Dental School costs up 87% since 2000

[Demeter]

There was a recent article in the ADA news titled
Summing up dental school costs
The total cost of a dental eductation- the sum of tuition, mandatory general fees, instruments, textbooks, health service fees, and other costs for all four years- has risen consistently over the past 10 years. From 1999-2008, costs for residents among all United States dental schools increased by 87 percent, from $78,835 to $147,409 while non-resident costs increased by 81.1 percent from $113,965 in 1999-2000 to $206,423 in 2008-09.


Why do these costs keep skyrocketing?

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[pacific2013]

There was a recent article in the ADA news titled
Summing up dental school costs
The total cost of a dental eductation- the sum of tuition, mandatory general fees, instruments, textbooks, health service fees, and other costs for all four years- has risen consistently over the past 10 years. From 1999-2008, costs for residents among all United States dental schools increased by 87 percent, from $78,835 to $147,409 while non-resident costs increased by 81.1 percent from $113,965 in 1999-2000 to $206,423 in 2008-09.


Why do these costs keep skyrocketing?

I'm going to assume inflation and more technologies such as simulation labs, digital x-rays, etc to account for the increase in cost of education.

But irregardless, the average income of a dentist has doubled. I don't have numbers right in front of me, but if I remember correctly GP made an average of $90K until the early 1990's, while current GP several years in practice make $200K. Although it's unfortunate that our cost of education is rising, so is our future income to balance things out

 

[americanpierg]

There was a recent article in the ADA news titled
Summing up dental school costs
The total cost of a dental eductation- the sum of tuition, mandatory general fees, instruments, textbooks, health service fees, and other costs for all four years- has risen consistently over the past 10 years. From 1999-2008, costs for residents among all United States dental schools increased by 87 percent, from $78,835 to $147,409 while non-resident costs increased by 81.1 percent from $113,965 in 1999-2000 to $206,423 in 2008-09.


Why do these costs keep skyrocketing?

Um, tution for a college education has gone up just as much and even more. College tuition goes up like 10% each year.

 

[charlestweed]

I'm going to assume inflation and more technologies such as simulation labs, digital x-rays, etc to account for the increase in cost of education.

My dental school doesn't use high tech equipments and yet the tuition has tripled. 15 years ago, I paid $8k/year for my dental education. I believe my dental school currently charges 27-28k/year.

But irregardless, the average income of a dentist has doubled. I don't have numbers right in front of me, but if I remember correctly GP made an average of $90K until the early 1990's, while current GP several years in practice make $200K. Although it's unfortunate that our cost of education is rising, so is our future income to balance things out

I see the average income of dentists in California stays pretty much the same…..or decreases slightly in recent months due to the recession and oversaturation of dentists. When I graduated from dental school 11 years ago, the daily rate for new grad GP was about $300-350. It went up to $500/day between 2002 and 2007. It now goes back down to $300-350/day.

I don't think the average income of dentists increase in the future because:
-Oversaturation and fierce competition. The number of new grad dentists increases every year (more new dental schools are opening).
- Medicaid cuts.
- There are more big corporate offices. The company I work for opened 10+ dental offices in the past 5 years.
-With the rising national deficit and out of control government spendings, the future generation are likely to pay higher taxes. Therefore, they have less money to spend for dental care....fewer cosmetic procedures such as veneer, ortho, implants.

 

[jay47]

My dental school doesn’t use high tech equipments and yet the tuition has tripled. 15 years ago, I paid $8k/year for my dental education. I believe my dental school currently charges 27-28k/year.

I see the average income of dentists in California stays pretty much the same…..or decreases slightly in recent months due to the recession and oversaturation of dentists. When I graduated from dental school 11 years ago, the daily rate for new grad GP was about $300-350. It went up to $500/day between 2002 and 2007. It now goes back down to $300-350/day.

I don’t think the average income of dentists increase in the future because:
-Oversaturation and fierce competition. The number of new grad dentists increases every year (more new dental schools are opening).
- Medicaid cuts.
- There are more big corporate offices. The company I work for opened 10+ dental offices in the past 5 years.
-With the rising national deficit and out of control government spendings, the future generation are likely to pay higher taxes. Therefore, they have less money to spend for dental care....fewer cosmetic procedures such as veneer, ortho, implants.

I'm only going to assume that this is in urban areas because there are not as many new dental grads to grow with the population growth. That is, population is growing faster than dental graduates. Everyone talks about lack of dentists and access to care, but yet in the areas that need the dentists the least is where they seem to be going.

 

[americanpierg]

I'm only going to assume that this is in urban areas because there are not as many new dental grads to grow with the population growth. That is, population is growing faster than dental graduates. Everyone talks about lack of dentists and access to care, but yet in the areas that need the dentists the least is where they seem to be going.

Yup, US bureau of labor says job outlook looks good becuaes of the large number of retiring dentists and increase demands for dental services. The problem is that although this may be true overall, in large metropolitan areas the saturation of dentists is just insane. In my city there are like ~20 or so dental practices within a square mile. You can head out to Montana or somewhere and you can have an entire 20 square mile of territory all to yourself (of course there will probably only be like 1,000 people living in that area lol, but yea).

If you can't find a job as a Dentist in Hollywood or something, move to New Orleans or Detroit where there is a shortage.

 

[OG1]

My theory about part of the reason for the rise in costs: the availability of student loans, and the willingness of lenders to give us whatever we need to pay the costs. It's fantastic that student loans are available for us, since without them dental school would only be accessible to those who were wealthy. However, it's a two-edged sword, because with banks throwing out student loans like candy, schools can easily jack up tuition and we just accept it as another drop in the bucket. If banks were more stringent with dental schools about giving out loans maybe the schools would think twice about increasing tuition and "fees" year after year.