general/specialties incomes vs medicine

[honeyroastednuts]

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What would you say are the national average income of general dentists, and what would be the top 5 highest paid specialties? How would they compare to some of the medical specialties? (I'm a dental student considering switching over to med- Yes, money, isn't everything, but the amount of effort in school to income ratio is something I'd like to consider)

 

[deleted678432]

What would you say are the national average income of general dentists, and what would be the top 5 highest paid specialties? How would they compare to some of the medical specialties? (I'm a dental student considering switching over to med- Yes, money, isn't everything, but the amount of effort in school to income ratio is something I'd like to consider)

This is something you’d have to google... I remember reading that when comparing OMFS to medicine’s highest paid specialties (ENT, plastics, ortho, etc.) OMFS has the highest pay per hour.

 

[DentalNucleicAcid]

Don’t forget that as dental students we can start working right after school and we don’t have to agonize over grades during school if doing GP. The meds don’t have either of those luxuries. You can make just as much or more as a GP than some dental specialists if you play your cards right. The DMD/DDS only says you can legally practice, the rest is up to you.

 

[Vote For Pedro]

What are the highest paid medical/dental specialties PER HOUR?

 

[Afterhoursdentist]

What would you say are the national average income of general dentists, and what would be the top 5 highest paid specialties? How would they compare to some of the medical specialties? (I'm a dental student considering switching over to med- Yes, money, isn't everything, but the amount of effort in school to income ratio is something I'd like to consider)

I am a dentist and my wife is an MD. Her first job out of residency as hospitalist is $260k a year working 7 days on and 7 days off... $10k annual sign on bonus for 2 years and $3k quarterly group performance bonus (it has never been missed in 10 years). She works for a group that is contracted with a major hospital corporation. I work for my dad and get paid $120k a year working 4 days a week about 20 hours a week. The practice collected $1.9 million (not gross revenue but actual collections) in 2018. I will own the practice in 6 years upon my dad retirment. If you don’t have a dental practice to walk into then go into medicine. Dentistry is an extremely competitive fight that is only going to get worse in the future

 

[yappy]

I am a dentist and my wife is an MD. Her first job out of residency as hospitalist is $260k a year working 7 days on and 7 days off... $10k annual sign on bonus for 2 years and $3k quarterly group performance bonus (it has never been missed in 10 years). She works for a group that is contracted with a major hospital corporation. I work for my dad and get paid $120k a year working 4 days a week about 20 hours a week. The practice collected $1.9 million (not gross revenue but actual collections) in 2018. I will own the practice in 6 years upon my dad retirment. If you don’t have a dental practice to walk into then go into medicine. Dentistry is an extremely competitive fight that is only going to get worse in the future

No offense but why do you make so little? I sometimes feel bad for those that have parents in dentistry and get trapped by their families legacy. You're not doing well and it doesn't have to be that way. consider that I didn't have a family in dentistry, or a practice to walk into, and I'm doing way better than you. New grads working corp gigs are doing better. Why not do something else for 6 years, or start your own, instead of waiting?

 

[321931]

Your question can be answered in this way:

Medicine employed for a corporation/hospital will most likely ALWAYS make more then a dentist working for someone/corporate. They will have benefits, better time off, and a better lifestyle then any dentist.

A self employed dentist can make more per hour and or make more in general then a medical doctor if they own a good practice. I know plenty of dentists that make as much as your top surgeons on 32 hours a week/4 days a week.

What does that mean? Business is where dentistry comes out ahead.

What does this mean for you? Absolutely nothing as you should do what makes you happy and what you can see yourself doing for the rest of your days. Money after a certain level really doesn't mean much. It just means more stuff to buy. But you know what means more, going to work and being happy, and having some time off to go spend it with the kids. That's most important.

 

[thisismyacct]

I know a cardiologist making 900k/year

 

[321931]

I know a cardiologist making 900k/year

And I know a general dentist working less then 3 days a week making 500k. The difference is he barely works as he has associates, and when he does work its mostly hygiene exams and doing fillings.

Cardiologists work their butts off, and have a ton of liability. My previous owner just watches netflix in his office and has his associates doing the grunt work.

At the end of the day, it still doesn't make a difference. If you are gunning for the top income of a top surgeon....then you gotta work your butt off. Are you willing to put in the time and effort for that? That's up to you.

 

[thisismyacct]

And I know a general dentist working less then 3 days a week making 500k. The difference is he barely works as he has associates, and when he does work its mostly hygiene exams and doing fillings.

Cardiologists work their butts off, and have a ton of liability. My previous owner just watches netflix in his office and has his associates doing the grunt work.

At the end of the day, it still doesn't make a difference. If you are gunning for the top income of a top surgeon....then you gotta work your butt off. Are you willing to put in the time and effort for that? That's up to you.

Absolutely, I should have added that in the original comment (I was being lazy). The cardiologist 100% works more than a dentist, especially the one you mentioned. At the end of the day, I still think dentistry is the way to go income wise since you can chill and collect money from the hygienists (yes, that is oversimplifying).

The first day I shadowed, the dentist did a crown and a filling. during that time I saw like 4 people get cleanings and he said "sorry we brought you in on a slow day". still solid money on a "slow" day.

 

[charlestweed]

No offense but why do you make so little? I sometimes feel bad for those that have parents in dentistry and get trapped by their families legacy. You're not doing well and it doesn't have to be that way. consider that I didn't have a family in dentistry, or a practice to walk into, and I'm doing way better than you. New grads working corp gigs are doing better. Why not do something else for 6 years, or start your own, instead of waiting?

This is not very little. He only works 20 hours a week (or 4-5 hours/day). He can easily make $200+k if he works twice as hard. He probably doesn't have any student loan and his wife makes $260k. Don't feel bad for him. He is actually in much better financial shape than you and me when we graduated. Unlike us, he doesn't need to worry about working hard to pay back loans and to save for future retirement. In 6 years, he'll be the owner of the million dollar practice. If I was in a similar situation like his, I would take things easy as well.

My wife now only works 2-3 days/week, 2-3 hours a day because we already paid off our debts and I still work full time. Taking care of kids is our #1 priority. My wife doesn't want to retire and be a full time mom because she actually enjoys working. The job is more enjoyable because she no longer needs to go around begging the GPs for referrals, to sell cases, to worry about the overhead and about paying bills etc. That's her reward for working hard when she was in her 20s and 30s....and for marrying the right guy (me)😀.

 

[yappy]

This is not very little. He only works 20 hours a week (or 4-5 hours/day). He can easily make $200+k if he works twice as hard. He probably doesn't have any student loan and his wife makes $260k. Don't feel bad for him. He is actually in much better financial shape than you and me when we graduated. Unlike us, he doesn't need to worry about working hard to pay back loans and to save for future retirement. In 6 years, he'll be the owner of the million dollar practice. If I was in a similar situation like his, I would take things easy as well.

My wife now only works 2-3 days/week, 2-3 hours a day because we already paid off our debts and I still work full time. Taking care of kids is our #1 priority. My wife doesn't want to retire and be a full time mom because she actually enjoys working. The job is more enjoyable because she no longer needs to go around begging the GPs for referrals, to sell cases, to worry about the overhead and about paying bills etc. That's her reward for working hard when she was in her 20s and 30s....and for marrying the right guy (me)😀.

Theoretically I could work twice as much and double my income... but I didn't... so I don't have that money. Waiting 6 years for your boat to come in should your dad decide to sell at that time sounds like a special type of hell to me. However, I'm pretty independent so to each their own.

 

[321931]

Theoretically I could work twice as much and double my income... but I didn't... so I don't have that money. Waiting 6 years for your boat to come in should your dad decide to sell at that time sounds like a special time of hell to me. But, I'm pretty independent so to each their own.

That's 6 years of lost income. I would advise anyone that is waiting for their dad's practice to evaluate the cash flow before waiting it out. Would suck to be deep in debt, 6 years of "lost" wages, and then taking over a struggling practice that is on the death-throes.

But if its a great practice, then waiting is worth it!

 

[charlestweed]

Theoretically I could work twice as much and double my income... but I didn't... so I don't have that money. Waiting 6 years for your boat to come in should your dad decide to sell at that time sounds like a special type of hell to me. However, I'm pretty independent so to each their own.

Even if his dad decides to sell the practice to someone else, he will still be Ok because he doesn't have any loan, he can continue to make money with his DDS degree, which is priceless, and his wife is a physician. The reason my wife and I have pushed our kids to work hard in school and have encouraged them to pursue a career in healthcare (medicine or dentistry) is we want them to be financially independent like us. We can't live forever to support them financially. I'd love to see my kids taking over my practices if they choose to follow my footstep. But I am afraid that they will not want to take over because I have very low tech offices....and they'll probably think that the techniques I use to treat patients are obsolete.

 

[Likkriue]

All this anecdotal evidence should mean nothing to everyone.

I know an OMFS that makes 200k per year and also one that makes 2.2million per year. Means nothing.

Focus on mean salaries for that profession in that city/region.

Agreed, Everyone thinks they will be the unicorn that explodes with a 800k a year income with multiple offices. The truth is that there isn’t enough dentistry to go around for everyone to make that much. I think they did a study on it.

In my opinion, work hard and make the best out of your career. Income is important, but should not be the sole reason or else life is going to be very very dreary. It is about success in our own eyes and doing something you love. There’s many books about physicians and dentists who end up chasing after money and going into depression.

 

[Mr.S]

No offense but why do you make so little? I sometimes feel bad for those that have parents in dentistry and get trapped by their families legacy. You're not doing well and it doesn't have to be that way. consider that I didn't have a family in dentistry, or a practice to walk into, and I'm doing way better than you. New grads working corp gigs are doing better. Why not do something else for 6 years, or start your own, instead of waiting?

he is working 20 hours a week over 4 days.

 

[Mr.S]

I know a cardiologist making 900k/year

yea but i bet you he is on call 24/7 for the cath lab. And you know what that means? As soon as they call you and tell you about the patient when youre on call.. they start the stopwatch. And if you are not in the cathlab with the patient in 20 mins you are re ported to the state. HOw is that for a life?

 

[Afterhoursdentist]

No offense but why do you make so little? I sometimes feel bad for those that have parents in dentistry and get trapped by their families legacy. You're not doing well and it doesn't have to be that way. consider that I didn't have a family in dentistry, or a practice to walk into, and I'm doing way better than you. New grads working corp gigs are doing better. Why not do something else for 6 years, or start your own, instead of waiting?

I’m taking a cut to pay for the $600k expansion that doubled the number of operatories to 8 and gave me an all I. One CBCT/pan/ external BWs that allows me to design and mill surgical guides in house

 

[Afterhoursdentist]

It’s called ownership. I’m 30 and my wife is a hospitalist at the age of 28. Our combined income is over $400k a year. She works 14 days a month and I work 16 days a month. I apologize for not giving a complete picture of my situation and I appreciate your advice about corporate dentistry. Work smarter not harder!

 

[Afterhoursdentist]

It’s called ownership. I’m 30 and my wife is a hospitalist at the age of 28. Our combined income is over $400k a year. She works 14 days a month and I work 16 days a month. I apologize for not giving a complete picture of my situation and I appreciate your advice about corporate dentistry. Work smarter not harder!

Also I left for a year to chase the corporate money and be closer to my wife while she finished residency. It was a real eye opener. I have an bachelors in business administration and have always been very concerned with running the numbers. After working for a corporate office that ended up paying me less I learned a lot about numbers and my colleagues. My dads practice receives numerous unsolicited applications each month from dentists who drop their resume at the front desk that are seeking employment and currently work for a corporate. The common thing I see on all of the applications is that they produce between $70-100k a month. Considering, most corporates pay 25-33% of production why are these dentists looking for new jobs? They are making $200k+ a year as an associate and aren’t happy? They are either miserabl, full ****, or both