Not just care. But also attention to the aesthetics of the smile. It is the synthesis of a key-stone investigation, which shows how in the last 5 years the Italians who have turned to dentist to improve aesthetics of their smile doubled, going from 150 thousand in 2019 to over 300 thousand in 2024. All with an expense equal to almost Two billion euros.
The advance of the search for a white smile and does not stop at these strategies. We are increasingly led to consider the structure and anatomy of the teeth, with 40% of Italians he thinks they have a malocclusion or a misalignment: among them over one in three would like to solve them with orthodontic therapy. It is above all young people, but The desire for a perfect smile It also concerns over 50 more and more and even the elderly. With the greater longevity, the Italians want to maintain a good quality of life and relational until late age, which also passes from a healthy and beautiful smile, and above all lasting.
It is therefore The request for dental systems is growingincreased by 30% in the last five years, with 2.2 million plants in 2024 against 1.7 million in 2019.
How the health of the mouth changes
Rights rights and dazzling smile, therefore: it is the goal of many people, with the progressive renunciation of dentures to make room for plants. To draw the picture are the experts of the Italian Society of periodontology and implantology (SIDP), to the International Congress, underway in Rimini, reporting the results of a large investigation by the Observatory on the dental sector of the Key-Stone Research Institute.
The desire for beautiful and “immortal” teeth It is transversal to all ages and also concerns the elderly: with the increase in life expectancy, the request for permanent systems and prostheses also grows by 30% also in the over 70s who want to maintain a good quality of life and relational, thanks to a healthy smile that lasts over time.
The survey of the Key-Stone Observatory was carried out by interviewing over 10,000 Italians every year, from 2019 to 2024 and first shows that 67% of Italians carried out an oral hygiene session from the dentist, for a total of about 20 million sessions per year. And shows how great growth are the requests for treatments for aesthetic purposeslike the dental bleaching and alignment procedures, and also the creation of aesthetic veneers.
“The role of the dentist he expanded: no longer just oral health professional, but real smile designer – observes Francesco Cairo, president of Sidp and periodontology professor of the University of Florence. Italians are increasingly willing to invest considerable figures to obtain a perfect smile and align with new aesthetic trends. As emerges from the investigation, in fact, only for oral hygiene and bleaching, there is an overall expenditure of about 2 billion euros per yearequal to 20% of all dental expenses “.
More attention to prevention
The attention of Italians to aesthetics and the request for professional oral hygiene become an opportunity to make prevention and keep the mouth healthy, key elements to avoid invasive and expensive interventions in the future.
“Even the interest in having dazzling and aligned teeth brings more and more people by the dentist, and it is positive because it allows us to prevent and better intercept any critical issues that could compromise oral health – comments President SIDP”.
Roberto Rosso, president of Key-Stone takes stock of this sense on the mechanisms that lead to researching increasingly healthy and beautiful teeth.
“The increase in the use of aesthetic procedures is net among the youngest And he reflects the tendency to take care of himself, with different reasons depending on the age group – he explains. Between 20 and 30 years The main reason is to improve to adapt to social standards and thus have more confidence in themselves, to have more satisfactory relationships; between 30 and 40 yearsin a phase of consolidation of professional and personal objectives, beautiful and straight teeth are sought for pleasure to others and reinforce your image through the recognition and approval of others; After 40 years We approach the aesthetic dental care to like more, to have a more harmonious relationship with yourself and reflected with others. It also affects the large number of Italians convinced that it has malocclusions or misalignments: 40% and one in three thinks it would like to solve with orthodontic treatment “.
“All this leads more and more people to choose dental veneers to improve shape, color and symmetry of the teeth, or undergo whitening treatments to lighten the nail polish and obtain a brighter smile, or even, to decide to use transparent aligners to straighten the teeth without visual impact – adds Cairo”.
Less dentures, multiple systems
Over the past 5 years, the number of dental systems has also grown: there have been almost 10 million, with continuous growth that brought from approximately 1.7 million systems of 2019 to almost 2.2 million in 2023 and 2024, with a increase of about 30%despite the 2020 braking due to pandemic.
“Overall, the Italians are spending About 2.3 billion per year For implant treatments – comments Cairo. To choose the plants are increasingly often the elderly Over 70 or even over 80: The boom of requests in the third and fourth age can be explained with the awareness of the lengthening of the life expectancy, which leads the elderly to not be satisfied with mobile prostheses, but to ask for more permanent systems and prostheses, which last longer, have a better yield and guarantee greater quality of life. Having beautiful teeth and for a long time is also ahealth needunderstood not only as care or coexistence with the typical pathologies of the most advanced age, but also as a desire to take more self -care and to improve social integration “.
