External forces impacting U.S. health care: implications for future of dental practice

Prognostication requires extrapolation of existing conditions and trends into the future. Alternative perspectives and starting points will suggest alternative futures. Since dentistry does not exist independently of the larger health care environment, it is useful to start by considering external forces that impact the overall health care system in order to anticipate both short-term and long-term changes in the dental profession. This contribution to the Future of the Dental Profession symposium considers dentistry's role within the larger health care environment, examines a variety of forces influencing health care--specifically demography, equity, population health, and social determinants of health, identifies likely demands on the profession, and iterates nine likely changes in the profession.