigger effort to protect our planet. The dental industry has also adapted to this and has now seen an increase of interest of patients wanting to use more natural products and for treatments to have less waste to decrease the impact on the environment. This new green dentistry trend is bound to make waves in 2022 and is all thanks to the trends alongside it. People are now becoming much more aware of the impact their habits have and are now incentivised to use less harmful products and improve their lifestyles for better wellbeing.

The dental industry has seen a massive change in new trends throughout the past year with the pandemic being the accelerator of these trends. Things like virtual appointments, rising interest in cosmetic and green dentistry have shown that these trends will likely be growing even more in 2022. Ultimately, it illustrates that people are coming out of the pandemic are focusing on their wellbeing and overall health by wanting more confidence, better appearance, and being more conscious towards our environment. This is all coincided with the dental industry and it seems that the upcoming year is going to be full of positivity, less stress, and even further developments.