9+ new schools? When will this stop?

[HopeforDMD]

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Uh, so apparently these schools are opening or have already opened:

LECOM
Marshfield Clinic
University of Southern Nevada
Western
University of New England
Roseman
ATSU (Kirksville)
UCF
Midwestern-IL

Plus, my dental school is doubling in size and I've heard several others are as well. Even if you don't pay attention to the increasing enrollment at each school these new schools will pump out, what, 1000 new grad annually. And who knows when they will stop opening new ones. At my Roseman interview the dean actually had the balls to say that the price of a dental school shouldn't really be a deciding factor in its selection. 😱
So... this whole "the demographics are in our favor" idea couldn't be farther from the truth. Then on top of this.. midlevels. Awesome.

Sorry. I saw this and wanted to vent. I just didn't realize that the diploma mills could open up so quickly. I guess we will be seeing more an more of those "under 3.0 and I made it" threads now huh?

 

[psychoboylol123]

Uh, so apparently these schools are opening or have already opened:

LECOM
Marshfield Clinic
University of Southern Nevada
Western
University of New England
Roseman
ATSU (Kirksville)
UCF
Midwestern-IL

Plus, my dental school is doubling in size and I've heard several others are as well. Even if you don't pay attention to the increasing enrollment at each school these new schools will pump out, what, 1000 new grad annually. And who knows when they will stop opening new ones. At my Roseman interview the dean actually had the balls to say that the price of a dental school shouldn't really be a deciding factor in its selection. 😱
So... this whole "the demographics are in our favor" idea couldn't be farther from the truth. Then on top of this.. midlevels. Awesome.

Sorry. I saw this and wanted to vent. I just didn't realize that the diploma mills could open up so quickly. I guess we will be seeing more an more of those "under 3.0 and I made it" threads now huh?

I personally don't like this thread. 👎

 

[Silent Cool]

Don't forget about the foreign grads, too. At least 500 per year nationwide, if not closer to 1000. Easy money for these schools.

 

[dichloromethane]

Maybe this will help the underserved..?

 

[Shnurek]

Same thing has been happening in law and started recently with optometry. Its not just you guys, its the whole economy.

 

[jwdent]

Last I saw, UCF had withdrawn its plan to open a new dental school. I believe the school faced a lot of criticism from Florida about if there really was a need for it. I hope other states will follow this ideology in the future to prevent more and more schools from opening. There is a difference between access to care and access to free care. Dentistry is not the only career facing this problem of overproduction of graduates. Its a huge problem in law and you can get MBAs online. Fortunately, the US population continues to grow annually, I just hope its growing enough to warrant a need for all the graduates.

 

[Daurang]

Don't forget the CDA already accredited dental schools in India and Mexico.

 

[Silent Cool]

Daurang, do you see a problem with oversaturation in your area?

 

[dichloromethane]

Same thing has been happening in law and started recently with optometry. Its not just you guys, its the whole economy.

Not to mention pharmacy

 

[mixoma]

Over-saturation is everywhere, welcome to the future of the profession. The dental field is starting to look more like pharm everyday. I looked in rural areas around colorado when I graduated and even those areas where stuffed up, one town had 3000 people with a small draw area and 9 dentists the ratio was like 1/600, and it was in the eastern planes of colorado, WTF!
I recently went to an info session with some upcoming graduates and there #1 question was how to find a job, I had no good answer and either did the docs that were there with me. Out of my class of 52 only a hand full could get work in colorado. Not sure how the new classes of 80+ and 40+ internationals are going to find work.
The biggest problem is that politicians think there is an access to care issue so we need more dentists. Well they are ******ed, the problem is an access to $$$ and that most ppl would rather buy an I-phone or a flat screen than spend money on there teeth. Also dental overhead is crazy so fees cant get much lower. Just look at Washington state delta dental the largest insurance provider cut fees in 1/2 just because and many dentist up there lost a huge portion of there pts cause they could not afford to treat them.
I still think dental is a great profession but if student loans keep increasing the rate that they have been I would think twice if considering dental as a career.

 

[Silent Cool]

Mixoma,

Where are you looking for work now? Outside of Colorado? Also, how soon do you expect to be able to buy your own practice?

 

[Silent Cool]

Does anyone know which schools are expanding class size and by how much?

 

[HopeforDMD]

I personally don't like this thread. 👎

I guess you're right. It's kind of alarmist. It's just that I am legitimately alarmed.

 

[HopeforDMD]

Don't forget the CDA already accredited dental schools in India and Mexico.

Really? If I were a Mexican dentist I would jump over here in a heart beat. Where did you hear about this?

 

[hellopeople]

So shield yourself from risk by going to a cheap school. Then you can actually be in the right financial situation to buy into a practice, and work the new cheap graduates hard. Or better yet, hire the midlevels. I hear from family in Florida that they are really ratcheting up the training of hygienists, so when that legislation goes through... Boom. Suddenly, plenty of midlevels to hire.

It sucks if things go that way, but we are in it now, so roll with the punches. These threads grab my attention whenever I'm taking a break from work, but I always regret opening them. No one said dentistry was going to make you rich, and I think most professional systems have booms and busts in workforce numbers. With a perpetually lack-luster economy, in a highly visible field, those booms could get (and stay) big. Change is going to happen, so either relax about it, or get on board with organized dentistry so that you can try to shape the change. You guys are going to give yourselves hypertension or somthing... and no one likes an agitated dentist 😀

 

[Silent Cool]

So shield yourself from risk by going to a cheap school. Then you can actually be in the right financial situation to buy into a practice, and work the new cheap graduates hard. Or better yet, hire the midlevels. I hear from family in Florida that they are really ratcheting up the training of hygienists, so when that legislation goes through... Boom. Suddenly, plenty of midlevels to hire.

It sucks if things go that way, but we are in it now, so roll with the punches. These threads grab my attention whenever I'm taking a break from work, but I always regret opening them. No one said dentistry was going to make you rich, and I think most professional systems have booms and busts in workforce numbers. With a perpetually lack-luster economy, in a highly visible field, those booms could get (and stay) big. Change is going to happen, so either relax about it, or get on board with organized dentistry so that you can try to shape the change. You guys are going to give yourselves hypertension or somthing... and no one likes an agitated dentist 😀

Most people don't have the option of going to a cheap school. And there are very few cheap schools anyway.

 

[tingting]

This is the biggest threat to the profession if it follows the path of law, pharmacy and optometry.

I believe it will happen unfortunately. When you can charge $100k/ year under the guise of "access to care" there is nothing stopping these sellouts from opening another 50 schools.

It is sad to see this great profession go the way of medicaid mills and corporate chain dentistry where ethics and patient care are not a priority. The ADA certainly does not care, as far as they're concerned, more dentists equals more dues.

 

[AlPacino]

Uh, so apparently these schools are opening or have already opened:

LECOM
Marshfield Clinic
University of Southern Nevada
Western
University of New England
Roseman
ATSU (Kirksville)
UCF
Midwestern-IL

Plus, my dental school is doubling in size and I've heard several others are as well. Even if you don't pay attention to the increasing enrollment at each school these new schools will pump out, what, 1000 new grad annually. And who knows when they will stop opening new ones. At my Roseman interview the dean actually had the balls to say that the price of a dental school shouldn't really be a deciding factor in its selection. 😱
So... this whole "the demographics are in our favor" idea couldn't be farther from the truth. Then on top of this.. midlevels. Awesome.

Sorry. I saw this and wanted to vent. I just didn't realize that the diploma mills could open up so quickly. I guess we will be seeing more an more of those "under 3.0 and I made it" threads now huh?

Dentistry is not the only profession that this is happening too. This is also a growing trend in pharmacy.

 

[jeffity]

Uh, so apparently these schools are opening or have already opened:

LECOM
Marshfield Clinic
University of Southern Nevada
Western
University of New England
Roseman
ATSU (Kirksville)
UCF
Midwestern-IL

Plus, my dental school is doubling in size and I've heard several others are as well. Even if you don't pay attention to the increasing enrollment at each school these new schools will pump out, what, 1000 new grad annually. And who knows when they will stop opening new ones. At my Roseman interview the dean actually had the balls to say that the price of a dental school shouldn't really be a deciding factor in its selection. 😱
So... this whole "the demographics are in our favor" idea couldn't be farther from the truth. Then on top of this.. midlevels. Awesome.

Sorry. I saw this and wanted to vent. I just didn't realize that the diploma mills could open up so quickly. I guess we will be seeing more an more of those "under 3.0 and I made it" threads now huh?

Yeah. Screw those two new schools Roseman and University of Southern Nevada.

 

[charlestweed]

Don't worry about the fierce competition and the saturation of dentists (due to opening of new dental schools). You just need to be more creative when you run your own dental practice. Here are a few of examples:

The guy, who used to work at the same dental chain with me, started his GP practice 2 years ago. He knew his practice is in a very competitive area; therefore, he tried to do things that many dentists don't do. One of those things is TMJ treatment. He took several CE courses on TMJ. And now, many patients have to drive 20-30 miles to come to see him because there aren't many dentists who offer TMJ tx. I also refer a few of my patients to his office because I don't like dealing with TMJ either.

My sister, who is a GP, generates additional income by hiring orthodontist (me) and periodontist (my wife) to come to work at her office. Such additional income covers 80-90% of her office overhead. Whatever my sister produces is pretty much pure profit.

My wife's dental classmate recently started his GP practice from scratch. He bought the building and paid it off. He realized that this 2000 sf office with 6 operatories is too big; therefore, he decided to rent the space to me. And I accepted his offer. Even with the very slow start at his office in the beginning, my friend is still doing ok because of the monthly rent he collects from me.

 

[jda02624]

Charlestweed is giving great advice. I have found that throughout dental school, residency, and now practicing there are so many people that are constantly worrying about the next guy or their competition. I think this can be a waste of energy if you obsess over it. Sure you have to know your market, but ultimately you have to concentrate on yourself. What do you offer that is special or different? How can you be a better dentist or specialist? How can you provide better service to your patients? Use that as the foundation upon which you build your practice and brand.

 

[theleatherwalle]

I don't get it.

You want to make money, but then you complain when someone else is trying to do the exact same thing.

Trust me as more schools keep popping up reputations will build, and eventually you'll have schools that no-one wants to go to just like the current crop of law schools. If you are not in the top 50 law schools in the US...then it isn't worth it to be a lawyer.

The same will happen with dentistry, pharm, opto, medicine (D.O.)

 

[thewingman]

I don't get it.

You want to make money, but then you complain when someone else is trying to do the exact same thing.

Trust me as more schools keep popping up reputations will build, and eventually you'll have schools that no-one wants to go to just like the current crop of law schools. If you are not in the top 50 law schools in the US...then it isn't worth it to be a lawyer.

The same will happen with dentistry, pharm, opto, medicine (D.O.)

Wrong. No one really cares where you went to dental school. For law, most major firms hiring do care where you went.

 

[CMistry]

Wrong. No one really cares where you went to dental school. For law, most major firms hiring do care where you went.

I think what he's implying is that when we are overloaded with schools, then reputation will matter..

 

[thewingman]

I think what he's implying is that when we are overloaded with schools, then reputation will matter..

To whom will it matter? Patient's don't (won't) care where you went to school. Maybe if you decide to do a residency or plan on having a career in academics, it might.

The real problem is that many of these new schools are opening up an charging a huge sum of money. Naive predents see the ADA surveys and think that they will make that kind of money a few years of practicing, so they pony up the $300-$400k. The school promotes how they will be making so much money and sells the student the dream of being rich, collects the tuition for itself, and leaves the students with a large sum of debt. Does all this sound familiar? Yeah, we just had something like this happen in 2008, but the only difference was that if you could not afford your house, you could just peace out and declare bankruptcy. For us, we can't. The larger problem is that we likely won't be declaring bankruptcy, but will instead start to charge more so that we can pay off our debt However, our real income will be lower due to paying off huge debts and paying taxes on a higher income. Also, this will also be a problem because people will cry access to care and will promote MLP, as we will not be able to accept medicare.

 

[ChapelHillT]

Does anyone know which schools are expanding class size and by how much?

UNC was supposed to increase from 81 to 100 for my class (2016), but due to state budget cuts have not done so. The reason I'm hearing from our administration is that they can't hire the new faculty needed to support the increase. Our class is still 81, but the new building is outfitted for 100 and supposedly the increase is still in the plans. This is in addition to the new school at ECU (52 students per year) that opened in NC ~2 years ago.

^Just trying to be informative here--not stating a position on this either way. As a predent I was compelled by ECU's access to care argument, which is particularly acute in eastern NC. Now as a dental student on the other side, I'm not quite sure what to think. However, if anyone has a good model for getting folks into rural areas, I think it's them (accept in-state only; cheap; offer a big ole scholarship to 20% of their class; recruit those from and who claim they want to return to rural towns).

I guess we'll see how it plays out. I'd hate if we go the way of law schools. I also think access to care issues require addressing, though opening new schools in which students incur massive debt will likely not help the problem significantly.
mmmmmkay, back to histo studying...😀

 

[jda02624]

I am interested to find out if any of these schools actually help with the access to care. I know that in Nevada, when they opened the school at UNLV, it was supposed to help with the lack of dentists in the remote, rural areas. From my knowledge, it never happened. I think that it is rare that people will graduate and commit to areas that are really underserved. There has to be a good financial incentive (loan repayment, etc.) that outweighs just going into an associate position elsewhere. Aside from the Indian Health Service jobs, are there programs out there to help? I think it would be more beneficial to put money into programs to incentivize people to practice in areas of need, if even for a year or two, instead of building more schools.

 

[Stacker]

Didn't a half dozen prestigious dental schools close since the past three decades? Georgetown, Emory, Loyola, Northwestern, and Fairleigh Dickinson to name a few. Even with a growing population, I feel a concern if these new schools are only opening as an overcompensating knee-jerk.

Anyone want to read this with me?

http://new.dentalboards.org/pdfs/2011midyearpresentations.pdf

or this?

http://www.ada.org/news/6173.aspx

"Real Concerns: 1) May threaten roles of existing schools, 2) Not similar to closed schools, 3) Existing faulty shortage, 4) Sustainability, 5) May over saturate profession?
False Concerns: 1) Some will be for-profit institutions, 2) Below standards, 3) New educational model (Most will have no research), 4) May over saturate profession"

 

[Timpson]

Actually, the old schools charge a lot of money too. In CA, Loma Linda, USC, and UOP are all almost the same price over the full length of schooling, and Western ( the new school) is cheaper. When I was interviewing, I also found Tufts, BU, NYU, Columbia, Penn, etc. to be very expensive as well. The big schools might have more resources and such to make them more attractive, but the new schools are actually being priced below the market rate for private dental schools.

To whom will it matter? Patient's don't (won't) care where
you went to school. Maybe if you decide to do a residency or plan on having a career in academics, it might.

The real problem is that many of these new schools are opening up an charging a huge sum of money. Naive predents see the ADA surveys and think that they will make that kind of money a few years of practicing, so they pony up the $300-$400k. The school promotes how they will be making so much money and sells the student the dream of being rich, collects the tuition for itself, and leaves the students with a large sum of debt. Does all this sound familiar? Yeah, we just had something like this happen in 2008, but the only difference was that if you could not afford your house, you could just peace out and declare bankruptcy. For us, we can't. The larger problem is that we likely won't be declaring bankruptcy, but will instead start to charge more so that we can pay off our debt However, our real income will be lower due to paying off huge debts and paying taxes on a higher income. Also, this will also be a problem because people will cry access to care and will promote MLP, as we will not be able to accept medicare.

 

[jwdent]

Do anyone think there will be a breaking point in the future and schools starting to close? Will people start refraining from choosing dentistry as a career with schools costing $400k +, and showing no signs of plateauing in cost?

 

[thewingman]

Do anyone think there will be a breaking point in the future and schools starting to close? Will people start refraining from choosing dentistry as a career with schools costing $400k +, and showing no signs of plateauing in cost?

This happened in the 80's. However, it seems as though there are too many people now interested in dentistry than there were before.

 

[jwdent]

This happened in the 80's. However, it seems as though there are too many people now interested in dentistry than there were before.

True. But data also suggest that there were many applicants in the early 80s before many schools closed. I'm just wondering if there is any cyclic pattern or if a strong stream of applicants will persist?

 

[tingting]

I don't get it.

You want to make money, but then you complain when someone else is trying to do the exact same thing.

Trust me as more schools keep popping up reputations will build, and eventually you'll have schools that no-one wants to go to just like the current crop of law schools. If you are not in the top 50 law schools in the US...then it isn't worth it to be a lawyer.

The same will happen with dentistry, pharm, opto, medicine (D.O.)

This is false. The law profession is not like the health professions.

Lawyers from top schools make a killing because top law firms are essentially hiring based on IQ, and the work is largely on the job training that requires extremely sharp thought where you're trying to outsmart everyone else based on critical thinking skills. Thus someone from Harvard is obviously a way more effective corporate lawyer than someone from a degree mill.

Dentistry is not like this. Patients don't care. Patients don't even know what good dentistry is. Anybody can slap flowable into make-believe caries like they do at these corporate chains and medicaid mills.

 

[tingting]

I am interested to find out if any of these schools actually help with the access to care. I know that in Nevada, when they opened the school at UNLV, it was supposed to help with the lack of dentists in the remote, rural areas. From my knowledge, it never happened. I think that it is rare that people will graduate and commit to areas that are really underserved. There has to be a good financial incentive (loan repayment, etc.) that outweighs just going into an associate position elsewhere. Aside from the Indian Health Service jobs, are there programs out there to help? I think it would be more beneficial to put money into programs to incentivize people to practice in areas of need, if even for a year or two, instead of building more schools.

It doesn't happen. Why would anybody go through everything it takes to become a dentist and then move somewhere lousy where nobody can afford dentistry? It doesn't make any sense.

There is no access to care problem, there is only an access to free care problem.

 

[tingting]

Do anyone think there will be a breaking point in the future and schools starting to close? Will people start refraining from choosing dentistry as a career with schools costing $400k +, and showing no signs of plateauing in cost?

Why would schools close when they can charge whatever they want and get 3 applications per seat? When schools closed in the 80's they couldn't charge so much and there was like 1.2 applicants per seat, and dentistry wasn't nearly as sexy as it is today.

Look at pharm, law and optometry folks. People paying a fortune for relatively dim career prospects.

The only hope is financial reform that limits the ability of these degree mills to charge whatever they want.

 

[Fifimiki]

Charlestweed is giving great advice. I have found that throughout dental school, residency, and now practicing there are so many people that are constantly worrying about the next guy or their competition. I think this can be a waste of energy if you obsess over it. Sure you have to know your market, but ultimately you have to concentrate on yourself. What do you offer that is special or different? How can you be a better dentist or specialist? How can you provide better service to your patients? Use that as the foundation upon which you build your practice and brand.

I think this is the best advice. No need stressing yourself out over something you can't control. I still think dentistry is a great career option compared to the other options.

 

[mixoma]

Mixoma,

Where are you looking for work now? Outside of Colorado? Also, how soon do you expect to be able to buy your own practice?

Im currently working on the out skirts of Denver, about 45min out. I plan on being a practice owner within two years I hope. Working for someone else is ok for a short period to get your feet wet, but I would not make it long term. Most new grads will be working for a chain as traditional associateships are very hard to find and usually part time. The chains are a good short term stepping stone but suck because they use you and you dont get the satisfaction of having your own business.
Im leaning towards doing a start up these days, as I have been looking at practices since the last semester of fourth year and have noticed the following. Most practice out there that are for sale are dogs (bad location, wrong demographics ect), it would be easier to spend time on demographic/market analysis than try and fix one of them. Also good practices the docs are usually quit happy and not looking to sell anytime soon and big chains usually purchase these practices at a higher price than I could get financed for. For example during my forth year I was talking to a Dr who owned two practices and was going to associatship/buyin, but before I could sign the contract Heartland Dental offered to buy his two practices for in the millions (way over 100% of gross collections), this Dr got me the job on the out skirts of Denver cause he felt bad, but I didnt blame him I would have sold if I wear in his shoes.
So my plan for now is to eventually open a practice from scratch and prob work part time at a chain while I do this. I wont be doing it in Colorado as the market here is just as saturated as Utah and Cali and getting worse every year.

 

[txaggie03]

oh noes!!! we will all have to be good at our jobs to be competitive!!!

so you cant practice on the street you grew up on right out of school, give me a break.

 

[mixoma]

If there is one thing I have learned it is that you can have the worst hand skills ever and patients dont notice or care. Its all about the rapport you have with them.

 

[Silent Cool]

oh noes!!! we will all have to be good at our jobs to be competitive!!!

so you cant practice on the street you grew up on right out of school, give me a break.

Maybe some people are worried about paying back 400k loans. And also realize that if the market becomes especially saturated there is next to nothing else one can do with a dental degree to make money to pay the loans back.

 

[txaggie03]

Maybe some people are worried about paying back 400k loans. And also realize that if the market becomes especially saturated there is next to nothing else one can do with a dental degree to make money to pay the loans back.

Maybe they should have thought about taking out 400k before they did it.


And the market isnt saturated EVERYWHERE. Like I said earlier, you might not get to practice where you want to right away. Try doing some research, be willing to move, and there are loads of locations that have very little coverage. The problem is, many of the current crop of dentists are traditional students that have had everything fall in place for them if they worked hard. Now that they are finally out of academia they are finding out that there is no such thing as entitlement; their years of hard work does not grant them a job like it granted them good grades. Furthermore, too many new grads (as evidenced by the islands of oversaturation) are not willing to move to less desirable locations.

You might be surprised at how much volume a rural dentist can turn. Of course practicing rural dentistry takes a clinician that is confident in their work and confident to take on more responsibility than a urban general practitioner, something I am finding out many new grads lack.

 

[jpark1800]

practicing rural dentistry isnt as easy as everyone makes it out to be

 

[txaggie03]

practicing rural dentistry isnt as easy as everyone makes it out to be

exactly my point. thank you.

 

[jpark1800]

exactly my point. thank you.

lol. ur welcome. nah but seriously im predent and i love how all the other little predents think that if things dont work out, they will just walk into a rural area and make a boatload very quickly. rural areas might be better in terms of there being a greater likelihood of you owning your own practice, but it is not a cure-all. furthermore, lots of ppl in rural area don't have insurance, don't necessarily want the high-end cosmetics, and if they got the good money or good insurance, they are willing to drive 30 mins -1 hour to a medium/big city. I could be wrong, but I've lived for all my life in 2 rural areas, one rural area on east coast and one rural area on west coast, and this is what ive noticed.

i personally think one should just keep debt down (I know this is not easy as dschool is expensive, but there are so many dumb predents with that lovey-dopey feel towards columbia/upenn), maybe work a chain 2yrs if clinically confident, or do a gpr for a year and work at chain for another year or two, and then research areas to find growing small- mid-sized cities and open up practice. you might not be successful for a couple of years in private pract and might have to drive some distance to go work part-time at a chain, to supplement some income, but thats life. the only careers with guranteed job stability are educational loan sharks, malpractice attorneys, and lying politicans promising ppl unlimited free stuff.

 

[jpark1800]

i forgot to add. im jealous of u txaggie. you went to a texas dental school.

my state's dental schools are approximately double the cost of a texas school. my state also has a high income tax, and texas has none. as i like to say, "more buck, less bang" is the motto for my state.😎

 

[txaggie03]

i'm not going to lie. being a resident of texas and being able to attend the best (for me) school in texas is more than i could have dreamed.

people can complain about the insane amount of lab work, but I kinda enjoy it. it is boosting my confidence and, for me, makes learning the ideas easier, and makes my work better.

also, thank you fellow texas tax payers. I intend to return the favor twofold.

 

[yappy]

TX property taxes are off the chart, though.

i forgot to add. im jealous of u txaggie. you went to a texas dental school.

my state's dental schools are approximately double the cost of a texas school. my state also has a high income tax, and texas has none. as i like to say, "more buck, less bang" is the motto for my state.😎

 

[Batmansvoice]

Will I be able to raise a family (wife, two kids) with dentistry upon graduating? I just don't know. High tuition...fine I hate it, but I can live with it. Mix that in with new schools causing oversaturation...c'mon now.

 

[mixoma]

I love it how dental students just think that they will just move into a rural area to practice and be fine. This is not the case, and I have spent some time in these areas. I have seen practices in rural towns with 1/10000 ratio and the dentist is having a tuff time staying busy, this is because people in these areas that have money alot of time go to the city for there dental care as they seem to think it is better, also most people in theses areas live paycheck to paycheck and it is the norm to just go to a dentist to get teeth pulled when they hurt, and when they get the last tooth pulled they get a denture. In the rural towns with a strong economic base like oil/gas/mining there is a tone of dentists all ready there and its not uncommon to see a ratio of 1/600.
Most people who think rural and making money think of Texas, like the one student going to Baylor. Well these practices rely heavily on medicaid and once that gets cut which it will there will be a lot of struggling dentists in these areas. I have two good friends that graduated a couple years ahead of me and where working in these areas out in Texas and recently left for work in other states as the medicaid laws just changed and there paycheck got cut in half do to the new laws. Medicaid just wen to a preferred provider plan in march in Texas, what this means is that instead of the state paying out to dentists for services rendered a for profit insurance company now regulates payouts. Before you could prep every tooth in the mouth and do whatever you felt was needed and the state would send you a check, now you have to get pre approval for every procedure you do (lots of time not approved) and can only bill so much in one apt, as you can see your earning potential would go way down. It only a matter of time before medicaid stops paying for everything under the sun and will only cover select procedures.
In summary if you think you will just go rural and make $$$ it mite not happen, just my experience.

 

[LeoK]

I love it how dental students just think that they will just move into a rural area to practice and be fine. This is not the case, and I have spent some time in these areas. I have seen practices in rural towns with 1/10000 ratio and the dentist is having a tuff time staying busy, this is because people in these areas that have money alot of time go to the city for there dental care as they seem to think it is better, also most people in theses areas live paycheck to paycheck and it is the norm to just go to a dentist to get teeth pulled when they hurt, and when they get the last tooth pulled they get a denture. In the rural towns with a strong economic base like oil/gas/mining there is a tone of dentists all ready there and its not uncommon to see a ratio of 1/600.
Most people who think rural and making money think of Texas, like the one student going to Baylor. Well these practices rely heavily on medicaid and once that gets cut which it will there will be a lot of struggling dentists in these areas. I have two good friends that graduated a couple years ahead of me and where working in these areas out in Texas and recently left for work in other states as the medicaid laws just changed and there paycheck got cut in half do to the new laws. Medicaid just wen to a preferred provider plan in march in Texas, what this means is that instead of the state paying out to dentists for services rendered a for profit insurance company now regulates payouts. Before you could prep every tooth in the mouth and do whatever you felt was needed and the state would send you a check, now you have to get pre approval for every procedure you do (lots of time not approved) and can only bill so much in one apt, as you can see your earning potential would go way down. It only a matter of time before medicaid stops paying for everything under the sun and will only cover select procedures.
In summary if you think you will just go rural and make $$$ it mite not happen, just my experience.

so... basically... there are no hopes in any places for the field of dentistry?
From a look of this thread, it is like a doom day for any current/future dental students.