The Italian Dental Sector in a Period of Economic Crisis

A deep economic crisis started in Italy in 2008 leading to a reduction of general household consumptions, especially in the oral health care sector. The dental sector is characterized by the almost exclusively private nature of the services offered outside the INHS, thus taking the form of a demand-driven sector. The paper focuses on Italian dentists' perception of the economic crisis. It presents the first findings of an empirical research that was carried out in order to verify if and to what extent this occupational category perceived the economic crisis, if any threats were felt, what changes and challenges it was experiencing and what kind of strategies the profession has been implementing in order to overcome the crisis. Although dentists clearly state their problems and the perceived threats, they are not able to identify possible solutions as well.