Why is my dental practice feeling squeezed even though the industry keeps growing? You feel squeezed because the money behind your average patient has been shrinking for years. Disposable income is down, insurance maximums buy less than they used to, and the carriers fight you harder on every claim. Strip out inflation and dental spending has been on a negative trend since about 2002, dropping roughly eight percent a year on a real basis. The industry total looks fine because growth piled up at the very top. So the typical practice, sitting in the middle, gets hit from three sides at [...]