Do dentists make a lot of money?

[peanutb123]

You also clearly do not understand what passion for a job means. Passion for something means it is first in your life. Passion for a job means not dating or marrying until you have accomplished what you set out to. Passion means not caring if you are rewarded for what you do, because you do it for the satisfaction it gives you. Passion is sacrifice. Sad that you don't know this... It's OK, it is a sad product of a younger generation being sucked into a materialistic hole.



It doesn't take a genius to realize that your equation is quite flawed. I don't know when superior education started equaling "if they make a breakthrough" which somehow then equals "$$$??" I'll just put it as this: when you make a scientific breakthrough, it does not guarantee any type of money. If you make a breakthrough, you will get published, your name will garner respect, and you will be able to pull in more grant money: FOR FUTURE RESEARCH. Now, if you happen to be business oriented, then you may apply for a patent on your breakthrough, if perhaps it has some type of commercial value (the vast majority of research outcome does NOT have commercial value). Now, if you are able to get a patent, you need to hope a VC or established business will actually want what you discovered, and then negotiations can begin. Finally, if you strike a deal and make some money, you pay a huge percentage back to whatever facility you worked with to make that discovery (i.e. at Stanford, we had to pay 50% of any earnings or grants, immediately). Of course taking off taxes and etc, and you actually got paid quite little for the amount of time and energy you spent.. That is, if you made it through all the loopholes I just described. Did you know any of this when you created that silly equation?



Truth. And an unfortunate one at that too.



Hm... this really depends on so many variables I find it funny that you have put it in an equation as well.

Let me give you something to ponder: I have two sisters, one in the US, one in an Asian country. Both work in similar fields. The one in the US makes 85K, and has 30% income tax, 9% sales tax, 1.5K/mo rent, car payments, gas, insurance, etc. The one in Asia makes 60K, 20% income tax, no sales tax, 800/mo rent (with >sq ft) no car payments, gas, insurance, etc (public transport) and cheap food. Interestingly enough, the sister in Asia manages to save a good 10K/yr more than the on in the US... Not such a simple equation, is it?

US used to dominate the world economy. This simply is not true anymore. If people are not willing to think outside that box, then it is their (your) loss.

Anyways, this discussion has totally tangented off topic. The bottom line is that if you are in DENTISTRY for money, you will be sorely disappointed by the return on investment. Read more threads and educate yourself on the real, total costs of a dental education and cost to start a business, as well as the CURRENT economic situation of many dentists. Dentistry is not a smart way to get rich, it just provides a relatively stable career.

lol... ignorance

you define passion so well...

but could you also do us a favor and tell me how you are different from say a "passion less" still does the same things as you do, such as take same classes, same exams, etc... make that person a less of a dentist just b/c they want to earn a better salary.

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[peanutb123]

DUDE. You need some help with your math.

Avg GP makes 200K/yr. Avg OMFS makes 400K/yr. Avg GP starting pay is ~100K/yr. Do the math. Realize that the OMFS will supercede the GP VERY quickly unless the GP somehow has insane business skills and has managed to set up a thriving business chain in this ridiculous economic climate. Even then, the GP will have startup costs and business loans that will far outweigh the OMFS operating costs.

it seems like you are the one who needs help w/ reading, comprehending and math.

 

[dentalWorks]

You also clearly do not understand what passion for a job means. Passion for something means it is first in your life. Passion for a job means not dating or marrying until you have accomplished what you set out to. Passion means not caring if you are rewarded for what you do, because you do it for the satisfaction it gives you. Passion is sacrifice.Sad that you don't know this... It's OK, it is a sad product of a younger generation being sucked into a materialistic hole.

Passion this, passion that, ever watched passion of the Christ? Okay that rhymed, now back to business.

You talk like your a 15 year old who recently took a high school course in poetry. Listen up kiddo, you throw "passion" around like your someone whom sacrificed a portion of their livelihood for something they believe in. Maybe thats the case, but seeing you speak with zero indication toward something you've done previously just tells me... your one of "those" idealistic folks whos out of touch with reality.

yeh... I am sucked into this "materialistic hole" and while your status says "Dental Student"... and, you've picked the SAME profession we "materialistic" folks are going into.... hmmmm?

It doesn't take a genius to realize that your equation is quite flawed. I don't know when superior education started equaling "if they make a breakthrough" which somehow then equals "$$$??" I'll just put it as this: when you make a scientific breakthrough, it does not guarantee any type of money. If you make a breakthrough, you will get published, your name will garner respect, and you will be able to pull in more grant money: FOR FUTURE RESEARCH. Now, if you happen to be business oriented, then you may apply for a patent on your breakthrough, if perhaps it has some type of commercial value (the vast majority of research outcome does NOT have commercial value). Now, if you are able to get a patent, you need to hope a VC or established business will actually want what you discovered, and then negotiations can begin. Finally, if you strike a deal and make some money, you pay a huge percentage back to whatever facility you worked with to make that discovery (i.e. at Stanford, we had to pay 50% of any earnings or grants, immediately). Of course taking off taxes and etc, and you actually got paid quite little for the amount of time and energy you spent.. That is, if you made it through all the loopholes I just described. Did you know any of this when you created that silly equation?

I guess you've never read the story of Bruce Roth. I'll let you google him

DUDE. You need some help with your math.

Avg GP makes 200K/yr. Avg OMFS makes 400K/yr. Avg GP starting pay is ~100K/yr. Do the math. Realize that the OMFS will supercede the GP VERY quickly unless the GP somehow has insane business skills and has managed to set up a thriving business chain in this ridiculous economic climate. Even then, the GP will have startup costs and business loans that will far outweigh the OMFS operating costs.

LMAO !! I guess you never read those "maybes" and "mights"... here let me help you out:

Please, scroll back to page 1 and read the last paragraph of post #7, where I give out a PERFECT example of a scenario where a GP dentist makes and surpasses the above figures you've just shown (both of them) ...Next time you try to disprove someone's comments, READ and COMPREHEND the entire thread first.

 

[dental wahoo]

One point that hasn't been brought up is the idea of earning potential. I think it's somewhat misleading to answer the question with a simple "Yes/no, a dentist does/doesn't make a lot of money" answer.

Instead, it's probably more prudent to say a dentist CAN earn a lot of money. A DDS/DMD degree, like other graduate degrees, affords you greater earning potential relative to someone with a High School Diploma or a basic undergraduate degree in the humanities. But, as with most anything, it will continue to take hard work to be successful, whether success be a high salary, serving in underserved areas, respect in the community, hot spouse, all four, etc. A DDS/DMD degree doesn't automatically equal a high salary, though it may give you a better shot at one. All a degree is is a piece of nice paper; how it's used will usually dictate whether a dentist will be successful or not.

My original post was longer, so I included a Cliffsnotes section for those who don't read long posts. I think I'll keep it because I think it sums up my thoughts nicely.

Cliffsnotes:
DDS/DMD alone does not guarantee a high salary, but it does give you the opportunity to earn a high salary.

 

[fishyfishy]

yeh... I am sucked into this "materialistic hole" and while your status says "Dental Student"... and, you've picked the SAME profession we "materialistic" folks are going into.... hmmmm?

Of course, since we are in the same profession we must have gotten in for the same reason right?

I don't care why you decided to do dentistry, I don't care if you have no passion. I don't even care if you want to buy a yacht with the money you made from pushing excessive treatment plans on your patients. But just understand from a realistic point of view, dentistry is not how most people will get rich. Neither is research.

At the end of the day, when you come home exhausted from a full day of working with difficult patients, you will understand what I mean: Doing this for money will make you miserable. Until then, it would do you well to be more humble and learn from other people's actual experiences instead of google and wikipedia.

I guess you've never read the story of Bruce Roth. I'll let you google him

Please, scroll back to page 1 and read the last paragraph of post #7, where I give out a PERFECT example of a scenario where a GP dentist makes and surpasses the above figures you've just shown (both of them).

Wow, two whole examples? Thanks, I'll be sure to base my entire life around these outliers under the assumption that I am not found within the +/- 2 standard deviations of normal...

LMAO !! I guess you never read those "maybes" and "mights"...

LMAO! It's almost like you are not saying anything at all, with all those "maybes" and "mights." MAYBE you should just stop posting about things you aren't sure of, because it MIGHT make it look like you don't know what you are talking about?

 

[yappy]

I've noticed that there are alot of threads going on about finances, income and student loans - but nothing of substance is ever said on these threads.