Dentist salary- minimum

[dentaltom]

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Hi, I was reading some old threads in the M.D. forum regarding the falling income of M.D.'s. Some said they would not consider medicine if it paid less than $100,000, while others said they would do medicine even if it paid $30,000.


The mean income of a general dentist is typically around $120,000. The income of a specialist is around $200,000.

What do you guys think is the minimum yealy salary that would justify 8 tough years of undergrad and dental?

 

[speter33]

Hey Tom. I assume you are on top of the market field right now, since you've been looking around for jobs. What are the minimum salaries being offered for dentists straight out of school?

To answer your question. I don't think below 75k/year would be worth becoming a dentist. Unless they'd reduce dental school to 2 years and make it cheap, then it would be a different story.

 

[dentite001]

I think it depends on how much you enjoy dentistry. If you love the field, you could do it for $50k, which is still more than most people make. If your in it JUST for the money though, I wouldn't do it for under $100K. There are plenty of roads to wealth. You could open a grocery store and make that.

 

[ItsGavinC]

The mean income of a general dentist is typically around $120,000.

Yeah, the first year out of school. 😀

 

[dentaltom]

To be sure, a passion for dentistry and public service is necessary to be a good dentist. But, almost every dentist and dental student(especially me) I know has, or dreams of, having their own office. And operarting your own dental office is very expensive. If incomes were at a point where the majority of dentists spent their entire careers in partnerships or communes to afford an office I think it would suck just a little bit more to become a dentist.

For this reason I think that income has to stay high for dentists, because ,after all, you are running your own business. I'm not greedy and I have no problem with the incomes as they are now. I think $120,000-$200,000 is good enough to afford that beautiful office in Chicago that I've been dreaming about my whole life.

 

[critterbug]

Yeah, the first year out of school. 😀

I'm not sure if you were joking or not, but I would guess that the average start salary for an associateship would be 90-100K. Of course, that is just a flat out educated guess.

 

[no2thdk999]

From the May 2004 ADA New Dentist News (2001 stats, New dentist = < 5 years)

Full time private practitioners $166,394

Full time associates in priv. prac $109,808

New dentists faculty position $63,382 + $33,380 earned @ 2nd private position

New dentists employed by state or gov $84,030 + $11,500 earned @ 2nd private position if held

New dentists in military, USPHS, or VA $66, 875 + $17,500 earned @ 2nd private position if held


JMHO
Rob

 

[ItsGavinC]

I'm not sure if you were joking or not, but I would guess that the average start salary for an associateship would be 90-100K. Of course, that is just a flat out educated guess.

Not so much joking, but a little bit. $120,000 for a first-year associate isn't unheard of, especially in my locale. But that isn't to say that everybody is going to be making that.

Anybody stuck at $120,000 or less for more than several years either has poor skills, or simply doesn't want to be making more than that (and there isn't anything wrong with that attitude either).

 

[ToothMonkey]

What do you guys think is the minimum yealy salary that would justify 8 tough years of undergrad and dental?

For those of us attending private schools I think the cost of dental education is getting to be more of an issue than the time involved. So to me the real question is "What minimum salary would justify accumulating X amount of school debt?"

I can't speak for others, but I'd think twice about racking up $250K in debt just to average $50-75K/year over the course of my career. It's all well and good to talk about enjoying your work, but sooner or later everyne has to consider ROI. Preferably sooner.

From the May 2004 ADA New Dentist News (2001 stats, New dentist = < 5 years)

Don't the figures from that survey include specialists? In that case I wonder how much lower the numbers would be if it were GP only.

 

[Yah-E]

ToothMonkey:

Those ADA survey figures are only for general practitioner salaries. It's pretty damn good, huh?!
👍

 

[msummar_smc]

For those of us attending private schools I think the cost of dental education is getting to be more of an issue than the time involved. So to me the real question is "What minimum salary would justify accumulating X amount of school debt?"

I can't speak for others, but I'd think twice about racking up $250K in debt just to average $50-75K/year over the course of my career. It's all well and good to talk about enjoying your work, but sooner or later everyne has to consider ROI. Preferably sooner.

Don't the figures from that survey include specialists? In that case I wonder how much lower the numbers would be if it were GP only.

Toothmonkey:
The loans do stink to high heaven, but they are not that big of a deterant. You can live a pretty nice lifestyle with the debt load. Once it is paid off, you can live a really 😀 nice lifestyle. Play around with the financial link below. Also, on the DentalTown boards and from a few friends, monthly loan payments range between $700 to around $1600 . Plug those in with the different salary ranges to give you an idea of where you will be.

http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/houseafford/houseafford.html

 

[Bsingle04]

My younger sister is an associate in her second year of working as a dentist (general practitioner) and is making >> $120Kyr. She is very young. Her current salary surpasses my Family Medicine attending doctor who has been in private practice for almost 20 yrs. I feel so sorry for him. The simple reason is that she is an associate and doesn't have to pay any overhead costs which typically add up to half of what my FM doc gross at his practice. She is off every single weekends which is also making me jealous. Her boss hands her all this money pre-taxed and it is just a huge sum of $$$$$$$$$$$. He is grossing over $2Million/year and he's making some more at another office. Her friend is in endodontics making over $400K/yr. I am very thankful that I have family who doesn't charge me a penny for dental work these days. I love these new fillings that do not look like those old metalic fillings I got 15 years ago. 😀

 

[R3D2P1]

I was curious about the average salary of dentists and orthodontists in NY and the site showed that dentists make more (The expected salary for a typical Dentist in New York, NY, is $126,403. and The expected salary for a typical Orthodontist in New York, NY, is $123,393.). Shouldn't it be the other way around, since orthodontists spend an additional 2-3 yrs of specializing?

RDP

 

[ItsGavinC]

I was curious about the average salary of dentists and orthodontists in NY and the site showed that dentists make more (The expected salary for a typical Dentist in New York, NY, is $126,403. and The expected salary for a typical Orthodontist in New York, NY, is $123,393.). Shouldn't it be the other way around, since orthodontists spend an additional 2-3 yrs of specializing?

RDP

Yeah, those numbers from that site are completely bogus. The average for an orthodontist in NY, NY is probably around the $230,000--if not higher.

 

[UBTom]

Yep... Those are probably average figures for the entire New York State.

And there are very big variations from place to place within the state... Obviously an orthodontist is not going to command as high a fee in say rural Oriskany in Central New York versus affluent Great Neck on Long Island.

 

[woesermarley]

My younger sister is an associate in her second year of working as a dentist (general practitioner) and is making >> $120Kyr. She is very young. Her current salary surpasses my Family Medicine attending doctor who has been in private practice for almost 20 yrs. I feel so sorry for him. The simple reason is that she is an associate and doesn't have to pay any overhead costs which typically add up to half of what my FM doc gross at his practice. She is off every single weekends which is also making me jealous. Her boss hands her all this money pre-taxed and it is just a huge sum of $$$$$$$$$$$. He is grossing over $2Million/year and he's making some more at another office. Her friend is in endodontics making over $400K/yr. I am very thankful that I have family who doesn't charge me a penny for dental work these days. I love these new fillings that do not look like those old metalic fillings I got 15 years ago. 😀

wow!!! u are a lucky guy! are u sure about those figures? where does her boss practise ? i might move my pratice there,haha.just kidding..i am still on the road ! peace..woeser...

 

[Bsingle04]

She works in Bethesda, MD near my alma mata GT Med Ctr.