What are neck and back pain costing your practice? What are they costing you in your personal life?

Dental Student Pain
  • Over 60% of practicing dentists report that they are practicing in pain according to the Institute of Dental Ergonomics
  • 70% of dental school students begin to suffer pain and chronic neck and back problems by their third year in dental school, according to a 2005 JADA study.
  • According to a 2007 ADA study at least 400,000 practice days are lost due to pain, costing the affected practices over $2 billion annually.
  • According to Great-West Life Insurance, the primary carrier for ADA insurance plans, and the Health Insurance Association of America, 1/3 of all dentists will become disabled for more than 90 days during their practice life, and 40% of those remain permanently disabled for 5 years.
  • On July 1, 2012, Great-West increased the disability coverage maximum to $3 million on ADA insurance programs.
  • According to a 1997 British Dental Journal study, 29.5% of the dentists who retire early do so because of neck and back problems. In the US, an average of 7 years practice life is lost to those with disability-related early retirements.
  • ADA studies projected a declining population of dentists as early as 2008 with the average retirement age of 65. Other studies show that negative growth among practicing dentists began in 2014.