The 2026 Dental Practice Review brings together industry survey responses and independent Australian data to help answer those questions. It gives practice leaders an evidence-based view of the sector, so they can compare their own experience with broader trends and make clearer decisions about what to prioritise.
Get the Full Picture
Download The 2026 Dental Practice Review to explore the evidence, compare its findings with your own experience and identify where your practice could focus next.
An Uneven Picture of Practice Performance
The findings show that practices aren’t all experiencing the same conditions. About 47% reported improved performance, while 53% said performance was steady or had declined. That split is a reminder that broad economic headlines don’t tell the whole story. Workforce capacity, patient demand and a practice’s own operating conditions all shape its position.
The report also highlights a gap between patient experience and patient retention. 72% of respondents were confident in their practice’s ability to differentiate its patient experience, compared with 45% who were confident in bringing patients back. A positive experience matters, but practices may also need consistent recall and reactivation processes to turn that experience into ongoing relationships.
Technology presents another opportunity and a reason to proceed thoughtfully. The report describes AI adoption as early and cautious, with an average adoption stage of 2 out of 4. Meanwhile, workflow was the most requested area for improvement (34%), while patient communication was the most commonly reported daily friction (39%). Together, these findings point to practical questions about where technology and process changes could make the greatest difference.
What Practices can Get from the Report
The 2026 Dental Practice Review is designed to help practice owners, principals, managers and clinicians:
- Benchmark their experience against the patterns reported by other Australian practices.
- Identify priorities across workforce, patient access, online bookings, retention, workflow and technology.
- Spot gaps between intention and daily operations, such as confidence in patient experience versus confidence in re-engaging patients.
- Put technology decisions in context, including the current stage of AI adoption and the importance of security and trust.
- Build a baseline for future comparison. As the first edition of an annual review, this report gives practices a reference point to revisit as sector conditions change.
The research combines a primary industry survey with two supplementary practice-technology surveys and independent evidence from Australian government and regulatory sources. The sources are used for different purposes rather than being mathematically pooled, giving readers context while keeping the limits of each data set clear.
Make your Next Priorities Evidence-Led
Every practice has its own circumstances. The value of the review is in helping you see those circumstances in a wider context, ask better questions and decide where to focus next.
Download The 2026 Dental Practice Review to explore the findings and consider what they mean for your practice.
