New Data: 43% of U.S. Dentists Use AI, Over 80% Do Not Adopt Assisted Treatment Recommendations

Source: Q2 2026 U.S. Dental Economic Report

DentalGoodNews｜The ADA Health Policy Institute released the "2026 Q2 U.S. Dental Economic Report" in July 2026. The report shows that 43.3% of U.S. private practice dentists are already using artificial intelligence (AI) in their practices, 26.4% indicated they are not currently using it but plan to, and 30.3% said they are not using it and have no plans to do so.

The AI-related data in this report is based on feedback from 552 private practice dentists. The report surveyed dentists' use of AI in clinical and non-clinical tasks, as well as their attitudes toward the development of AI in dentistry.

Source: Q2 2026 U.S. Dental Economic Report

In specific application scenarios, imaging and diagnostics are the areas with the highest current AI usage, with 22.8% of dentists already using it and 25.4% planning to. Administrative tasks such as insurance verification, charting, billing, and claims submission are also major application areas, with current usage rates of 13.6% for insurance verification, 7.4% for charting, and 9.2% for billing and claims submission.

Treatment recommendations are the AI application scenario with the lowest acceptance among dentists, with only 12.9% planning to use AI-assisted treatment recommendations, and 82.6% indicating they have no intention of adopting it. Some dentists who responded to open-ended questions stated that existing imaging AI still has accuracy issues and emphasized that clinical judgment and final decisions must remain with the dentist.

Source: Q2 2026 U.S. Dental Economic Report

For dentists who are not yet using AI but plan to, the priority implementation scenarios for 2026 are primarily front desk check-in tools (32.4%), appointment scheduling (29.6%), and clinic analytics/business intelligence (29.3%).

Regarding attitudes toward AI, 21.5% of dentists are generally optimistic, 17.7% believe AI should serve as a tool rather than a replacement for clinical judgment, 13.8% hold a negative attitude, and 9.9% expressed skepticism or concern.

Source: Q2 2026 U.S. Dental Economic Report

Additionally, the report shows that U.S. consumer dental spending has increased by 1% over the past 12 months. Since January 2021, prices for Dental Equipment and Consumables have risen by 23%, dental clinic employee hourly wages have increased by 23%, while the dental service reimbursement index has risen by 19%, creating a persistent "fiscal squeeze" due to the gap.