This past Thanksgiving week gave us a chance to experience a sense of holiday “normalcy” we haven’t seen since 2019 – prior to the pandemic lockdown a few months later. Families and friends were unable to celebrate milestones or holidays together. Social gatherings became a distant memory. Major like events like weddings, graduations, retirements and birthdays were either “deferred” or came-and-went without fanfare. So, after two years of this austerity and lack of “fun” we’re ALL ready to embrace the upcoming holiday festivities…to paraphrase Prince, and party like it’s 2019! But, are you REALLY ready???
Despite the emotional tolls the separations took, not to mention the drastic lifestyle changes, getting back “out there” does require a change of mindset, an updating of habits, and both mental and physical preparations. Can you remember how to socially interact with people in the same room? Are you keeping those “pandemic” grays or “natural” hairstyles? Will you continue to vegetable garden and home-bake goodies? What about that beard or those nail appointments you missed? And speaking of missed appointments, when was the last time you went to your doctor for a wellness visit, your optometrist for an updated vision prescription, or your dentist for a check-up?
Yeah…LOTS of things got neglected during the pandemic! And we can’t quote a lot of statistics about many of these other activities – although we can guarantee those numbers ARE out there and available – but since this IS a dental blog, we can shed some light on the staggering number of people who completely neglected their dental health during this two-year period. Thanks to the researchers at Byte.com we have a wealth of information they gathered. And while we’re citing the specifics concerning the pandemic, we highly encourage you to check out the depth of their research.
“Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, 30% of people have not been to the dentist. On top of that, more than one-third (34%) do not go regularly. That number is even higher in rural communities where 41% go inconsistently or not at all.
The top reasons for avoiding the dentist are:
Cost, too expensive: 59%
Dental anxiety: 44%
Not wanting to go: 39%
Worried about a cavity or needing a procedure: 34%
No insurance: 33%
“Along with saving money, dental anxiety plays a big role in the reason people skip the dentist. More than two out of five (44%) avoid appointments because they’re too anxious or afraid. In fact, 42% surveyed said they have dental anxiety.
“Miami is already one of the biggest dental procrastinators, and it looks like dental anxiety is the main reason. By analyzing Google search trends, we found the Florida city is the most afraid of the dentist. Miami is followed by Minneapolis, Raleigh, Bakersfield, and Atlanta.
“Across the nation, many people dealing with dental anxiety don’t live far from each other. Four of the top ten cities are in California (Bakersfield, Long Beach, Oakland, and Sacramento). Out of the top 20, two are also in Arizona (Tucson and Mesa).”
They go on to detail the top 50 cities for “dental procrastinators” and Texas had an embarrassing SEVEN out of the list! #4: Arlington… #8: Fort Worth… #24: Dallas… #27: Houston… #35: El Paso… #39: Austin… #42: San Antonio. So while this upcoming holiday season finally promises to bring a refreshing abundance of reasons to smile “like it’s 2019,” NOW is the time make sure your smile has true holiday sparkle!