How much more do Prosthodontists make than GP's??

[simpledoc]

ive been thinking on and off about becoming a prosthodontist, simply cuz i like the hand work involved and the versatality involved with the specialty..but find it so hard to convince myself cuz of all the dental school debt! we recently had a guest speaker, a prosthodontist from a private practice in Florida, who claims that he grosses over a million every year!! how many such prosthodontists actually exist out there?...i dont think this is true with all the prosth guys right? can a GP ever make that kinda money?

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[GQ1]

ive been thinking on and off about becoming a prosthodontist, simply cuz i like the hand work involved and the versatality involved with the specialty..but find it so hard to convince myself cuz of all the dental school debt! we recently had a guest speaker, a prosthodontist from a private practice in Florida, who claims that he grosses over a million every year!! how many such prosthodontists actually exist out there?...i dont think this is true with all the prosth guys right? can a GP ever make that kinda money?

From JPD 2001 9.6% of prosthodontists grossed over $1million per year but this data is 7 years old as it was published 5 years ago.

If your good then as a prosthodontist you can earn big bucks. think of it this way with specialties such as endo there is a limit on how much you can do per day eg 7 hours 7 teeth, this is if you dont do consultations, see any emergencies, spend more than 1 hour on a calcified molar or do 2 visit therapy which is coming back into vogue. In pros A 1 unit PFM takes 2 visits (prep temp and impression and cementation at 2nd visit), 2 units also take 2 visits, a 3 unit bridge takes 3 visits - metal try in (if not using some model like zeizer to compensate for stone expansion so you can finish in 2 visits) a 5 unit bridge takes also takes 3 visits. If you place implants youd leave an hour for 1 implant 1 hour for a 6 implant hybrid or overdenture due to the time required for getting pt ready for surgery, anesthesia waiting for verification radiographs at each stage. The point is pros is almost logarithmic if you can do the big procedures accurately and efficiently.

 

[nnjh]

From JPD 2001 9.6% of prosthodontists grossed over $1million per year but this data is 7 years old as it was published 5 years ago.

If your good then as a prosthodontist you can earn big bucks. think of it this way with specialties such as endo there is a limit on how much you can do per day eg 7 hours 7 teeth, this is if you dont do consultations, see any emergencies, spend more than 1 hour on a calcified molar or do 2 visit therapy which is coming back into vogue. In pros A 1 unit PFM takes 2 visits (prep temp and impression and cementation at 2nd visit), 2 units also take 2 visits, a 3 unit bridge takes 3 visits - metal try in (if not using some model like zeizer to compensate for stone expansion so you can finish in 2 visits) a 5 unit bridge takes also takes 3 visits. If you place implants youd leave an hour for 1 implant 1 hour for a 6 implant hybrid or overdenture due to the time required for getting pt ready for surgery, anesthesia waiting for verification radiographs at each stage. The point is pros is almost logarithmic if you can do the big procedures accurately and efficiently.

Some web sites and publications show prosthodontists making equivalent bank w/ the big boys (OMFS / Ortho) but this must take into account that most prosthodontists practice as GPs. Therefore the people surveyed as making high salaries may be the few very successful clinicians who advertise themselves as prosthodontists. The prosth. residents say that most prosthodontists make a starting salary of around 150Gs but thats after 3 years of in most cases unpaid residency.

 

[GQ1]

Some web sites and publications show prosthodontists making equivalent bank w/ the big boys (OMFS / Ortho) but this must take into account that most prosthodontists practice as GPs. Therefore the people surveyed as making high salaries may be the few very successful clinicians who advertise themselves as prosthodontists. The prosth. residents say that most prosthodontists make a starting salary of around 150Gs but thats after 3 years of in most cases unpaid residency.

Where is you published evidenced that surveyed prosthodontists that concluded most practice as GPs? - untrue. Every 2-3 year specialty apart from Endo and Pedo starts off around $150k per year after 3years of residency - yes that includes orthodontists several i know taking only $500 to $600 a day to begin with making less than the pros residents who graduated with them.

 

[Dr. Dai Phan]

ive been thinking on and off about becoming a prosthodontist, simply cuz i like the hand work involved and the versatality involved with the specialty..but find it so hard to convince myself cuz of all the dental school debt! we recently had a guest speaker, a prosthodontist from a private practice in Florida, who claims that he grosses over a million every year!! how many such prosthodontists actually exist out there?...i dont think this is true with all the prosth guys right? can a GP ever make that kinda money?

Hello all,

For most current data, go to the ADA Website and look under salary for each specialty. Other sources I would stay away from. Now, regarding prosthodontist's salary, remember that pros. has the highest overhead rate of any specialty so you end up making only 40% ish of what you gross. If you are an established pros. say 5-7 years into pratice, I would say 200,000 net would be appropriate. I work for the VA as a prosthodontist and every month, we get a report of how much production I generated for that month. I gross about 40,000 grands a month on production output. Now, if I do maxillofacial pros. cases such as insertion of surgical obturators and so forth, then I add another 10-15,000 on top of that. While the overhead is high, the fee collected is also high. The reason why most prosthodontists do not make money off the bat is that many patients do not require such intensive full mouth rehab. DP