Would You Become a Dentist Under These Circumstances?

[Doctorfish]

I have a real passion for Dentistry and I know it. I have watched multiple procedures, I have held a few instruments, I envision myself forever changing a person's smile and the patient's satisfaction. I really love that it is not only a clinical field but also an art. I love that it is hands on. It is what I want to do. But some of the things I keep seeing on here draw me away. No, it's not that some patients will hate you. No it is not that it's a profession where you will be spending lots of time inside someone's bloody and messy mouth. It is the job stability, the student debt, and the apparent "need to open a private practice." My question is: would dentistry be worth it as a career if:

-I plan to work as an associate/in a corporate office/in some kind of federally qualified health center
-I plan to take on the least debt as possible (choosing an in state school and staying around 40K a year for tuition along with help from my parents)

My biggest concerns are these: the ability to "find" a job rather than opening up my own practice, the ability to pay off student debt in these jobs, and the ability to still have that great work life balance as an employee. Is this still possible, or are all these benefits only reaped from private practice. I am not asking to make millions, but can I still find a stable job where I can make $140K+ on possibly a 4-5 day work schedule? And is this smart with the amount of student loans I plan to take on?

I just don't want to enter the field and find out I "have to" open up my own practice and I am drowning in debt. I do not want to be locked to one location forever just because I have my own practice. Do not get me wrong, I think owning a practice is amazing, and I could possibly plan on it one day, but as of right now, my vision is set on working as an employee. So... would any of you say that is worth it/would any of you do dentistry under these circumstances?

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[PikminOC]

You can work for corporate

 

[LaughingGas]

Wait what? you drown in debt when you open? Long term, you would be losing money if you don't. You will make 140k easy except for super saturated cities/states. 40k tuition per year, you will probably be less than 200k total debt. Man, if I had that , I could probably pay off in three years.
To answer your questions, assuming less than 200k total debt, paying off with mid 100k salary, finding a job offering mid 100k salary are all doable.

 

[Doctorfish]

Wait what? you drown in debt when you open? Long term, you would be losing money if you don't. You will make 140k easy except for super saturated cities/states. 40k tuition per year, you will probably be less than 200k total debt. Man, if I had that , I could probably pay off in three years.
To answer your questions, assuming less than 200k total debt, paying off with mid 100k salary, finding a job offering mid 100k salary are all doable.

It is more so a preference kind of thing. I would rather work as an associate and be given the patient pool and not have to worry about the administrative aspects and making sure all the lights and equipment are up. I would rather not worry about hiring people or even managing someone who does all of that for me... at least not for right now. How much money would you be losing long-term? I see this as doing work the way you like to do it for lesser pay.

Also, is the work life balance still there as an associate (AKA 4-5 days a week, 40 hours or less, no call)?

 

[gryffindor]

Yes, you will find someone to hire you for $140K + benefits. The public health places will love to have you.

 

[schmoob]

You will have no problem finding a job, as long as you are willing to move.
Also, practice debt is good debt because there is cash flow and tax incentives.

 

[charlestweed]

I have a real passion for Dentistry and I know it. I have watched multiple procedures, I have held a few instruments, I envision myself forever changing a person's smile and the patient's satisfaction. I really love that it is not only a clinical field but also an art. I love that it is hands on. It is what I want to do. But some of the things I keep seeing on here draw me away. No, it's not that some patients will hate you. No it is not that it's a profession where you will be spending lots of time inside someone's bloody and messy mouth. It is the job stability, the student debt, and the apparent "need to open a private practice." My question is: would dentistry be worth it as a career if:

-I plan to work as an associate/in a corporate office/in some kind of federally qualified health center
-I plan to take on the least debt as possible (choosing an in state school and staying around 40K a year for tuition along with help from my parents)

My biggest concerns are these: the ability to "find" a job rather than opening up my own practice, the ability to pay off student debt in these jobs, and the ability to still have that great work life balance as an employee. Is this still possible, or are all these benefits only reaped from private practice. I am not asking to make millions, but can I still find a stable job where I can make $140K+ on possibly a 4-5 day work schedule? And is this smart with the amount of student loans I plan to take on?

I just don't want to enter the field and find out I "have to" open up my own practice and I am drowning in debt. I do not want to be locked to one location forever just because I have my own practice. Do not get me wrong, I think owning a practice is amazing, and I could possibly plan on it one day, but as of right now, my vision is set on working as an employee. So... would any of you say that is worth it/would any of you do dentistry under these circumstances?

First, make sure that you have good enough GPA and DAT score so you can beat the top applicants for a spot at one of these cheap dental schools that charges $40k/year. There aren’t many of these cheap schools out there.

You should have no problem finding job that pays $140k/year if you stay away from places like SoCal and NYC. With such income and a160- $200k student debt amount, you should be fine if you are single and have no kid. If you plan to have kid(s) and want to provide them a comfortable lifestyle (good school in a good neighborhood, health insurance, college fund, a car in highschool, private lessons etc), then you’ll need to make a lot more than $140k/year…..and your spouse needs to work as well.

I was like you when I applied for dental schools. I just wanted to be a general dentist and work for someone else for the rest of my life. And when I was in dental school, I changed my mind. I wanted to apply for ortho. When I was about to finish my ortho residency, I sold most of my ortho instruments to my co-residents because I didn’t think I had the right business skills to open a successful practice. I had earned a very good living working full time for the corp and I planned to do this for the rest of my life. But after about 4 years, I decided to set up my own practice. The reason I told you about my story is I want to make a point that things don’t always go according to what you’ve planned.

One thing to keep in mind that the harder you work early in life, the less you have to later in life. If you take things easy early in life, you will have to work longer to reach your retirement goal. Time flies and you can’t reverse it. I’ve seen dentists who have to work a lot of hours in their late 60s because they still need the money. The more you make and save now, the sooner you can retire. The Kansas Chiefs football team worked hard early in the season to earn the #1 spot and a first round bye. And toward the end of the season, the players could rest because the outcome of the last game against LA chargers was meaningless.

 

[Doctorfish]

First, make sure that you have good enough GPA and DAT score so you can beat the top applicants for a spot at one of these cheap dental schools that charges $40k/year. There aren’t many of these cheap schools out there.

You should have no problem finding job that pays $140k/year if you stay away from places like SoCal and NYC. With such income and a160- $200k student debt amount, you should be fine if you are single and have no kid. If you plan to have kid(s) and want to provide them a comfortable lifestyle (good school in a good neighborhood, health insurance, college fund, a car in highschool, private lessons etc), then you’ll need to make a lot more than $140k/year…..and your spouse needs to work as well.

I was like you when I applied for dental schools. I just wanted to be a general dentist and work for someone else for the rest of my life. And when I was in dental school, I changed my mind. I wanted to apply for ortho. When I was about to finish my ortho residency, I sold most of my ortho instruments to my co-residents because I didn’t think I had the right business skills to open a successful practice. I had earned a very good living working full time for the corp and I planned to do this for the rest of my life. But after about 4 years, I decided to set up my own practice. The reason I told you about my story is I want to make a point that things don’t always go according to what you’ve planned.

One thing to keep in mind that the harder you work early in life, the less you have to later in life. If you take things easy early in life, you will have to work longer to reach your retirement goal. Time flies and you can’t reverse it. I’ve seen dentists who have to work a lot of hours in their late 60s because they still need the money. The more you make and save now, the sooner you can retire. The Kansas Chiefs football team worked hard early in the season to earn the #1 spot and a first round bye. And toward the end of the season, the players could rest because the outcome of the last game against LA chargers was meaningless.

This was great, I appreciate the insight! I figured things will change in the future, and as of right now I am set on working as an associate, but I am open to the possibility of opening my own practice. Also, great analogy at the end!

I just have one question and that is why do you point out that I would need to make a lot more if I have kids? In my head $140K seems like quite a bit! I know the debt is high too, but I plan that off as fast as possible so that I can start making money I can save. Would I still need to be making a higher income in this scenario? How much more are we talking? haha

 

[HKSZYU]

Everything you're looking for is very doable. If you're able to keep your debt under $200k, you have a lot of flexibility. Over the course of your career, you would make more as an owner. But if being an owner isn't your thing and you're fine with a mid $100k salary, you could do associateships, corporate, public health, potentially even academia.

 

[charlestweed]

This was great, I appreciate the insight! I figured things will change in the future, and as of right now I am set on working as an associate, but I am open to the possibility of opening my own practice. Also, great analogy at the end!

I just have one question and that is why do you point out that I would need to make a lot more if I have kids? In my head $140K seems like quite a bit! I know the debt is high too, but I plan that off as fast as possible so that I can start making money I can save. Would I still need to be making a higher income in this scenario? How much more are we talking? haha

After paying taxes on the $140k income, your take-home will be around $110k or around $9k a month. If you plan to pay your $160k student loan back in 10 years, your required minimum monthly payment amount will be $2k/month. If you work as an independent contractor, you have to buy your own health insurance, which will be around $1k a month. Other expenses like malpractice insurance, car insurance, car maintenance etc will set you back another $1k a month. The rent for a decent 2 bed 2 bath apartment is around $1.5-2k/month. So you will have around $3k to live for a month and this should be plenty for a single person.

If you plan to have kid(s) and want provide them the same comfortable lifestyle as what your parents have provided for you, you’ll need to make at least 2x as much. According to your previous post, you said your parents would be able to help you to bring down the dental school cost to just $40k/year so I assume that you are from a middle to high income family. Am I correct? If you can’t make that much, then your spouse will need to have a full time job as well. For a nice 7-day trip to Hawaii, you only need around $3k for yourself but for a family of 4, you will need to spend at least $10k. Being a single person, you don’t need to buy disability insurance and life insurance. You don’t need to set up fund for your kids’ future education. Being single, you are not tied to one place. You can just rent a cheap place and travel everywhere. You don’t need buy an expensive house in a good school district and safe neighborhood. You don’t need to pay big bucks for childcare service while you work.

A few months ago, we spent close to $2k for my son to take the SAT test, which should only cost $58 to take. They cancelled my son’s SAT test at the very last minute due to Covid and only 10% of the test centers in CA were opened. Fortunately, my wife was able to register for my son to take the SAT at another test center in Twin Falls, Idaho….and we had to spend close to $2k for the last minute fight tickets and hotel. Not a lot of parents could afford to do what we did. There will be a lot of unexpected events like this one that require you to spend a lot of money when you have kids….braces, private lessons, sport equipments, sport-related injuries and hospital fees etc. If you are single, you don’t have to worry about any of these. Dentistry has been great for us and we are very fortunate.

 

[Doctorfish]

After paying taxes on the $140k income, your take-home will be around $110k or around $9k a month. If you plan to pay your $160k student loan back in 10 years, your required minimum monthly payment amount will be $2k/month. If you work as an independent contractor, you have to buy your own health insurance, which will be around $1k a month. Other expenses like malpractice insurance, car insurance, car maintenance etc will set you back another $1k a month. The rent for a decent 2 bed 2 bath apartment is around $1.5-2k/month. So you will have around $3k to live for a month and this should be plenty for a single person.

If you plan to have kid(s) and want provide them the same comfortable lifestyle as what your parents have provided for you, you’ll need to make at least 2x as much. According to your previous post, you said your parents would be able to help you to bring down the dental school cost to just $40k/year so I assume that you are from a middle to high income family. Am I correct? If you can’t make that much, then your spouse will need to have a full time job as well. For a nice 7-day trip to Hawaii, you only need around $3k for yourself but for a family of 4, you will need to spend at least $10k. Being a single person, you don’t need to buy disability insurance and life insurance. You don’t need to set up fund for your kids’ future education. Being single, you are not tied to one place. You can just rent a cheap place and travel everywhere. You don’t need buy an expensive house in a good school district and safe neighborhood. You don’t need to pay big bucks for childcare service while you work.

A few months ago, we spent close to $2k for my son to take the SAT test, which should only cost $58 to take. They cancelled my son’s SAT test at the very last minute due to Covid and only 10% of the test centers in CA were opened. Fortunately, my wife was able to register for my son to take the SAT at another test center in Twin Falls, Idaho….and we had to spend close to $2k for the last minute fight tickets and hotel. Not a lot of parents could afford to do what we did. There will be a lot of unexpected events like this one that require you to spend a lot of money when you have kids….braces, private lessons, sport equipments, sport-related injuries and hospital fees etc. If you are single, you don’t have to worry about any of these. Dentistry has been great for us and we are very fortunate.

I appreciate how thorough you are with your responses! $2K for the SAT, sheesh! That is pretty awesome that you have the ability to that for your son and I know how important it is. I hope he does well

I guess where I am getting stuck is how people who work jobs that pay much less still have enough money for their children and such. I feel like the first 5 years or so of having kids won't be too expensive since their needs are much less financially related and more so time. And I don't plan to have kids as soon as I am fresh out of dental school. I plan to pay off student loans in less than 10 years, maybe 5 or less. I plan to live humbly, or at least in a temporary place where I am not paying much before I plan to really kickstart my life. Then my salary would be $140K and all of it is take home after taxes. Then I will have that extra $2k to spend on my kids. My significant other plans to work as well. Is this enough? I am writing this as I know you have experience, I just want to make sure I am not missing something.

(Side note: I plan to live in Florida where the cost of living is much cheaper)

 

[charlestweed]

I appreciate how thorough you are with your responses! $2K for the SAT, sheesh! That is pretty awesome that you have the ability to that for your son and I know how important it is. I hope he does well

I guess where I am getting stuck is how people who work jobs that pay much less still have enough money for their children and such. I feel like the first 5 years or so of having kids won't be too expensive since their needs are much less financially related and more so time. And I don't plan to have kids as soon as I am fresh out of dental school. I plan to pay off student loans in less than 10 years, maybe 5 or less. I plan to live humbly, or at least in a temporary place where I am not paying much before I plan to really kickstart my life. Then my salary would be $140K and all of it is take home after taxes. Then I will have that extra $2k to spend on my kids. My significant other plans to work as well. Is this enough? I am writing this as I know you have experience, I just want to make sure I am not missing something.

(Side note: I plan to live in Florida where the cost of living is much cheaper)

This is because America is the land of opportunities. Everybody has equal chance at success. Low income families get financial assistances from the government such as medicaid, childcare service....and when their kids go colleges, they get grants. If you earn enough income to be classified as middle class, you have to pay everything yourself, including college tuition for your kids. And if you are a dentist and are in the upper income bracket , you will have to pay much higher taxes...so you need to be careful with your spendings. You need to put aside a small amount every month. Just in case you underpay the estimated taxes....and by April 15th, you have enough money to pay the amount you owe the government.

Florida, a beautiful state, isn't it? Your $140k associate income + your spouse's income should be plenty. Another big plus of living in FL is you don't have to pay state income tax. You should have no problem paying back the $160k student loan in 5 or less years. If you plan to have kids, you don't need to delay until you become more established financially. When your kids are 1-2 years old, you can work as hard as you can to improve your clinical skills, build your reputation, and make a lot of money. They are too young to remember if you spend time with them or not. By the time they are 5-6 years old, you can work less (and still be able to earn the same income because you are done with paying back the student loans) and spend more time with them. It's also more fun to take vacations with kids that are older....no need to carry the heavy stroller and worry about diaper changes.

 

[PerioDont]

I appreciate how thorough you are with your responses! $2K for the SAT, sheesh! That is pretty awesome that you have the ability to that for your son and I know how important it is. I hope he does well

I guess where I am getting stuck is how people who work jobs that pay much less still have enough money for their children and such. I feel like the first 5 years or so of having kids won't be too expensive since their needs are much less financially related and more so time. And I don't plan to have kids as soon as I am fresh out of dental school. I plan to pay off student loans in less than 10 years, maybe 5 or less. I plan to live humbly, or at least in a temporary place where I am not paying much before I plan to really kickstart my life. Then my salary would be $140K and all of it is take home after taxes. Then I will have that extra $2k to spend on my kids. My significant other plans to work as well. Is this enough? I am writing this as I know you have experience, I just want to make sure I am not missing something.

(Side note: I plan to live in Florida where the cost of living is much cheaper)

honestly a lot of people are in significant amounts of debt. That is how they have enough money for those things.

I remember talking with a medical assistant in her 60s who makes around $20/hr. She said she got braces for all three of her kids at a cost of roughly 15k and financed it all. She also has financed cars, house, credit cards etc. Likely has minimal if any retirement savings and will rely on SS if she ever does retire. Many people are like this. Heck I have an 82 year old patient that still works selling shoes. They like to show people they've got stuff, but they do not. all hat, no cattle.

I remember reading an article saying 59% of people can not afford to pay for a $1,000 emergency that occurs in their life. Whether its a car breakdown, charles SAT story, or you get sick and need an expensive blood test, this is a reality in our country. Frankly the middle class is being financially squeezed and more and more people are trying to live 'Instagram' lifestyles.

I think you can make it work as a lifelong associate esp with an SO that works, but you have to actually live humbly. I feel like many people say that and then when they actually get on with their careers and start hanging out with a 'doctor' crowd, suddenly start buying BMWs and fancy houses.
Heck as a D4 several of my classmates have bought houses with 'doctor' loans, and started leasing fancy cars. The key for you is getting a good DAT and GPA and getting into a cheap state school. Then it is all doable. also avoid getting divorced, will really eat you up financially.

 

[gryffindor]

When my two kids were 5 and 1, I was paying $2588 a month for full time daycare in a HCOL community considered to be a suburb of NYC. Little kids are not cheap. They’re only cheap if you have free childcare.

 

[PerioDont]

When my two kids were 5 and 1, I was paying $2588 a month for full time daycare in a HCOL community considered to be a suburb of NYC. Little kids are not cheap. They’re only cheap if you have free childcare.

with 2 average income adults, many times it makes more financial sense for one to stay at home and take care of the kids. daycare $$ ain't no joke.

 

[charlestweed]

with 2 average income adults, many times it makes more financial sense for one to stay at home and take care of the kids. daycare $$ ain't no joke.

A lot of Asian and Hispanic people live together with extend family members. The grandparents help baby sit the kids while the parents are at work. The uncle drives his nephew and his own kids to school. The aunt drives the niece to the ortho office etc. My sister and her husband had lived with our parents for 3 years before they bought their first house. Our parents helped take care of my sister’s 3 kids, cook and do work around the house. My sister helped our parents pay the home mortgage. And that’s how she was able to work 7 days/week when she started her dental practice. When I get older and have grandchildren, I don’t mind staying home taking care of them. I get to see my children and my grand children more often. Nothing is worse than being old and lonely.

 

[PerioDont]

A lot of Asian and Hispanic people live together with extend family members. The grandparents help baby sit the kids while the parents are at work. The uncle drives his nephew and his own kids to school. The aunt drives the niece to the ortho office etc. My sister and her husband had lived with our parents for 3 years before they bought their first house. Our parents helped take care of my sister’s 3 kids, cook and do work around the house. My sister helped our parents pay the home mortgage. And that’s how she was able to work 7 days/week when she started her dental practice. When I get older and have grandchildren, I don’t mind staying home taking care of them. I get to see my children and my grand children more often. Nothing is worse than being old and lonely.

agreed. I think living with extended family is a lot less common in Caucasians and other cultures. but there are a ton of benefits.

I think I read some stat that living alone in a nursing home for elderly will shave a few years off of their life span.

 

[allDAT]

Honestly....if you don’t want to own a dental office, I could not recommend this profession. Good jobs are hard to come by, we usually have to buy one (a practice).

If you want flexibility to move about consider another gig.

 

[PerioDont]

Honestly....if you don’t want to own a dental office, I could not recommend this profession. Good jobs are hard to come by, we usually have to buy one (a practice).

If you want flexibility to move about consider another gig.

I think I read somewhere that 90%+ of private practice associateships do not work out after one year.

The only way I could think this would possibly work for the OP is a good gig in public health, esp if she/he is an IHS/NHSC scholar.

 

[Doctorfish]

Honestly....if you don’t want to own a dental office, I could not recommend this profession. Good jobs are hard to come by, we usually have to buy one (a practice).

If you want flexibility to move about consider another gig.

What other gigs provide the same flexibility?

 

[PerioDont]

What other gigs provide the same flexibility?

Rep for a dental company - could be in loupes, x-ray machines, chairs, composites (there are reps for companies for literally every product in dentistry, they travel from city to city visiting offices) , temp dental assistant, temp dental hygienist just to name a few in the dental field.

 

[mmc12]

There are actually locum tenens dentists who can travel as part of their job. Check out this lady

 

[allDAT]

What other gigs provide the same flexibility?

We don't have much flexibility as a dentist. If you are not sitting at a dental chair, you're not producing dentistry. A lawyer (for example) can be just as productive with a laptop from any city.

Temping is hit or miss. Some of the offices that bring in temps are real dumps. I was temping at an office and they had endo on the schedule - handed me a clear plastic bin with bundles of files unorganized, unboxed, not sterile, just loose like pens in the junk drawer of a kitchen. Talk to dentists who have temped, there are more bad experiences than good ones that's why so few of us are willing to do it.

Dentistry really requires that the dentist settle into an area and build a reputation over 3 decades because the trust you want to build with your patients takes time to build and this is where both the financial rewards and the job satisfaction comes from. Jumping for one place to another is a hard way to make a living in this profession.

If push came to shove, dentistry is actually one of the least flexible jobs available - state licensure requirements are prohibitive, the cost to buy in/build an office are high, no ability to do your job remotely, and requires a narrow potential customer base (you need people who value their teeth, can afford dental treatment but aren't so affluent that they have an extremely low caries rate)....

 

[charlestweed]

Rep for a dental company - could be in loupes, x-ray machines, chairs, composites (there are reps for companies for literally every product in dentistry, they travel from city to city visiting offices) , temp dental assistant, temp dental hygienist just to name a few in the dental field.

But none of those jobs allows you to bring home a 6-figure income. They are not permanant jobs and the employers can easily replace you with someone else. A $160-200k loan is not that much. The OP is very fortunate to have parents who are willing to help. I'd rather be a dentist if I were him. And with a $140k income, I wouldn't mind working for someone else forever. There are not a lot of job options out there that allow you to bring home a 6-figure income with 9-5 work hours.....no call and you can choose not to work on the weekend.

In order to be happy with your job, you have to be good at what you are doing. Having worked with several dentists at the corp, I notice that dentists who have good clinical skills tend to be happier than dentists who don't. Experienced dentists know what they are doing. They are fast and they make every procedure look easy. And their patients are happy.

Working at busy corp offices gives the new grad dentists the opportunity to improve their speed. With the experience, it'll be easier for these dentists to get better paid jobs or open their own office. Working at a public health center is easy but you won't learn much there because the schedule is light, no pressure to produce, and you do mostly fillings and extractions....not a lot of cosmetic stuff like crowns, brigdes, implants, and veeners. When you leave the job at the public health center (either because you get laid off due to governemnt funding cut or you quit), it will be hard for you to adjust to working at another office that has a busier schedule.

 

[charlestweed]

We don't have much flexibility as a dentist. If you are not sitting at a dental chair, you're not producing dentistry. A lawyer (for example) can be just as productive with a laptop from any city.

Temping is hit or miss. Some of the offices that bring in temps are real dumps. I was temping at an office and they had endo on the schedule - handed me a clear plastic bin with bundles of files unorganized, unboxed, not sterile, just loose like pens in the junk drawer of a kitchen. Talk to dentists who have temped, there are more bad experiences than good ones that's why so few of us are willing to do it.

Dentistry really requires that the dentist settle into an area and build a reputation over 3 decades because the trust you want to build with your patients takes time to build and this is where both the financial rewards and the job satisfaction comes from. Jumping for one place to another is a hard way to make a living in this profession.

If push came to shove, dentistry is actually one of the least flexible jobs available - state licensure requirements are prohibitive, the cost to buy in/build an office are high, no ability to do your job remotely, and requires a narrow potential customer base (you need people who value their teeth, can afford dental treatment but aren't so affluent that they have an extremely low caries rate)....

Jobs that pay well usually give a person less flexiblity and require more discipline and responsibilty. Nothing is easy in life.

 

[allDAT]

Jobs that pay well usually give a person less flexiblity and require more discipline and responsibilty. Nothing is easy in life.

Absolutely, I’m certainly not saying dentists don’t earn a good living for the time commitment. BUT, we still have to be chairside so in my eyes, it’s really not a flexible job because we get tied to a location.

 

[charlestweed]

Absolutely, I’m certainly not saying dentists don’t earn a good living for the time commitment. BUT, we still have to be chairside so in my eyes, it’s really not a flexible job because we get tied to a location.

Working fewer days a week should give you more flexibilty to do other things. Many dentists on this thread work less than 4 days/wk Dentist Salary Compilation. My sister only works 3.5 days/week but in order to achieve this, she had had to work 7 days/wk for the first couple of years when she started her office. I know an ortho who worked 22-23 days straight (including Saturdays and Sundays) and then he took more than a month off to travel to his native country. Being an owner, you have more flexibilty. But you can also have flexibility when you work for someone else....just work less days....and make less money, of course.

Edit: one positive thing comes out of this Covid pandemic is I don't need to work late, from 2-6pm, at my offices anymore. Since most of my patients are kids and they are doing remote learning, I can book all of them from 11:30am-3:30pm.

 

[PerioDont]

We don't have much flexibility as a dentist. If you are not sitting at a dental chair, you're not producing dentistry. A lawyer (for example) can be just as productive with a laptop from any city.

Temping is hit or miss. Some of the offices that bring in temps are real dumps. I was temping at an office and they had endo on the schedule - handed me a clear plastic bin with bundles of files unorganized, unboxed, not sterile, just loose like pens in the junk drawer of a kitchen. Talk to dentists who have temped, there are more bad experiences than good ones that's why so few of us are willing to do it.

Dentistry really requires that the dentist settle into an area and build a reputation over 3 decades because the trust you want to build with your patients takes time to build and this is where both the financial rewards and the job satisfaction comes from. Jumping for one place to another is a hard way to make a living in this profession.

If push came to shove, dentistry is actually one of the least flexible jobs available - state licensure requirements are prohibitive, the cost to buy in/build an office are high, no ability to do your job remotely, and requires a narrow potential customer base (you need people who value their teeth, can afford dental treatment but aren't so affluent that they have an extremely low caries rate)....

Agreed. This is not the job for those seeking constant travel. I find many of my friends that are in those jobs get burned out after a few years though and they no longer want to travel.

Personally I love the idea of settling in one area and growing my family, contacts, and community for decades and is one of the reasons I actually pursued dentistry.

 

[gryffindor]

There are happy associates out there. It's likely not going to be your first job where you will stay forever and ever. It takes time and trial and error to find a situation where you are happy and the boss is happy to keep you. I have an associate who is very happy with her two positions as an associate. I have a number of friends who have been out 10+ years now and remained associates. They've found their niches, fix teeth, collect their paychecks and go home. Owning is rough. It's basically another full time job on top of your clinical dentistry job. Add in being a mom and now you have 3 full time jobs. At that point, you have to start delegating or outsourcing large parts of those jobs to survive without breaking down and feeling like you're failing all 3. Personally I feel like I have 2 human children and 1 practice that behaves exactly like another child - sometimes well behaved and sometimes throwing tantrums. My oldest and my practice are about the same age and are literally growing up and maturing right alongside each other.

There are no other jobs in the field of dentistry that will give you as much flexibility as being a clinical dentist. If you want to travel, you will be able to. That's the great thing about our field. There is so much flexibility, as long as you aren't being strangled by student loans. $160K is a very doable amount of loans.