General Dental Salary Question...As an Associate, working in Dental Chain, & on OWN

[Jammin0990]

I was just wondering if some of you who might be familiar with the salary end of dentistry can answer a few quick questions. I am just wondering what the average starting salary is for dentists who just graduate from dental school and decide to work as an associate under an established dentist. Also, how well do those dentists do (on the average) during their first few years out of dental school who decide to just start their OWN practice. Lastly, what about those dentists who work for dental chains like Bright Smile and work on a salary basis--how much do they make? Anyone know some ballpark salary figures? If you could post some info on this, it'd be greatly appreciated--Thanks!

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[DrNo72]

good question~
i doubt that you'd get a ton of reply though.
i am here in cali from the east coast, looking up some alumni to see if i can find those things out exactly in cali. TO NO AVAIL. dentists are sorry ass bunch(most) who keep to themselves and want to protect whatever they've got. i've sent out 18 letters asking to meet w/ them and discuss moving to cali and setting up, and one called back!.. while i was here, i called the rest, and they just kinda fluffed me off. well, sad as it is, i doubt that a busy practicing dentist who is going to be your potential employer, or a senior associate is gonna write you back w/ a distinct numbers for your question!
anyways, i'm looking forward to the answers to your questions~ if any working ppl decides to write back.
btw, if you live in southern cali and are a dental student, if you have patients for the board and spare some, can you gimme one? i'll pay you for a referral!!!~~
let me know on this site!
lataz,
DrNo

 

[Jammin0990]

I have not seen a response to my original salary-related post, but I have done some research on my own. What I have come up with is the following: as a recent dental graduate working as an associate under an experienced dentist, one usually earns around 60-70K starting and this salary figures goes up each additional year. Or a dental associate could have the option of having a starting salary that is 30% of the total office salary production. Of course, a combination of a small salary combined with 30% of total office salary production could also be an option. Next, working in dental chains like Bright Smile, I was told it is also around 60-70K starting. These are just average figures. If a dentist chooses to start his/her own practice right out of dental school, starting salary can be ANYTHING--from 40K to 150K--it just depends on how much business he/she gets during that initial start-up period. Anyway, I hope this info. helps those of you who are interested in the salary end of dentistry. Please keep in mind, these are just figures I got from asking a few different dentists--so I am assuming they are fairly accurate.

Lastly, if you would like to add your input into this discussion, I would be interested to read your reply. Thanks!

 

[dds2b]

What area in the country are you is this starting salary working as an associate indicative of?...Cali?...east coast?...midwest?

I'm assuming it's Cali since you're from there.

 

[Jammin0990]

The dentists I asked were dentists practicing in California

Jammin

 

[DrNo72]

that sounds pretty much similar to the jobs i am hearing about on the east coast. too bad there aren't any specific examples.
thanks for the 411.
lataz
DrNo

 

[dds2b]

I was flipping through my financial aid package given to me from my CWRU interview a few months back and found a survey of dental practice salaries.

Here is the 1996 median net income from the primary practice of independent dentists.

Age group.....general dentist...specialist
30-34.........$82000............138000
35-39..........115000...........176000
40-44..........120000...........183110
45-49..........131250...........202000
50-54..........122500...........195000
55-59..........120000...........160000
60-64..........100000...........125500
65 and over....60000............110000

Years since
graduation.....general dentist...specialist
5-9............$85000............141000
10-14...........123000...........186000
15-19...........130000...........200000
20-24...........131250...........195000
25-29...........122000...........193500
30-34...........107000...........150000
35 and over.....87000............122000

Region...........general.........specialist
New England......$105000.........165000
Mid atlantic......122500.........155000
E.North Central...110000.........160000
W.North Central...100700.........161000
South Atlantic....122500.........180000
E.South Central....92000...........NA
W.South Central...107000...........NA
Mountain..........119000.........210000
Pacific...........109000.........163000
Total US..........112000.........175000

Regions
New england: CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT
Mid atlantic: NJ, NY, PA
E. North central: IL, IN, MI, OH, WI
W.North Central: IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD
S.Atlantic: DE, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC VA, DC, WV
E.South Central: AL, KY, MS, TN
W. South Central: AR, LA, OK, TX
Mountain: AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY
Pacific: AD, CA, HI, OR, WA
Total US includes Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

This info is from the access group, but I couldn't find it on their website at www.accessgroup.org

[This message has been edited by dds2b (edited 01-13-2001).]