Dental Care Meets the Wallet
A new KFF study confirms what dental teams hear every day: cost remains a major barrier to care, even for insured patients. From postponed appointments to mounting dental debt, financial stress is shaping how and when patients engage with oral health services.
If you have ever heard a patient say, “I’ll wait until next year,” the latest KFF Health Tracking Poll may feel less like news and more like confirmation. According to the 2025 findings, just under half of United States adults report difficulty affording healthcare costs, and dental care is firmly part of that equation.
Cost-related delays remain common. More than one-third of adults say they skipped or postponed needed healthcare in the past year because of expense. This often translates into missed preventive visits, delayed periodontal therapy, and patients presenting later with more advanced disease. The issue is especially pronounced among uninsured adults younger than 65, three-quarters of whom report going without needed care due to cost.
Prescription costs also play a role in oral health outcomes. About one in five adults say they did not fill a prescription because of cost, while nearly a quarter opted for over-the-counter alternatives. Perhaps most striking is the scope of healthcare debt, which includes dental bills. Four in 10 adults report carrying medical or dental debt, with nearly a quarter unable to pay some bills at all. Others are paying off balances directly to providers, on credit cards, or through loans. These financial pressures disproportionately affect lower-income households, uninsured patients, women, parents, and Black and Hispanic adults.
Importantly, insurance is not a cure-all. Nearly four in 10 insured adults worry about affording their monthly premiums, and many rate their coverage as only “fair” or “poor” when it comes to out-of-pocket costs. For dental practices, this reinforces the reality that coverage does not always equal affordability. Click here to read more.
