I'm going to repost what I've said earlier about dentistry.
This is the future of dentistry:
The ADA although it is stronger than other professional organizations CANNOT match the lobby groups that want to shove this therapist stuff. The for-profit educational lobby (DeVry, etc), the corporate dental lobby (backed by private equity on WALL ST), and the worse lobby of all: the allied health profession lobby (ie, the nurses, PAs, and FNPs, and now the little therapists) are all combining their efforts to shove this through. I particularly despise the nurse lobby. They know what they are doing is unethical.
Mid-levels will not start their own practices. They are not the type of people. As I said earlier: The little dental therapists remind me of the buffoon cheerleader in high school that complains when she got a 50 on an algebra test, and argued foolishly with the teacher that 1+1 really can equal 3, and thinks that with her 1.0 GPA she should still get into dental school or something like that. Entitled, arrogant, lazy, and snotty. And not intelligent.
The chains will benefit from mid-levels. The chains will be able to use mid-levels freely and will use them to treat more patients at a quicker pace, with little regard for quality. This is cheaper than hiring a dentist, for the chain. Thus the chain will be able to lower its prices and negotiate with the insurance companies for exclusive contracts. Private dentists wont be able to compete. I'm sure the chains will lobby the hel.l out of Washington and say "look at us, we can provide treatment at a lower cost than the private dentists". The politicians will give them all sorts of subsidies and government contracts.
The chains will use the dentists to handle more complicated cases. The dentists wanting employment from the chains will probably have to compete with each other and see who can give the chain a lower bid for their services. The dentist that gives the lowest bid (i.e the dentist that is willing to work for the least compensation) will get the job.
I also want to bring up the point about people saying, "Oh well, chains only treat low-income people." Think of Cheesecake Factory/ Olive Garden/ Macaroni Grill, and those type of restaurants. All are relatively nice, slightly higher scale restaurants that don't cater to just poor-lower middle class people. It appeals to many people who are quite well off, and people who make a pretty darn good amount of money. These type of people are private dentists' most VALUABLE clientele. This will happen in dentistry. A new type of dental chain will emerge: One that has a better looking office with better amenities, offers slightly higher upscale cosmetic dentistry, offers spa services, etc. You get the point. Don't forget the hand behind Cheesecake Factory/Olive Garden is the same hand behind the dental chains: private equity on Wall St. This will hurt private practice dentists the most.
You will have to be creative as a private practice dentist to make a decent amount of money (ie $250K+). If you are very concerned about not being able to make enough, perhaps you should work very very very hard to get OMFS residency. OMFS will always be good. OMFS dentists will probably jump from one chain to another: Yank the thirds, make a good deal of money at one office and keep moving between the chain offices.
out of me because It is so logical.
