"I have spent a lot of time watching roundtable videos, reading journals on the future of dentistry, and diving into blogs related to the challenges dentists expect to face. The top issues include the aging population and the demand it will put on the dental industry, particularly for aesthetic treatments. This demand will increase the expectation to possess the newest and best technology and fully train their teams on these advancements. Still, the expenses associated with this are put primarily on the dentist. Also, with this fast and continuous change in dental tech, dentists will need to focus significantly on continued education, again incurring significant expenses. I was speaking with my dentist not long ago, and she estimates that, since becoming a dentist, she has invested at least 100,000 in continued education. In the future, I would love to see dentists gain access to more affordable options to continue educating themselves on the latest industry techniques. Further partnerships with the companies manufacturing this tech would benefit the dentist, the manufacturer, and the patient. Overall, I feel positive, knowing that our industry is ever-evolving. If we can find a way to make these changes financially sustainable for medical professionals, that would be the ideal situation."

As with any interview question, be sure you have facts to support your response. If you describe what you see as major issues facing the dental industry in the next ten years, the interviewers may ask you to expand on your answer or ask where you have received your information.

"I have researched this quite a bit. The primary issue that stands out the most to me is population diversity and needs. Our country is continuing to have an influx of non-English speaking people who may not seek dental services due to a lack of being able to communicate with their providers. I believe this issue can be rectified by providing language-friendly education programs and having easy access to translators. Another major issue I see is offshore dental laboratory proliferation. With so many dental labs in the United States closing down, the product quality standards for products tend to go down. A solution to this problem is to increase the number of Dental Laboratory Schools accredited by the American Dental Association. Currently, there are only 20 schools in the U.S."