NOAA projects an active 2025 hurricane season as steep U.S. tariffs increase dental supply costs, heightening the risk of shortages during the peak storm months of September and October.
By Genni Burkhart
The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season is forecast by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to be above normal, with a 50% chance of an above-normal season and 13 to 18 named storms, including 5 to 9 hurricanes, and 2 to 5 major hurricanes (NOAA, 2025).
This seasonal risk comes as U.S. tariffs of 10% to more than 50% on imported dental products are also increasing costs for core items such as burs, handpieces, CAD/CAM blocks, and implants (Bandyopadhyay, 2025). For dental professionals, the convergence of these pressures means higher expenses, reduced flexibility in sourcing, and a greater potential for supply chain disruption heading into the most active storm months.
Tariffs Squeeze
Recent reports on the dental supply market show that manufacturers with production facilities in the United States are better prepared to withstand tariff pressures (Bandyopadhyay, 2025). As such, companies that rely heavily on imports are seeing their profits squeezed, which in turn leads to higher prices for dental practices (Bandyopadhyay, 2025).
ZimVie, a dental and spine technology company headquartered in Colorado, and Ultradent, a Utah-based manufacturer of dental materials and equipment, both maintain substantial domestic production, which has helped stabilize pricing. In contrast, companies such as Envista and Aidite, which depend more on imported products, have faced rising costs and reduced profit margins (Bandyopadhyay, 2025). As a direct result of the tariffs, these cost increases are ultimately passed along to U.S. dental practices through higher prices from suppliers.
In fact, the Association for Health Care Resource and Materials Management (AHRMM) estimates tariffs will raise hospital expenses by at least 15% (AHRMM, 2025). Dental practices depend on many of the same devices, packaging, and sterilization supply lines, so similar cost increases are likely.
According to Mugglehead Magazine, citing GlobalData research, about 13% of U.S. medical devices come from China (Morton, 2025). That reliance increases risk when tariffs are applied to both finished products and the components used to produce them. The effect is not limited to high-tech equipment. Common essentials such as gloves, patient bibs, and sterilization pouches also see price increases when tariffs raise the cost of packaging and raw materials.
Storms Disrupt the Supply Chain
Tariffs raise costs over time, while hurricanes create sudden shocks. Severe storms can damage manufacturing facilities, close ports, and halt trucking along key corridors. Even practices far from the coast can feel the effects when one link in the supply chain is disrupted. In dentistry, interruptions can affect both high-value equipment and everyday products that are essential to maintaining patient care and busy schedules.
Hurricane Helene provides a recent example. Flooding at Baxter’s Marion, North Carolina, facility disrupted national IV solution availability after the plant, which produces about 60% of the nation’s IV fluids and peritoneal dialysis solutions, was forced offline (Van Beusekom, 2024; Santhosh & Choudhury, 2025). Shortages lasted for months as allocations were managed and substitutions made in care settings, including dental offices that provide IV sedation.
Even when alternative production sites are available, manufacturers cannot immediately absorb a sudden surge in demand without creating shortages in other regions or supply categories.
The Costly Collision of Delays
When tariff costs meet storm disruptions, the options narrow significantly. Inevitably, higher prices reduce the range of affordable substitutions. Weather-driven delays then make those alternatives harder to get.
Some areas of dentistry are more vulnerable to supply chain disruption than others. Products with strict specifications or regulatory documentation face the highest risk. These include system components that must match existing hardware, anesthesia and sedation supplies that can only be replaced with alternatives proven to be safe and effective, sterilization items that come with lot tracking and detailed instructions for use, and CAD/CAM blocks where shade and milling characteristics must be exact.
When these products are delayed or unavailable, the impact is often felt immediately. Practices may then pay premium freight for rush orders, shuffle appointment schedules when deliveries arrive late, or sacrifice efficiency when teams have to adjust to unfamiliar products under tight deadlines (AHRMM, 2025; Bandyopadhyay, 2025).
The most vulnerable areas include:
- Implant systems and abutments that must match existing patient cases exactly.
- Anesthetic cartridges and IV sedation medications that can only be replaced with alternatives proven to be safe and effective.
- Sterilization and infection control products that have expiration dates and must meet regulatory standards.
- Digital dentistry materials, such as specific CAD/CAM block types and shades, that are needed for precise case matching.
Each of these product types faces a higher risk when tariffs increase costs and hurricanes slow or interrupt delivery.
Building Practice Resilience
For dental practices, staying ahead of supply chain disruptions starts with being proactive, not reactive. The most resilient offices know where their supplies come from, how vendors will respond during a crisis, and what backup options are available.
Begin by clarifying expectations with your primary suppliers. Ask distributors to share their allocation policies, storm procedures, and escalation contacts in writing. Maintain an active account with a secondary distributor, and when possible, establish a direct relationship with at least one manufacturer in a high-priority supply category. This added step creates an alternate route before a shortage occurs.
Adjust inventory for the season by keeping a modest reserve of fast-moving essentials and using a strict first-in, first-out rotation to prevent waste. For any supply that could halt a procedure, identify one clinically acceptable substitute, test it in routine cases now, and update patient instructions and staff job aids so everyone is prepared.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that health care facilities develop supply chain contingency plans that include identifying multiple vendors, regularly checking inventory levels, and reviewing vendor disaster preparedness (CDC, 2024). Dental practices can apply these strategies on a smaller scale to maintain readiness.
Integrate supply status into scheduling for procedures that rely on specific products. Confirm on-hand counts and incoming shipments before locking in appointments. Dedicate 10 focused minutes each week to reviewing tariff updates and vendor notices so the team can adjust before price changes or product holds take effect (AHRMM, 2025; Bandyopadhyay, 2025).
Monitoring the Policy Landscape
Policy shifts are moving quickly. On Aug. 5, the president said pharmaceutical imports would face an initial “small tariff,” with plans to raise it to 150% within about 18 months and eventually to 250% to encourage more domestic production. This information was noted in a CNBC interview and reported by Reuters and other trade outlets tracking manufacturing implications (Wingrove & Shalal, 2025; FiercePharma Staff, 2025). Even before those rates take effect, manufacturers and distributors adjust procurement, allocation, and pricing in anticipation.
When those policy signals are paired with the NOAA Aug. 7 midseason outlook predicting an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season, the takeaway is clear: act now, not later. Waiting until a disruption hits during peak months leaves little room to protect operations or manage costs.
Strategic Takeaway
Tariffs and hurricanes create a combined risk to patient care, scheduling, and cash flow. Effectively reducing that risk means building redundancy in supply routes, validating a small set of clinically acceptable substitutes, aligning scheduling with current inventory, and keeping the dental team informed through short, regular updates.
While these measures take planning, they help maintain continuity of care and protect budgets. Ultimately, higher tariffs push supply costs upward, and those increases are passed to providers and patients. That instability affects more than dental practices; it strains the entire health care system.
Author: With over 15 years as an award-winning journalist, editor, and writer, Genni Burkhart has covered everything from news, politics, and healthcare to finance, corporate leadership, and technology. As editor-in-chief of The Incisor newsletter and blog and editorial writer at DOCS Education, she brings a refreshing insight and a passion for storytelling to the world of sedation dentistry.
References
AHRMM. (2025, June 10). Executive summary: Tariffs and their impact on the U.S. health care supply chain. Association for Health Care Resource & Materials Management. https://www.ahrmm.org/executive-summary/tariffs-impact-us-health-care
Bandyopadhyay, I. (2025, Aug. 11). 4 dental supplies stocks likely to gain amid rising tariff risks. Nasdaq/Zacks. https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/4-dental-supplies-stocks-likely-gain-amid-rising-tariff-risks
CDC. (2024, Nov. 16). Healthcare supply chain resilience: Contingency planning for facilities. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/healthcare/contingency-planning
FiercePharma Staff. (2025, Aug. 5). Trump ups the ante on pharma tariffs, saying they will reach 250%. FiercePharma. https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/trump-ups-ante-pharma-tariffs-sayin…
Morton, J. (2025, July 21). U.S. tariffs on Chinese medical devices threaten global supply chains. Mugglehead. https://mugglehead.com/u-s-tariffs-chinese-medical-devices-threatens-global-supply-chains/
NOAA. (2025, Aug. 7). NOAA 2025 Atlantic hurricane season outlook (midseason update). Climate Prediction Center, National Weather Service. https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/outlooks/hurricane.shtml
Santhosh, C., & Choudhury, K. (2025, Aug. 8). US FDA says country’s IV, injectable saline shortage is resolved. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-fda-says-countrys-iv-injectable-saline-shortage-is-resolved-2025-08-08/
Van Beusekom, M. (2024, Oct. 10). IV fluid shortages worsened by Hurricane Helene likely to linger despite larger allocations. Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/resilient-drug-supply/iv-fluid-shortages-worsened-hurricane-helene-likely-linger-despite-larger
Wingrove, P., & Shalal, A. (2025, Aug. 6). U.S. to initially impose ‘small tariff’ on pharma imports, Trump says. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-initially-impose-small-tariff-pharma-imports-trump-says-2025-08-05/
