Dentist Jobs in Big Cities

[jeremmed77]

I have some interest in the Dental career after talking with my dentist, but I heard that it is difficult to get a job in some cities. I was wondering what an "average" dentist's chance would be trying to get a job in Miami, Chicago, Minneapolis, or New York? I now this extremely broad question to answer, so to put it in better words, how competitive or oversaturated are some of these big cities or big cities in general? Many people have told me that Southern California and New York have too many dentists, but I have not heard anything else about this.

Any input would be great. Thanks in advance.

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[zriceman]

I have some interest in the Dental career after talking with my dentist, but I heard that it is difficult to get a job in some cities. I was wondering what an "average" dentist's chance would be trying to get a job in Miami, Chicago, Minneapolis, or New York? I now this extremely broad question to answer, so to put it in better words, how competitive or oversaturated are some of these big cities or big cities in general? Many people have told me that Southern California and New York have too many dentists, but I have not heard anything else about this.

Any input would be great. Thanks in advance.

all metropolitan areas are saturated. southern cali and nyc are the most saturated.

 

[jeremmed77]

Thanks for the reply. Do you know if the saturation is going to get any better within the next ten years because of the baby boomers retiring?

 

[dentalWorks]

I have some interest in the Dental career after talking with my dentist, but I heard that it is difficult to get a job in some cities. I was wondering what an "average" dentist's chance would be trying to get a job in Miami, Chicago, Minneapolis, or New York? I now this extremely broad question to answer, so to put it in better words, how competitive or oversaturated are some of these big cities or big cities in general? Many people have told me that Southern California and New York have too many dentists, but I have not heard anything else about this.

Any input would be great. Thanks in advance.

rest assured my friend, if you earn a dental degree in the united states, you will not be jobless for more than 2-4 weeks. There is alot, let me say that again, there is ALOT of demand for dentists. Yes big cities are "saturated" but does that mean you can't find a job? thats non-sense.

I am from the Detroit area. I know many dentists (family and friends of family members) who don't or didn't struggle to land a good paying job. There are about 6000-8000 (not sure exactly) dentists in the Detroit metropolitan area alone, and yet, there are plenty of associate jobs to go around. Obviously I am using detroit as my argument here, but I imagine most big cities in the USA are like this (with the rare exception of LA and NY, yes those are heavily saturated)

Worry about getting into dental school first, THEN worry about passing dental school, FINALLY (the easiest step) you can worry about landing a job.

 

[gogetter1]

There's tons info about all occupations in the U.S. on the Bureux of Labor Statistics website with stats about literally every aspect of all recognized occupations in the country. The link below may answer your question about cities with the highest general dentist concentration as of May 2009. You can browse around the website for more info like projected growth, states with the highest paid dentists etc.

http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291021.htm

 

[DrReo]

I have some interest in the Dental career after talking with my dentist, but I heard that it is difficult to get a job in some cities. I was wondering what an "average" dentist's chance would be trying to get a job in Miami, Chicago, Minneapolis, or New York? I now this extremely broad question to answer, so to put it in better words, how competitive or oversaturated are some of these big cities or big cities in general? Many people have told me that Southern California and New York have too many dentists, but I have not heard anything else about this.

Any input would be great. Thanks in advance.

All those areas are insanely saturated. Every place has dental school(s) and a lot stay in the area. You will be working for less pay.

 

[DrReo]

Worry about getting into dental school first, THEN worry about passing dental school, FINALLY (the easiest step) you can worry about landing a job.

This is horrible advice. You want to know that your time and money can be invested in a worthwhile field! Who would want to graduate and then worry about getting a job? This is an issue with a lot of law students, English majors, etc.

 

[dentalWorks]

This is horrible advice. You want to know that your time and money can be invested in a worthwhile field! Who would want to graduate and then worry about getting a job? This is an issue with a lot of law students, English majors, etc.

thats MOSTLY true for non-health care positions. When your talking about healthcare positions, especially the big-four (medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and vets), the job market was very promising yesterday, very promising today, and most likely be very promising tomorrow.

hey, if you guys wanna play make-believe that dentists will graduate in the future and have a hard time landing positions, fine, I'll play along. Yeh guys, don't go into dentistry, its too saturated of a market, and no, those old 50/60/and some 70 year old dentists today aren't planning to ever retire.

 

[yappy]

For real, it's best not to go into this field if you're concerned with living/money after graduating. Best to go get a business degree - that is where the real money is - in as little as two years you can be breaking 6 figs with zero debt and zero stress. Be well on your way to CEO in no time. Forget dentistry.

heck forget college - just start a restaurant or pull a Bill Gates - so many easier ways to make a buck and generate some real cash.

Yeh guys, don't go into dentistry, its too saturated of a market, and no, those old 50/60/and some 70 year old dentists today aren't planning to ever retire.

 

[eliwoohoo]

the job market was very promising yesterday, very promising today, and most likely be very promising tomorrow.

The same has been said about the programming market, housing market, the internet bubble etc. Do you realize how drastically the field of medicine is changing with the enormous increase of mid levels, and the newly minted health care bill? The same phenomenon is occurring across the board for health care: Pharm market is becoming quite saturated in certain locations, nursing schools are very competitive now, etc etc.

hey, if you guys wanna play make-believe that dentists will graduate in the future and have a hard time landing positions, fine, I'll play along.

Sorry, I couldn't help but notice that you have been arguing with multiple experienced dentists and dental students in a whole mess of threads about how dentistry is a fail-safe career... If so many people are telling you something, do you think perhaps you might be out of the loop? Maybe it's you that is playing make-believe? Don't take this the wrong way, it is just a suggestion to be slightly more open minded...

 

[DrReo]

thats MOSTLY true for non-health care positions. When your talking about healthcare positions, especially the big-four (medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and vets), the job market was very promising yesterday, very promising today, and most likely be very promising tomorrow.

hey, if you guys wanna play make-believe that dentists will graduate in the future and have a hard time landing positions, fine, I'll play along. Yeh guys, don't go into dentistry, its too saturated of a market, and no, those old 50/60/and some 70 year old dentists today aren't planning to ever retire.

Sure, they'll retire. That's a no brainier. Look how many dental schools are popping up these days. A similar thing happened in the 1970's when dentists were working as hygienists because the market was over saturated... There is no shortage of dentists in metro areas. If a few dentists retire each year, that'll bring the dentistopulation ratio up a 100 more patients, or whatever. Very insignificant. The issue isn't the amount of dentists, but those who want to take Medicaid and treat those who cannot afford dentistry. If that's what you want to do, go for it. People are not compensated well for this, that's what is in need.

 

[dentalWorks]

The same has been said about the programming market, housing market, the internet bubble etc. Do you realize how drastically the field of medicine is changing with the enormous increase of mid levels, and the newly minted health care bill? The same phenomenon is occurring across the board for health care: Pharm market is becoming quite saturated in certain locations, nursing schools are very competitive now, etc etc.

please don't tell me you just compared the programming and dentistry market in the same thread. Look, I am a product of the "internet bubble", late 90s, many folks went into the I.T industry cause of the massive job opportunities. Yes the I.T market today has drastically dropped, true, but thats because of the massive amounts of out-sourcing that takes place. When your tooth hurts, your not going to fly across to another country to get it taken care of.

and whats this "enormous increase of mid levels"? You mean to say "the enormous TALK of increase of mid levels".... Mid levels have not taken off (yet), and last report I read, there are only a handful of them working in the Alaska, you call that "enormous increase"?

lol, Like I said before, if you guys want me to pretend like this is a "not-so-good" market, fine, I'll play

Sorry, I couldn't help but notice that you have been arguing with multiple experienced dentists and dental students in a whole mess of threads about how dentistry is a fail-safe career... If so many people are telling you something, do you think perhaps you might be out of the loop? Maybe it's you that is playing make-believe? Don't take this the wrong way, it is just a suggestion to be slightly more open minded...

Who are those experienced dentists that I happen to be arguing with, may I ask? and fail-safe career? What exactly am I arguing? maybe you can direct me to some of those threads where I.... apparently.... try to sell dentistry as a fail safe option.

 

[eliwoohoo]

please don't tell me you just compared the programming and dentistry market in the same thread. Look, I am a product of the "internet bubble", late 90s, many folks went into the I.T industry cause of the massive job opportunities. Yes the I.T market today has drastically dropped, true, but thats because of the massive amounts of out-sourcing that takes place. When your tooth hurts, your not going to fly across to another country to get it taken care of.

It is called dental tourism, and yes it does happen. But it looks like you missed my point... You have no idea when and how something that is supposed to be a sure-fire-win will crash and burn... Ask anyone who lost money in the real estate crash.

and whats this "enormous increase of mid levels"? You mean to say "the enormous TALK of increase of mid levels".... Mid levels have not taken off (yet), and last report I read, there are only a handful of them working in the Alaska, you call that "enormous increase"?

Please re-read what I wrote. I was talking about medicine, not dentistry (NP, PA, etc).

What exactly am I arguing? I.... apparently.... try to sell dentistry as a fail safe option

Apparently, you do? See below:

the job market was very promising yesterday, very promising today, and most likely be very promising tomorrow

rest assured my friend, if you earn a dental degree in the united states, you will not be jobless for more than 2-4 weeks

FINALLY (the easiest step) you can worry about landing a job

I don't really want to waste time debating with you on this topic, because like I said before, you are already doing it in various other threads. If you want to remain obstinately resistant in accepting the realistic drawbacks of dentistry, then that is fine, it is your choice. I wish you the best of luck

 

[yappy]

Eliwoohoo, I get what you're argueing but at the same time I dont think you're being intellectually honest. As you pointed out there are some challenges that new dentists will face. As you pointed out there have been some fields unrelated to dentistry that have had unexpected losses...

But I wonder if in an effort to agrue your point you've painting dentistry in a harsher light than you should/actually believe.

I guess what i'm saying is that many people are drawn to dentistry from other fields (myself included) because of alot of unique advantages found in dentistry; marketable skills, autonomy, large educational gap, and sustainable demand. There are potential negatives but alot of what you've pointed out are - what if situations - and not unique to dentistry.

So do you think dentistry days are numbered - is this the turning point occuring that will render this profession dead?

I don't really want to waste time debating with you on this topic, because like I said before, you are already doing it in various other threads. If you want to remain obstinately resistant in accepting the realistic drawbacks of dentistry, then that is fine, it is your choice. I wish you the best of luck

 

[dentalWorks]

It is called dental tourism, and yes it does happen. But it looks like you missed my point... You have no idea when and how something that is supposed to be a sure-fire-win will crash and burn... Ask anyone who lost money in the real estate crash.



Please re-read what I wrote. I was talking about medicine, not dentistry (NP, PA, etc).



Apparently, you do? See below:





I don't really want to waste time debating with you on this topic, because like I said before, you are already doing it in various other threads. If you want to remain obstinately resistant in accepting the realistic drawbacks of dentistry, then that is fine, it is your choice. I wish you the best of luck

This is the only thing I agree with you on.

But I'll end it with a simple question:
In the near future, if your high school cousin/brother/someone you personally know, asked you "Dr. eliwoohoo, do you think dentistry is a good field to go into? am I going to have a job when I graduate? Will I make good money in this field?"

I hope for his sakes (and the future high schoolers who will read this unfortunate thread) you tell him the REALISTIC truth that, while the dental profession does have its few drawbacks, it still beats the heck out of your typical engineering/business/marketing/economy degrees where you graduate and most likely end up using your bachelors degree flipping burgers at Burger King.

If the dental professional is struggling to land a job / make money.... I wonder how the other non-healthcare fields are doing? This is such an unfortunate thread, there are youngsters who will read this and think this is a dead end field

 

[FutureDent020]

My class has x-pilots, x-accountants, x-corporate business men/ women, x-construction managers, and x-engineers all looking for 'more stable careers'. Someone mentioned if you want to make money go into business... Yea, you can make a lot of money in business. But it takes hard work, good decisions, and wise investments. You put hard work, good decision making, and wise investments with a career in dentistry and you will make plenty of money as well. You can't just get a DDS /DMD and expect to make 200K+. It doesn't guarantee you success. It just opens a lot of doors for you. In the business world, sometimes those doors aren't as available. It takes some luck, good timing, and 'who you know' to get that promotion. Of course, this is true in dentistry as well. Every career path has its pros, cons, and risks. That is why it is important that you are passionate about it, so you can put in the hard work necessary to be successful.

Getting a DDS or DMD will not guarantee you a more successful career than someone with a masters in business or a degree in engineering, etc. It just provides you with a different (expensive) set of tools to make money with.

This 'saturated city' scenario is also vary vague. Yea, you would not want to move to louisville from NY or CA and start a practice from scratch if you have no connections in the area. You can't drive 3 miles without seeing a practice. However, if you have a family friend, father, father in law, professor, or establish dentist bring you in as a junior partner then offer you the practice, then it is not as much of a risk. You have a client base to work with and that client base can also reference you to others.

 

[eliwoohoo]

So do you think dentistry days are numbered - is this the turning point occuring that will render this profession dead?

Hi Yappy,

Not at all! Perhaps you are right that I was painting a bleak picture for dentistry when that is not the case at all. I just meant that dentistry is not a field where you can pop into and you are guaranteed success with a lot of money and jobs everywhere you look...

I think anyone interested in the field simply needs a realistic point of view. If a high school kid asks me about whether I think dentistry is a good career, I will give him the pros and the cons of the profession. We make decent money, we live a comfortable life, we do something we love while helping people. However, we also took on an enormous debt lasting decades, we had to slug it out in d-school, we had to relocate to find less saturated areas, we have back and hand problems sometimes, and we need to deal with people who can be very difficult sometimes.

Its the same idea if a dental student comes up to me and asks how the outlook for the job market is in dentistry: Pros, we are traditionally business owners and we can start an office anywhere, there are dental chains always looking for associates, and you should not be getting paid less than 80K/yr ever in your life. Cons, you will need to make ALOT more than 80K/yr to service your loans, you will be in debt for a long time so you need to live frugally well into your early to late 30's, starting a business is hard work and there is a chance of failure, there are some unknown factors in our horizon that may change our professions greatly, and taking an easy job at a dental chain can drain a lot of your energy.

I'm sure that list is not comprehensive, but it is just what comes off the top of my head. So I apologize if I came off excessively negative, that was not what I intended to do. I just wanted to track this thread towards being realistic about the limitations and advantages of this profession and it's future, instead of painting a rosy picture of the rich dentist.

And just so that this thread hasn't been completely derailed by this (haha sorry OP), in regards to the original topic, listen to Dr. Reo: all those big cities are very difficult to make it in now.. You will be paid less for doing more, and jobs will be harder to come by, not to mention increased living costs.