Dentist annual salary

[GypsyHummus]

This is one of the best, honest answers I have seen by far.

Dentistry is amazing gig when student loans are all done. I finished my loans and I literally can work 3 days a week making 700-800 a day which is about 9-10k before tax.

That is awesome. And I choose to work 4 days on then 5 days on now so that I can live life a little.

The only problem now is that loans are the graduates with half a million in loans. when you have loans, kids, save for retirement, save for practice, house etc etc that is enormous amount of pressure. Most of the new grads I work with just put loans on Ibr/back burner and "ignore" it...but you have to face it eventually. It will never go away.

Wow, thats a pretty sweet setup. Wouldn't mind making 110-120K/year while only working 3 days a week.

how is it that dentists can do that? I know other health professions such as pharmacists and podiatrists work 60+ hour workweeks to bring home 120K. Seems like dentistry has an absurd amount of cash for the hours worked.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[321931]

Wow, thats a pretty sweet setup. Wouldn't mind making 110-120K/year while only working 3 days a week.

how is it that dentists can do that? I know other health professions such as pharmacists and podiatrists work 60+ hour workweeks to bring home 120K. Seems like dentistry has an absurd amount of cash for the hours worked.

Dentists are reimbursed by insurance or cash. Depending on the procedure, you get X amount of $$$. If you can do procedures fast, and can do a variety of procedures....you make more money than someone that doesn't. Pharmacists are reimbursed hourly not based on what they do or how many scripts they can fill.

For example:

Today, I have a root canal, 2 crowns, few fills, and hygiene checks. 3500 production, about 1200$ take home. I work 8 hours.

My coworker who doesn't do root canals, is pretty slow ( newer graduate no offense ) is making about 1800 production which is about 540$. He is working 12 hours today. He actually chose to do 12 hour days because hes very much in debt and wants all the hours he can get.

In addition, getting patients to like you, come back for treatment, and believe they NEED the treatment is all part of the equation. AKA a personable dentist is better than a dentist with no personality in my opinion. Now you might wonder "wow so much money...then why is the average 700-800?" The reason being is that not everyday is a good day. Some days, I sit around and barely see any patients or they cancel and I take home 300$. It all averages out. Therefore, its better to work less....have a "packed schedule", then work MORE days and have a less productive/packed schedule.

These are simply my opinions.

 

[GypsyHummus]

Dentists are reimbursed by insurance or cash. Depending on the procedure, you get X amount of $$$. If you can do procedures fast, and can do a variety of procedures....you make more money than someone that doesn't. Pharmacists are reimbursed hourly not based on what they do or how many scripts they can fill.

For example:

Today, I have a root canal, 2 crowns, few fills, and hygiene checks. 3500 production, about 1200$ take home. I work 8 hours.

My coworker who doesn't do root canals, is pretty slow ( newer graduate no offense ) is making about 1800 production which is about 540$. He is working 12 hours today. He actually chose to do 12 hour days because hes very much in debt and wants all the hours he can get.

In addition, getting patients to like you, come back for treatment, and believe they NEED the treatment is all part of the equation. AKA a personable dentist is better than a dentist with no personality in my opinion. Now you might wonder "wow so much money...then why is the average 700-800?" The reason being is that not everyday is a good day. Some days, I sit around and barely see any patients or they cancel and I take home 300$. It all averages out. Therefore, its better to work less....have a "packed schedule", then work MORE days and have a less productive/packed schedule.

Gotcha.

Now, what if someone has very poor eye hand coordination, a very low dexterity, and is super slow (myself) but is highly personable and patients like going to see that doctor. Does that person still have to work 12 hours to make the 1800 in production? Or in this case could he afford to do 8 hour days but have a steadier steam of patients not cancel the root canal?

as a quick aside and then back onto the topic at hand: Can someone with horrible dexterity still be successful in Dentistry? I've got bad hand coordination but really like what dentistry has to offer in terms of providing instant relief to patients, only 4 years of schooling, and not having patients die on you. Seems like a win all around to go the dental route. Im sure its not all sunshine and rainbows like any other profession (debt) but it is probably a better field to go into than medicine at this point.

 

[Tooth Ferry]

Gotcha.

Now, what if someone has very poor eye hand coordination, a very low dexterity, and is super slow (myself) but is highly personable and patients like going to see that doctor. Does that person still have to work 12 hours to make the 1800 in production? Or in this case could he afford to do 8 hour days but have a steadier steam of patients not cancel the root canal?

as a quick aside and then back onto the topic at hand: Can someone with horrible dexterity still be successful in Dentistry? I've got bad hand coordination but really like what dentistry has to offer in terms of providing instant relief to patients, only 4 years of schooling, and not having patients die on you. Seems like a win all around to go the dental route. Im sure its not all sunshine and rainbows like any other profession (debt) but it is probably a better field to go into than medicine at this point.

Practice practice practice. Being personable is great but you need to deliver results or you're going to get bad reviews/referral numbers and possibly lawsuits if you malpractice.

Lots of people provide instant relief to patients, e.g. a massage therapist. Also in many states you need to do at least an AEGD/GPR to get a license. Plenty of physicians have patients that don't die on them (derm, etc.).

 

[htdt]

I feel like there has been a misunderstanding, which leads to people making assumptions about me such as I am a naive pre-dent that has done zero research before applying. When I asked this question:

A mediocre dentist in term of hand skills should expect a mediocre income, so right around 150k, correct? Such dentist would have no hope to become financially successful? Or does it depend on other factors?

I mean to ask about a dentist who is out of school for at least 5+ years, well maybe 10+ years. Would people here agree that 150k is a mediocre income for said dentist?

 

[x0jessmariex3]

Dentistry is amazing gig when student loans are all done. I finished my loans and I literally can work 3 days a week making 700-800 a day which is about 9-10k before tax.

If you don't mind sharing how much you took out in loans and how long it took you to pay it off? I see your a five year member so that's pretty short amount of time. Just curious.

 

[Cello]

Teaching you how to do a procedure 1 or 2 times doesn't equal competency when you come out. You have may take implantology class and may even put it an implant or two but keep in mind you may be competing for residents to get those patients. If you do 3 removable dentures, that doesn't mean you'll be competent enough to start ripping them out on the reg.

Each student at our school places 2 BICONs. How many implants you place is largely up to your desire and ability as I understand it. If you have demonstrated proficiency and want more implant work then your clinical care coordinator will be sure to get you the work. I assisted a D3 recently who had placed an implant after the pilot just the day before and his friend had done two of the same earlier that week. I know of a D4 who was part of the implant placement process on 25 implants in a single year. Of course, he only did the full procedure on a handful of those probably.

Also the Invisalign thing is pretty common now. We have it at BU and I know NYU does as well.

But do you have laser beams?!

Also the business/patient management skills are mandated by the CODA for the schools to be accredited. Schools demonstrate that their graduates have learned that via classes. You can can check the list out here.

I have no idea how we compare to other schools in this regard, but I do know that they run our clinic like a real dental clinic because they want us to see as many patients as possible (averaging 3-5 per day as I understand it). Lab work gets sent out to the lab whenever possible because they would rather we spend our time doing chair side dentistry than messing around with stuff we won't probably do in practice anyway. Billing is done on mobile carts so they come to you and your patient, meaning you don't have to wait in some god awful line to bill your patient. Maybe they do this at other schools? I don't know, but I know they pioneered a lot of stuff in our clinic which has made it the most productive dental clinic in the nation as of last year (finally topping UoP).

 

[wengerout]

Each student at our school places 2 BICONs. How many implants you place is largely up to your desire and ability as I understand it. If you have demonstrated proficiency and want more implant work then your clinical care coordinator will be sure to get you the work. I assisted a D3 recently who had placed an implant after the pilot just the day before and his friend had done two of the same earlier that week. I know of a D4 who was part of the implant placement process on 25 implants in a single year. Of course, he only did the full procedure on a handful of those probably.



But do you have laser beams?!



I have no idea how we compare to other schools in this regard, but I do know that they run our clinic like a real dental clinic because they want us to see as many patients as possible (averaging 3-5 per day as I understand it). Lab work gets sent out to the lab whenever possible because they would rather we spend our time doing chair side dentistry than messing around with stuff we won't probably do in practice anyway. Billing is done on mobile carts so they come to you and your patient, meaning you don't have to wait in some god awful line to bill your patient. Maybe they do this at other schools? I don't know, but I know they pioneered a lot of stuff in our clinic which has made it the most productive dental clinic in the nation as of last year (finally topping UoP).

I love their curriculum so much


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[RS2224]

I think its a bit more beneficial. I like the fact that the dentists do things slightly differently so you are able to see different styles. Although its kind of difficult to remember which dentist does which procedure a certain way.

Also they are still pretty packed IMO. I wouldn't say the business is hurting terribly. Each dentist still has about 7-10 patients a day on average. The owner also does implants, braces, and invisalign.

At the dental practice I work at, we have 3 hygenists, one dentist and 4 dental assistants. Each hygienist sees around 15 people a day and the dentist sees around 10 lmao

 

[x0jessmariex3]

At the dental practice I work at, we have 3 hygenists, one dentist and 4 dental assistants. Each hygienist sees around 15 people a day and the dentist sees around 10 lmao

Wow so each hygienist has their own assistant? Lol the hygienist usually works by herself at the dental practice I work at. I think 10 is about the average for most dentists unless they're doing long procedures like implants or molar root canals. Regardless I don't think any dentists are truly suffering unless they opened their own practice right after graduation.

 

[RS2224]

Wow so each hygienist has their own assistant? Lol the hygienist usually works by herself at the dental practice I work at. I think 10 is about the average for most dentists unless they're doing long procedures like implants or molar root canals. Regardless I don't think any dentists are truly suffering unless they opened their own practice right after graduation.

Haha yup pretty much. The place is so busy we are always running around. Yeah exactly, if it's implants/extractions/root canals the day is definitely less busier in terms of the number of appointments ... but that means we're sitting there for a long time as he does long procedures aha. I think on Fridays there's even been 17 people for the hygeniests. He kills them. I'm not a fan of it. Also, he doesn't spend time with his patients.. as in rushes to get them in and out. He's great with the procedures but the patients feel rushed and unimportant.

 

[x0jessmariex3]

Haha yup pretty much. The place is so busy we are always running around. Yeah exactly, if it's implants/extractions/root canals the day is definitely less busier in terms of the number of appointments ... but that means we're sitting there for a long time as he does long procedures aha. I think on Fridays there's even been 17 people for the hygeniests. He kills them. I'm not a fan of it. Also, he doesn't spend time with his patients.. as in rushes to get them in and out. He's great with the procedures but the patients feel rushed and unimportant.

I think he would probably make a lot more money if he had an associate dentist rather than so many hygenists. That way those patients wouldn't feel rushed. He could split the dental procedures between two people. Also the hygenist mainly just does cleanings which aren't that much $$$. Lol just random thought.

 

[8_man]

I think he would probably make a lot more money if he had an associate dentist rather than so many hygenists. That way those patients wouldn't feel rushed. He could split the dental procedures between two people. Also the hygenist mainly just does cleanings which aren't that much $$$. Lol just random thought.

Did some simple number crunching for fun and apparently, a hygenist w/ 10 patients a day (across 240 work days per year and $50 per cleaning) will pull in $120,000. Pay em $70,000, and your practice nets $50,000. Let's just highball it and say $25,000 for overhead costs, so you're pulling in an additional $25,000 in take-home income.

Of course, actually having the patient volume to do this is the real challenge.

 

[x0jessmariex3]

Did some simple number crunching for fun and apparently, a hygenist w/ 10 patients a day (across 240 work days per year and $50 per cleaning) will pull in $120,000. Pay em $70,000, and your practice nets $50,000. Let's just highball it and say $25,000 for overhead costs, so you're pulling in an additional $25,000 in take-home income.

Of course, actually having the patient volume to do this is the real challenge.

Wouldn't a dentist who's performing procedures anywhere from $500-2,000 be more profitable even if the hygienist is being paid less though? Dentists are usually just paid a percentage. I think like 30%

 

[8_man]

Wouldn't a dentist who's performing procedures anywhere from $500-2,000 be more profitable even if the hygienist is being paid less though? Dentists are usually just paid a percentage. I think like 30%

Exactly. If you hire a dentist, you want him/her to focus on the more lucrative procedures (crowns, endo, etc.). Still, many patients come in for teeth cleanings and so hiring a hygenist is a more cost-efficient way to service this particular patient pool.

 

[DrSdreen]

lol well, I have yet to come across another school that teaches you how to do Implants, Invisalign, use soft tissue lasers, allow you to do the amount of procedures their students do, or provide the same amount of business/patient management classes. I admit they are expensive but they justify their price a whole lot more than some of the other schools IMHO.

Wow. Those sound impressive. MWU teaches all these? Too bad I didn't apply there.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile