The Anecdotal Recession

I went to the dentist today, and at the end of the checkup, he gave me this statistic: 3 in 10 65 year-olds have no teeth, and another 3 in 10 only have half their teeth.  He informed me that my teeth put me in the elite, and that in the last couple of years they've been pulling out as many teeth in one day as they used to in two weeks.  He followed up by saying this was a recession of pain.  People only did something when it was painful not to.  I can't verify any of his statements, but my gut tells me he's reasonably accurate.