Objectives: To provide the dental community information concerning the national estimates of periodontic procedures completed on a yearly basis, which types of dentists perform periodontal procedures and the yearly expenditures from periodontic procedures.

Methods: The Survey of Dental Services Rendered provided statistical information on the patients treated by dentists in private practice and on the dental services they received. The Survey Center of the American Dental Association (ADA) has conducted this survey approximately every ten years since 1959. National estimates of dental procedures were calculated from the information collected by the Survey of Dental Services Rendered.

Results: Periodontal procedures accounted for 2.5% of all dental procedures completed in 1990 and again in 1999. General practitioners preformed 59.4% of all periodontal procedures in 1999, periodontists 41.4%, and other specialties 0.8%. While general practitioners are doing more procedures than periodontists, their earnings are less. The annual expenditures on periodontal procedures were estimated to be 4.4 billion in 1999. Of this, 2.3 billion went to periodontists and 2.0 billion to general practitioners. The most common periodontal procedure done by periodontists was periodontal maintenance. In 1999, the national estimate for periodontal maintenance among periodontists was 7.5 million. General practitioners also do this procedure. In 1999, they performed an estimated 5.2 million periodontal maintenances.

Conclusions: Periodontists receive more of the national expenditure on periodontal procedures while doing fewer procedures by doing the more complicated and more expensive procedures.

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