2019 Starting Salary For Dentists?

[pubhealthdent]

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As an OMFS from eastern Europe, in practice for 8 years now, would like to inquire about opportunities of reaching Oral Surgery field in the States, upon graduation from US dental school as a GP.
In other words, how realistic is to anticipate to find a full time job, limited mostly or solely to OS procedures, having in mind the only employement option would be corporate dentistry (not a green card holder).
Assuming volume of OS cases in an average office is not high enough to get busy 40 hrs/wk, moreover I might not be the first choice on the job market (many US trained OMFS looking for same, even in remote areas)...
Alternatively, is combining 2 or more offices technically possible at all (as a fresh grad) without breaking trust or ethical rules by referring my check ups or complications to other colleagues with less or no surgical experience....
Having no plans on additional training, the private loan has to be payed off.
Any thoughts would be most appreciated.
Many thx!

I work in public health and I would say about half of what I do is OS. Could be more but I refer out impacted third. And FQHC would love to hire a foreign trained OS and be able to pay them a general dentist salary

 

[monkeykey]

Any 2020 grads with early offers care to chime in?

 

[DocMon16]

My first job offer was for $100k. I didn't take it. Instead I did more job searching and connected with recruiters. I received guaranteed salary offers of $175k (private) & $200k (corp). I ended up not taking either of them for different reasons and settled as an associate with a different private practice. I was offered $800/day or 32% production, whichever greater and I made $180k the first year at 32 hours a week.

It's very possible to make $200k 5 years out but there's no formula, everyone's way of getting there will be different.

Thats awesome, good for you!

I would say there was a wide spectrum of what a lot of my classmates were making. I am sure that most if not all are making 100+, I think 120+ but I am not 100% sure. I know that nobody is complaining about what they are making.

 

[wannagiveup]

My classmates have been receiving offers with daily minimum ranging from 550/day (metro) to 750/day (more rural) working five days a week. Obviously prior to COVID-19...

 

[Molar Whisperer]

Production. SF Bay Area. Maybe low, but they made 200K plus on four 7-hr days...

Sorry for the late reply. Are your associates living in the Bay Area or are they commuting hours from a less expensive area? I don't think $200k is a livable income factoring student loans, rent/housing, taxes, insurance, etc. I'm expecting pitchforks for my questions and comments.

Not sure how valid but I hear stories of people with 2 jobs living in their cars in the Bay Area.

 

[laundry]

Sorry for the late response. Are your associates living in the Bay Area or are they commuting hours from a less expensive area? I don't think $200k is a livable income factoring student loans, rent/housing, taxes, insurance, etc. I'm expecting pitchforks for my questions and comments.

Not sure how valid but I hear stories of people with 2 jobs living in their cars in the Bay Area.

All live in Bay Area (I think you mean if they live in SF or outside - some do, other live in greater Bay Area). You'd have to drive 1.5 hr outside of Bay Area and only due North-East if you want a "less expensive area". 🤣

That being said, they seem to do OK

 

[Molar Whisperer]

All live in Bay Area (I think you mean if they live in SF or outside - some do, other live in greater Bay Area). You'd have to drive 1.5 hr outside of Bay Area and only due North-East if you want a "less expensive area". 🤣

That being said, they seem to do OK

I think you must be a great mentor and instructor. I'm not sure that many young dentists will do ok if they are in another practice like yours. All too often, candidates get seduced by the promise of high salaries and not realize the real bills and environment as expensive and tax burdened like the Bay Area. Again I'm ready for the pitchforks.

 

[Molar Whisperer]

All live in Bay Area (I think you mean if they live in SF or outside - some do, other live in greater Bay Area). You'd have to drive 1.5 hr outside of Bay Area and only due North-East if you want a "less expensive area". 🤣

That being said, they seem to do OK

From my limited perspective, it seems hard for an average practice to attract NPs, foot traffic, tx acceptance when there are so many other dentists in the same commercial park. Couple that with diminishing PPOs and ins reimbursement and it make it very hard to pay the bills unless you own your building. Thanks for bearing with me.

 

[cloth_alert00]

It really depends how motivated you are. 200k is possible, not the norm. I was offered 200k as a D4 but in a very undesirable location and turned it down.

 

[laundry]

From my limited perspective, it seems hard for an average practice to attract NPs, foot traffic, tx acceptance when there are so many other dentists in the same commercial park. Couple that with diminishing PPOs and ins reimbursement and it make it very hard to pay the bills unless you own your building. Thanks for bearing with me.

Before COVID, we saw tons of new patients.
One thing I would agree on, though, is this - if you are a new dentist, you probably shouldn't open your office at 450 Sutter, SF (10e212 other DDS in same building)

 

[monkeykey]

I will have to say the numbers from the poll appear a little higher than what I was expecting. Perhaps most new grads are working less than 40 hours a week and that is whats making up the difference.

 

[cluelessdr]

It really depends how motivated you are. 200k is possible, not the norm. I was offered 200k as a D4 but in a very undesirable location and turned it down.

where at exactly?

 

[saydental]

I'm assuming salary varies by region so dentist in the south would start off with a different salary range than someone in the California area. I wouldn't know by how much if it does vary.

 

[monkeykey]

Any specialists care to chime in with their experiences?

 

[toothexplore]

Ha the $100k is my total production, including periodic exams (I don’t get production on x rays hygiene take). My offices average adjustment is 30% so my average monthly adjusted production is about $70k, which is what I’m paid on. I am a full scope general dentist at a very busy practice. I cover 3-4 hygiene columns. I do big extraction cases with dentures, implant placement and grafting, erupted thirds only, fair amount of endo, and then plenty of the bread and butter. Nothing too crazy, I send the hard cases out to OS and endo.

This is the same as my situation in the midwest. Produce $100K at a corporate practice per month, average adjustments at 27% which I then take 27% of. I also pay supplies and my staff. I am a general dentist at a multi provider office and I only see patients 12 and under

 

[monkeykey]

How hard is it to find a job as a newly minted grad? How many weeks did it take for most of y'all from the time you began searching?

 

[pubhealthdent]

How hard is it to find a job as a newly minted grad? How many weeks did it take for most of y'all from the time you began searching?

Depends on type of job you're looking for (private practice, DSO/corporate/public health) and location

 

[monkeykey]

Depends on type of job you're looking for (private practice, DSO/corporate/public health) and location

What was your experience?

 

[pubhealthdent]

What was your experience?

I started looking for public health jobs in January of D4 year and had 15+ interviews and offers by the end of march. But I didnt limit myself geographically, which helped out a lot for me, but most aren't willing to cast such a large net

 

[AONLINE]

How hard is it to find a job as a newly minted grad? How many weeks did it take for most of y'all from the time you began searching?

Definitely depends on location. You don't even have to move to the middle of nowhere, 1.5 hour outside of big cities already give you plenty of DSO/corporate jobs even during a pandemic. A bit harder if you're only looking for jobs in the big metro areas.

 

[GoDental101]

Definitely depends on location. You don't even have to move to the middle of nowhere, 1.5 hour outside of big cities already give you plenty of DSO/corporate jobs even during a pandemic. A bit harder if you're only looking for jobs in the big metro areas.

You realize you just revived a thread that hadn’t been responded to in about a year?...anyways I’ll keep it going haha I agree with you. If dentists were willing to go to the right location then the income outlook would be much better.

 

[AONLINE]

When this thread started I was still a dental student. A lot has happened in the past 6 years, including a pandemic and crazy inflation. I really appreciated those dentists that shared their numbers back then, your responses were very helpful as they gave me an idea of what to expect in term of incomes. Now as a dentist 4 years out of school, I can chime in with my own number as a data point that hopefully can help any current dental/pre-dent students that circle here.

I currently work for a corp practice, my average monthly production after adjustments is about $70k, my gross paycheck is about 20-21k/month. The practice I currently work at is not busy, I have plenty of openings and definitely would like to be busier to increase my production. I only have 1 hygiene column to check. I work 4 days/week. I do mostly bread and butter, maybe a full mouth extraction case with dentures every other week, I refer almost all endo and 3rds out. Sometimes it's bitter to think that while prices of everything are going up rapidly every day, insurance reimbursements haven't increased. Our dollars are not valued as much as they were when this thread was started pre-pandemic.

 

[JacquesVallee]

When this thread started I was still a dental student. A lot has happened in the past 6 years, including a pandemic and crazy inflation. I really appreciated those dentists that shared their numbers back then, your responses were very helpful as they gave me an idea of what to expect in term of incomes. Now as a dentist 4 years out of school, I can chime in with my own number as a data point that hopefully can help any current dental/pre-dent students that circle here.

I currently work for a corp practice, my average monthly production after adjustments is about $70k, my gross paycheck is about 20-21k/month. The practice I currently work at is not busy, I have plenty of openings and definitely would like to be busier to increase my production. I only have 1 hygiene column to check. I work 4 days/week. I do mostly bread and butter, maybe a full mouth extraction case with dentures every other week, referred almost all endo and 3rds out. Sometimes it's bitter to think that while prices of everything are going up rapidly every day, insurance reimbursements haven't increased. Our dollars are not valued as much as they were when this thread was started pre-pandemic.

Awesome to see! Are you in a city, suburbs, or rural?

 

[AONLINE]

Awesome to see! Are you in a city, suburbs, or rural?

Suburbs, 40 mins outside of a major metro.

 

[LFA20]

When this thread started I was still a dental student. A lot has happened in the past 6 years, including a pandemic and crazy inflation. I really appreciated those dentists that shared their numbers back then, your responses were very helpful as they gave me an idea of what to expect in term of incomes. Now as a dentist 4 years out of school, I can chime in with my own number as a data point that hopefully can help any current dental/pre-dent students that circle here.

I currently work for a corp practice, my average monthly production after adjustments is about $70k, my gross paycheck is about 20-21k/month. The practice I currently work at is not busy, I have plenty of openings and definitely would like to be busier to increase my production. I only have 1 hygiene column to check. I work 4 days/week. I do mostly bread and butter, maybe a full mouth extraction case with dentures every other week, referred almost all endo and 3rds out. Sometimes it's bitter to think that while prices of everything are going up rapidly every day, insurance reimbursements haven't increased. Our dollars are not valued as much as they were when this thread was started pre-pandemic.

$250k pre tax on a 4 day work week/mostly bread & butter is solid!

 

[TanMan]

When this thread started I was still a dental student. A lot has happened in the past 6 years, including a pandemic and crazy inflation. I really appreciated those dentists that shared their numbers back then, your responses were very helpful as they gave me an idea of what to expect in term of incomes. Now as a dentist 4 years out of school, I can chime in with my own number as a data point that hopefully can help any current dental/pre-dent students that circle here.

I currently work for a corp practice, my average monthly production after adjustments is about $70k, my gross paycheck is about 20-21k/month. The practice I currently work at is not busy, I have plenty of openings and definitely would like to be busier to increase my production. I only have 1 hygiene column to check. I work 4 days/week. I do mostly bread and butter, maybe a full mouth extraction case with dentures every other week, I refer almost all endo and 3rds out. Sometimes it's bitter to think that while prices of everything are going up rapidly every day, insurance reimbursements haven't increased. Our dollars are not valued as much as they were when this thread was started pre-pandemic.

Did you find that your gross paycheck has increased from when you first started?

 

[AONLINE]

Did you find that your gross paycheck has increased from when you first started?

I started out in not so busy offices and thus lower incomes in the beginning. I have changed jobs a few times in the past few years and I get busier/make more with every subsequent job.

 

[finalpsychyear]

$250k pre tax on a 4 day work week/mostly bread & butter is solid!

Hmm i remember seeing closer to 300k several years ago for this type of set up. Has the decline in denistry been pretty rough in the last 5-10 years?

 

[TanMan]

Hmm i remember seeing closer to 300k several years ago for this type of set up. Has the decline in denistry been pretty rough in the last 5-10 years?

I don't think there's a decline in dentistry; it has gotten better these past few years. Maybe during pandemic-month where they shut us down, it kinda sucked, but from there it was a rebound. The limitation of dentistry is really how much you're willing to work. Even then, as we rack up more professional experience, we become faster and more efficient which allows us to work less and make more.

Edit: Downside is inflation. Inflation is reducing our purchasing power and real gains.