The market for dentists and dental practices in France

The profession of dentist (or dental surgeon) is the practice of odontology, i.e. the study and care of the dental organ, the jawbone and related tissues.

In France, this profession is marked by a true liberal tradition, with 83.2% of dentists being self-employed (exclusive self-employed + mixed), creating a competitive market in this field.this creates a competitive market in this sector of medicine, where hospital activity is very limited. However, this proportion has been falling steadily for several years (from 90.6% in 2010 to 83.2% in 2023), while the total number of dentists is rising steadily (+12% between 2010 and 2023)[Drees]. In addition, themajority of dental surgeons are grouped within structures that can be of 4 types: SCM, SCP, SELARL and SISA.

The global market is driven by greater attention to personal hygiene, and by an ageing world population: between 2000 and 2050, the proportion of people over 60 in the world will double, according to the WHO. In 2022, it is estimated at 433.2 billion US dollars, and should continue to grow at a CAGR(combined annual growth rate) of 4.5% over the period 2023-2030. This growth is also due to the fact that emerging and developing countries are seeing an ever-increasing proportion of their populations access dental care, as in the case of theSoutheast Asian market, which is forecast to grow the fastest between 2023 and 2030 (5.7% CAGR). Even so, the global dental care market remains dominated by developed countries, with the USA currently holding a 48.3% share. [Grand View Research]

Concentrated in metropolitan France and major cities, the French market will have 45,249 dentists on January 1, 2023[Drees]. like the global market, the French market is growing, but has been hard hit by the health crisis. dental fees, for example,rose by 12% between 2011 and 2019, then fell by 8% in 2020, beforerising again by 24% between 2020 and 2022, reaching around 13.5 billion euros. [Drees]

The largest segments of the national market are dentures and dental and conservative care, which account for 51.2% and 18.2% of total care respectively. By far the biggest funders of this care are complementary organizations, which cover 45.1% of expenditure. [Drees]

The French market is mainly driven by an ageing population, an overall improvement in oral health and government intervention. Cost remains the main obstacle to French consumption. However, measures introduced by the Conventions nationales des chirurgiens-dentistes signed in June 2018 and July 2023 aim to facilitate access to dental care and promote conservative care to encourage prevention.