Is it true that dentists generally net more profits than physicians?

[Smooth Operater]

One of my friend was telling me that dentists generally net more profits than physicians. Is this statement true? Can you guys verify this? Thanks!

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[ItsGavinC]

The "average" dentist now makes more than the "average" physician.

There are always exceptions to this on both ends of the spectrum.

I'm sure all those peds and FPs and internists out there that are struggling with HMO issues and pulling in 80-110k are the ones making this possible. Many medical specialties still easily eclipse the average dentist in terms of income (although dental specialties certainly come close or are higher than those same medical specialties).

It's a shaky issue, but the crux of it is that dentists are earning more than ever, more people are desiring cosmetic procedures/better smiles, and dentistry isn't infiltrated by the same insurance issues as is medicine.

 

[DrJeff]

dentistry isn't infiltrated by the same insurance issues as is medicine.

That is the reason why us in the tooth profession make more than the medical folks nowadays.

 

[DrTacoElf]

dentistry isn't infiltrated by the same insurance issues as is medicine.

1) What issues does medicine have that dentistry doesn't?
2) Will these issues eventually enter dentistry, why or why not?

I've really been wondering these things

 

[MacGyver]

1) What issues does medicine have that dentistry doesn't?
2) Will these issues eventually enter dentistry, why or why not?

I've really been wondering these things

Access to healthcare is considered a right.

Access to dentistry is considered a luxury.

When something is considered a right, the federal government gets involved, and when the federal government gets involved, salary/income drop is INEVITABLE.

 

[toothcaries]

Access to healthcare is considered a right.

hmmmmmmm..
interesting ethical question.


"considered" a right?...maybe, by some granola eating types.


..but..at least in this country...healthcare or even access to healthcare has never been a "right".
imo.

 

[ItsGavinC]

hmmmmmmm..
interesting ethical question.


"considered" a right?...maybe, by some granola eating types.


..but..at least in this country...healthcare or even access to healthcare has never been a "right".
imo.

MacGyver is correct is the general scheme of things. Employers often provide medical coverage, for example, but no dental coverage.

In Arizona (and many other states), Medicaid covers medical fully but only ONE dental emergency per year (meaning one patient visit--any more than one visit and the patient has to pay out of pocket, which inevitably means teeth are getting pulled on that first and only visit).

Dentistry is, for many Americans, a luxury.

 

[amanmann]

anyone have proven salary stats?
or are all of you just speaking what you think

 

[predentchick]

This was one of my interview questions at Gavin's school! How funny! I think it was "do you consider health care a right or a privledge." Of course you say a right, then they hold you to that. They then said something about treating a bum in need of dentures because he can't eat. I said I would do it and then they backed me into a corner: what happens when he brings in 5 of his friends? You said it was a right! Good ole' Arizona. Good job Gavin for getting through that stuff!

 

[ItsGavinC]

This was one of my interview questions at Gavin's school! How funny! I think it was "do you consider health care a right or a privledge." Of course you say a right, then they hold you to that.

Of course, I said it was a privilege, and I believe that it is.

 

[Smooth Operater]

The "average" dentist now makes more than the "average" physician.

There are always exceptions to this on both ends of the spectrum.

I'm sure all those peds and FPs and internists out there that are struggling with HMO issues and pulling in 80-110k are the ones making this possible. Many medical specialties still easily eclipse the average dentist in terms of income (although dental specialties certainly come close or are higher than those same medical specialties).

It's a shaky issue, but the crux of it is that dentists are earning more than ever, more people are desiring cosmetic procedures/better smiles, and dentistry isn't infiltrated by the same insurance issues as is medicine.

Thanks Gravin for the insight. What does HMO stand for?

 

[predentchick]

health maintenence organization? I think???

 

[Smooth Operater]

Access to healthcare is considered a right.

Access to dentistry is considered a luxury.

When something is considered a right, the federal government gets involved, and when the federal government gets involved, salary/income drop is INEVITABLE.

This is true in Canada since we have a socialized medical system. My mom saw an ophthalmologist couple days ago and he didn't even charge her a cent, whereas, my dentist charged me $100 for taking out a wisdom tooth. I could have paid more if my school medical insurance didn't cover 50% of the fees.

Since the government doesn't really involve in Dental care in states, I am guessing US Dentist's salary is not limited by the government. Maybe that's also a reason that Dentists generally earn more than primary med practitioner?

I tried to find some proven salary stats and ran into a website organized by Government of Canada. Dentists in Canada on average are earning $30.38/hour, while gen. prac./family prac. are earning $22.96/hour.

http://www.jobfutures.ca/noc/3113.shtml
http://www.jobfutures.ca/noc/3112.shtml

 

[deltamed]

I would say physicians still earn more on average than dentists, but not per hour. An FP or internist will start at 150k while a dentist will start at 100k but don't forget the dentist just got out of school while the FP had 3 more years making 40k as a resident. Also the FP will work on average 65 hours a week while the dentist will work maybe 38.

Why? Goverment and HMOs are the short answer.
- Dentists are more fee for service and can set their rates wherever they want. The ADA and dentists can essentially conspire to keep prices high. There is dental insurance but the insurers have no say what the dentists charge, only which dentists are on their "plan". As long as the dentists stick together keeping rates high, the insurance doesn't matter.
- Physicians on the other hand are more and more payed by capitation. HMO tells the physician I have 1000 patients and will pay you 10 dollars a month each to take care of all 1000. A patient has a serious problem and will cost you, the physician, $4000 to treat this month? Too bad. By our contract I'm still paying you only 10 dollars for that patient. This essentially shifts the risk to the doctor.
- Thirty years ago physicians set rates just like the dentists. But medicare started to change all that. The government was fixing prices for a large share of the population. As a physician, you don't have to see medicare patients but then you would lose a huge segment of your business. Furthermore, HMOs trying to compete with each other continue to lower reimbursement and move to capitation. As long as they can find a physician to take their patients at a lower rate they will do so. Since patients have NO CHOICE when HMO's drop their doctors, the HMOs have no qualms picking the lowest bidder. This is the big problem.

Medical care is a big mess in this country. You dentists are lucky because I don't see it happening for dentistry. The AMA actually fought off the government and HMOs for a good century but finally lost it starting in the seventies due to enormous public pressure to lower healthcare costs.

 

[toothcaries]

i think the sheer number of MDs graduating every year contributed in part to the decline in income..



nixon had schools agree to double admissions for something like 20 years if i remember correctly...med schools went from 7500 grads/ year to over 15,000 (plus the foreign trained docs)

my guess it's easier to get docs to sign up on crappy capitation plans when the supply of providers is so high..

...also, the idea of having the government pay for healthcare backfired.
...if i remember correctly, 35% of medical compensation comes from government funding (compared to ~2% for dentistry)
on the flip side... physicians collect 18% from fee-for-service while dentists were around 54%.

 

[Pi__Guy1]

C'mon, guys...I come from a family full of physicians and I find it really hard to believe that the average dentist makes more than the average physician. Yes, we'll be well off, but why the debate? Yes, we probably make more than a FP and an internist, but if there was a debate about the earning potential of an anesthesiologist vs. an endodontist, i'd put my money on the anesthesiologist....by far.

Deltamed made a great point...we probably make more per hour on average. and considering we will have more family life, it's a great profession.

 

[UBTom]

The ADA and dentists can essentially conspire to keep prices high. There is dental insurance but the insurers have no say what the dentists charge, only which dentists are on their "plan". As long as the dentists stick together keeping rates high, the insurance doesn't matter.

That's not quite true.

It is illegal for independently-practicing dentists to get together and set fees for procedures in the state where I am practicing, and I'm sure in pretty much every other state as well. The only instance in which dentists are allowed to collectively set a fee is if they all work within the same group practice or DMSO.

Insurance companies DO indeed dictate how much a dentist can charge. The scheme is that you sign up to be a dentist on an insurance company's "plan" for a guaranteed pool of patients, but in return you must adhere to the insurance company's fee schedule, what they call their "usual, customary rates." (UCR's)

The ADA did indeed successfully fight off insurance companies' attempt to set unfair fees in 2001, because the ADA demonstrated in court that Aetna was using UCR's from the 1970's. If physicians are being paid 1970's wages today, I'm sure you will scream too.

How dental insurance works is also part of the curriculum in most dental schools, which is why lots of new dentists aren't falling for the insurance companies' schemes.

Viva dentistry.

 

[toothcaries]

does anyone know the percentage of physicians in the ama?

i would think organized medicine would have a much stronger voice than we've sometimes seen...

honestly, i think the legal profession will eventually, indirectly "correct" the problems in managed care..
with insurance companies deciding patient stays in hospitals...deciding fees....and deciding what procedures are done...i think the inevitable lawsuits will create a backlash.
(i think we are beginning to see this with the florida mess)

jmo.

 

[deltamed]

That's not quite true.

It is illegal for independently-practicing dentists to get together and set fees for procedures in the state where I am practicing, and I'm sure in pretty much every other state as well. The only instance in which dentists are allowed to collectively set a fee is if they all work within the same group practice or DMSO.

Insurance companies DO indeed dictate how much a dentist can charge. The scheme is that you sign up to be a dentist on an insurance company's "plan" for a guaranteed pool of patients, but in return you must adhere to the insurance company's fee schedule, what they call their "usual, customary rates." (UCR's)

The ADA did indeed successfully fight off insurance companies' attempt to set unfair fees in 2001, because the ADA demonstrated in court that Aetna was using UCR's from the 1970's. If physicians are being paid 1970's wages today, I'm sure you will scream too.

How dental insurance works is also part of the curriculum in most dental schools, which is why lots of new dentists aren't falling for the insurance companies' schemes.

Viva dentistry.

True it's illegal to set fees but that doesn't mean it isn't happening indirectly. Since the ADA restricts the number of dentists going into practice by restricting the number of places in dental schools, most practicing dentists have no problem finding patients. Therefore very few dentists have any incentive to "cut rate" from the rank and file to gain a market advantage. In fact, I have understood that in the past the ADA has discouraged dentists from cutting rates indirectly and directly. As a result most dentists charge very similar amounts for similar procedures and raise prices as a group. The insurance companies won't find a dentist if their UCR's are too low. This is all well and good since it protects your paycheck.

Physicians were masters at doing this for the last century. Problem is, people got concerned there were too few physicians. Waiting a month for a dentist appointment usually isn't a big deal (if you aren't in pain) but people didn't want to wait for medical care. Also not having medical coverage was a big issue for people while dental wasn't. So Nixon and the congress increased medical school enrollment. They also loosened laws to let foreign doctors practice in the US. Of course the AMA fought all of this but in the end lost. Now PAs and NPs have taken even more turf from the physicians while the government is dictating reimbursement rates for 40% of the population. In that environment, the physicians couldn't hold the line on price and HMOs bought services from the lowest bidder.

Dentists are lucky too that their profession isn't fragmented like medicine into specialty interests. The AMA used to be so powerful but as physicians fragmented into specialties they no longer supported their profession as a whole. This led to decreased lobbying power and erosion of authority. Fight together and the profession stays strong.

 

[sxr71]

does anyone know the percentage of physicians in the ama?

i would think organized medicine would have a much stronger voice than we've sometimes seen...

honestly, i think the legal profession will eventually, indirectly "correct" the problems in managed care..
with insurance companies deciding patient stays in hospitals...deciding fees....and deciding what procedures are done...i think the inevitable lawsuits will create a backlash.
(i think we are beginning to see this with the florida mess)

jmo.

I don't know about the legal profession, they win no matter what happens.

 

[toofache32]

I think the statistics this post originally referred to were in an ADA publication a fews years ago (1999 or 2000) that said the AVERAGE general dentist's income was higher than the AVERAGE MD internist, pediatrician, and family medicine income. These were taken as averages across the nation, and obviously it depends on your practice. I saw the link as a PDF file on the ADA website www.ada.org a while back, but i couldn't find it now, maybe because it's several years old.

 

[UBTom]

True it's illegal to set fees but that doesn't mean it isn't happening indirectly. Since the ADA restricts the number of dentists going into practice by restricting the number of places in dental schools, most practicing dentists have no problem finding patients.

The ADA does NOT restrict the number of places in dental schools. Cost of running a school is what restricts the number of places available.

Running a dental school is incredibly expensive, which is why tuition rates at dental schools increases much more rapidly than any other schools. Back in 2002 Northwestern University shut down its dental school, citing that it was too expensive to run. There is a shortage of dental educators as well because it is more financially attractive for most dentists to work in private practice rather than teach.

However, in other places where dentists are needed, new schools have opened up in the past two years, at Arizona and UNLV.

The only thing the ADA does to regulate dental schools is through accreditation of schools and testing of dental students (DAT, NBDE I, NBDE II), nothing more.

I do agree that dentists as a whole does support its professional organizations a lot more solidly, and as a practitioner I hope the trend continues.

 

[nug]

but if there was a debate about the earning potential of an anesthesiologist vs. an endodontist, i'd put my money on the anesthesiologist....by far.

I'd say the opposite. Endodontists probably earn more than any other health professional, except for maybe like a spine surgeon.

 

[Smooth Operater]

where did you get the idea that md's have "more family life" than dentists? i would say it will be at least the same if not more for dentists.

I think the "we" refers to dentists.

 

[ItsGavinC]

An FP or internist will start at 150k.

Yes, in the 90s an FP would start out at that. No more, my friend, no more.

 

[MacGyver]

Insurance companies DO indeed dictate how much a dentist can charge. The scheme is that you sign up to be a dentist on an insurance company's "plan" for a guaranteed pool of patients, but in return you must adhere to the insurance company's fee schedule, what they call their "usual, customary rates." (UCR's)

The ADA did indeed successfully fight off insurance companies' attempt to set unfair fees in 2001, because the ADA demonstrated in court that Aetna was using UCR's from the 1970's. If physicians are being paid 1970's wages today, I'm sure you will scream too.

How dental insurance works is also part of the curriculum in most dental schools, which is why lots of new dentists aren't falling for the insurance companies' schemes.

Viva dentistry.

Thats not relevant as to the difference between med and dent.

Medical doctors have NO CHOICE but to take patients with insurance. Only a few dermatologists or plastic surgeons are the exception.

Compare this to dentistry, where its totally feasible to have a dental practice that uses only 10-15% of your patients as insurance carriers.

Insurance controls over 90% of all medical healthcare dollars in this country. Insurance only controls 20-30% of all dental healthcare dollars.

Dentists have the option of avoiding insurance, whereas doctors do not. Insurance companies do not have sufficient market share in dentistry to issue de facto dentist income caps.

 

[UBTom]

Thats not relevant as to the difference between med and dent.

The substance of my conversation with Deltamed is that insurance companies do dictate what a dentist can charge if a dentist signs onto their plan in return for a guaranteed patient pool, contrary to what Deltamed thought.

Since my discussion with Deltamed (I don't remember replying to you) is not relevent to whatever you are going off about, please feel free to move on.

I'm sure you can find many other posts relevent to you to reply to, rather than sit there and waste time on those that are not.

 

[aphistis]

The substance of my conversation with Deltamed is that insurance companies do dictate what a dentist can charge if a dentist signs onto their plan in return for a guaranteed patient pool, contrary to what Deltamed thought.

Since my discussion with Deltamed (I don't remember replying to you) is not relevent to whatever you are going off about, please feel free to move on.

I'm sure you can find many other posts relevent to you to reply to, rather than sit there and waste time on those that are not.

Zing.

 

[MacGyver]

The substance of my conversation with Deltamed is that insurance companies do dictate what a dentist can charge if a dentist signs onto their plan in return for a guaranteed patient pool, contrary to what Deltamed thought.

Since my discussion with Deltamed (I don't remember replying to you) is not relevent to whatever you are going off about, please feel free to move on.

I'm sure you can find many other posts relevent to you to reply to, rather than sit there and waste time on those that are not.

Yeah you are so uninterested in what I said that you bothered to take the time and post a reply SPECIFICALLY TO ME.

Nice try

 

[ItsGavinC]

Yeah you are so uninterested in what I said that you bothered to take the time and post a reply SPECIFICALLY TO ME.

Nice try

MacGyver, you often make very valid points in your posts, but the manner in which you speak to other people does more than enough to negate any aggreance people have with your thoughts.

It's too bad that you haven't yet learned that concept, and that you still choose to pick personal battles with people in leiu of defending your thoughts in a valid manner.

 

[UBTom]

Yeah you are so uninterested in what I said that you bothered to take the time and post a reply SPECIFICALLY TO ME.

Nice try

When spoken to, like most people I give a polite, professional reply.

If you feel mentally disturbed by a mere courteous reply, please feel free to ignore it and move on.

 

[janygb143]

I wish dentistry could just be about the teeth, instead of the politics

 

[Dr.SpongeBobDDS]

I wish dentistry could just be about the teeth, instead of the politics

I wish it were more politics and less teeth. In fact, I vote that we combine the Dental Forums with Everyone. Who's with me?

 

[Tarheel]

"Anesthesiology
$306,964
Surgery, general
255,438
Obstetrics/gynecology
233,061
Psychiatry
163,144
Internal medicine
155,530
Pediatrics/adolescent medicine
152,690
Family practice (without obstetrics)
150,267


Footnotes:
(1) SOURCE: Medical Group Management Association, Physician Compensation and Production Report, 2003.



Self-employed physicians?those who own or are part owners of their medical practice?generally have higher median incomes than salaried physicians. Earnings vary according to number of years in practice, geographic region, hours worked, and skill, personality, and professional reputation. Self-employed physicians and surgeons must provide for their own health insurance and retirement."

"Median annual earnings of salaried dentists were $123,210 in 2002. Earnings vary according to number of years in practice, location, hours worked, and specialty.

Self-employed dentists in private practice tend to earn more than salaried dentists. A relatively large proportion of dentists is self-employed. Like other business owners, these dentists must provide their own health insurance, life insurance, and retirement benefits."

As noted the above incomes are for salaried dentists and physicians (Associate, hospital employee, public health, military etc..). This was all cut and pasted from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. You can read it yourself by going to www.bls.gov

Another site took all the same statistics and ranked "all salaried jobs" in America that require a bachelors degree or higher. Heres the link http://www.acinet.org/acinet/oview5.asp?soccode=&stfips=&from=National&Level=BAplus&x=37&y=11

Many physicians are salaried and so the above numbers are probably closer to accurate. Of course most dentists are not salaried practitioners so their actual income is "General practitioners in the United States now earn an average of $173,140 yearly, according to the ADA's 2002 Survey of Dental Practice. The report, "Income from the Private Practice of Dentistry," says specialists earned an average of $275,270 in 2001. Expenses were 60.5 percent of general practitioners' total gross billings, 55.6 percent for specialists. The report includes data on dentists? income by region and years since graduation and on total billings of dentists in private practice. For a copy of the report (catalog #5102) at $75 for members, $112.50 for nonmembers or $225 for commercial firms, contact the Survey Center (2568, [email protected])."

 

[grtuck]

Thanks Tarheel!

That is what I like to see, actual numbers and references.
Even if they are only averages, it is still kind of interesting to see what you can expect if you are salaried and "become average"

Even more exciting is that in private practice people tend to earn more.

Maybe I will be able to pay off my loans after all...

grtuck

 

[ItsGavinC]

Like Tarheel said, those BLS numbers are a bunch of junk because a small percentage of dentists are salaried. And, 99% of salaried dentists are those who have been graduated for 1-5 years.

Of the medical specialties that Tarheel listed, the dental specialties easily eclipse those in terms of financial gain. In fact, an established general dentist can easily eclipse those medical specialties that were listed.

 

[masterMood]

My dad's a dentist, he came to America in 1979 after becoming a dentist in Pakistan then finishing his dental licensing at NYU, while working as a security guard.

My dad keeps on telling me that I should go into dentistry and not into medicine for so many reasons 1) Easier life, you don't have to work as many hours 2) Not as stressful 3) Lesser liability issues 4) Make more money than your average physician 5).... 6)...

My problem is (and I DO NOT WANT TO insult anyone or say that dentistry is a bad field. I do consider it an excellent field and everything) 1) i don't know if I will like dentistry 2) I dunno if I want to become a dentist because he is already one (I know its sounds kind of stupid but I want to surpass him) 3) This one is a bit tentative --- mds have better social status in the eyes of most people (though it is a strong valid point that in America, your social status/prestige is based on how much money you have) 4) My dad worked for the state (and to this date tries to persuade me into working for the state) at a prison and started around 60k a year in 1988 to around 108k by 2004 (100k or so for 6 years), so he didn't make as much as all his other dentist friends (some who make 1 million dollars a YEAR AND ARE NTO SPECIALISTS!!!)

 

[HuyetKiem]

My friend hired a new grad (class 2004@ UT-Houston) last month for his office . This new gal is now making average 2k/day (30% production) in the last few weeks. I can't wait to get out dental school.

 

[DDSSlave]

Just to clarify that's 30% of $2000? Not $2000 period each day? If that was the case you'd have to be doing strictly crown and bridge and even then that seems unlikely.

 

[Dr.SpongeBobDDS]

It all boils down to what you want out of a career, Hermit. If it's really important for you to impress people (and it sounds like it is) I would choose medicine hands down over dentistry. Nobody is going to be impressed that you are a dentist.

I think it would be nice sometimes to get the recognition for my accomplishments that some of my med school friends get - I had better undergrad grades and extracurriculars than all of them. It just seems to me though that the the novelty would wear off pretty quickly and then what are you left with? 60/hrs week at work, nights, weekends, emergencies, looking at Mrs. Jones' hemorrhoids, constantly subject to the whims of lawyers, insurance companies, government bureaucrats and hospital administrators. You better be darn sure you like the job to put up with all that.

 

[DrJeff]

Dentists in Canada on average are earning $30.38/hour, while gen. prac./family prac. are earning $22.96/hour.

Wow, maybe I should look to hire a Canadian dentist instead of the hygenist that I'm trying to employ right now. I'd end up paying the Canadina dentist about $9 per hour less than my US hygenist

 

[DDSSlave]

1) i don't know if I will like dentistry 2) I dunno if I want to become a dentist because he is already one (I know its sounds kind of stupid but I want to surpass him) 3) This one is a bit tentative --- mds have better social status in the eyes of most people (though it is a strong valid point that in America, your social status/prestige is based on how much money you have) 4) My dad worked for the state (and to this date tries to persuade me into working for the state) at a prison and started around 60k a year in 1988 to around 108k by 2004 (100k or so for 6 years), so he didn't make as much as all his other dentist friends (some who make 1 million dollars a YEAR AND ARE NTO SPECIALISTS!!!)

Your first reason is the most important. Dental school is too demanding and exhausting to be indecisive. If you're not sure dentistry is for you, I'd suggest holding off until you're more certain. As for your third reason, I happen to think that md's have a better social status in the eyes of predent/premed students; it's not much of a problem in the real world. As for social status/prestige being based on income - whether or not this is true, it's a pretty immature reason for choosing a health care profession.

 

[LestatZinnie]

I really don't understand why people get so hung up on the status thing. You don't automatically gain status because you're a professional, MD or DMD or whatever. You earn status and respect through your achievements and conducts towards others. I know plenty of people who have no respect for physicians because they treat their patients very badly and just don't really care about the people they should care for.

Association of profession with status, imo, is on its way out like association of status with your title by birth (royalty, inherited wealth, etc). before health providers get too cocky just think how the legal profession has gone from something sacred and respected to the butt of everyday jokes.

 

[DDSSlave]

^ All excellent points. It's your compassion and interest in others that dictates "status" or better yet respect.

 

[HuyetKiem]

Just to clarify that's 30% of $2000? Not $2000 period each day? If that was the case you'd have to be doing strictly crown and bridge and even then that seems unlikely.

~2k/d that she is taking home. Like last week, my friend wrote her a check for 11k for her 6 days of work. The office is kidda busy lately 'cause school is almost started. Last friday, they (3 dentists) saw 45 patients.

 

[DDSSlave]

~2k/d that she is taking home. Like last week, my friend wrote her a check for 11k for her 6 days of work. The office is kidda busy lately 'cause school is almost started. Last friday, they (3 dentists) saw 45 patients.

That's terrific, but incredibly unusual. I would say starting off at $500/day is doing quite well and much more typical. Just throwing out more realistic expectations. Not questioning your numbers, just saying that one beginning dentist charging over $6000/day just seems strange to me. I'd be very interested to hear what procedures were being done and what was charged. As you can see, I too am from Houston, and would love for this to be common, but something just doesn't add up. Anyone else have such extreme success stories of graduating dentists? Or if you don't mind ask her how much a 1 surface filling costs? I'd be interested to hear.

 

[coodoo]

That's terrific, but incredibly unusual. I would say starting off at $500/day is doing quite well and much more typical. Just throwing out more realistic expectations. Not questioning your numbers, just saying that one beginning dentist charging over $6000/day just seems strange to me. I'd be very interested to hear what procedures were being done and what was charged. As you can see, I too am from Houston, and would love for this to be common, but something just doesn't add up. Anyone else have such extreme success stories of graduating dentists? Or if you don't mind ask her how much a 1 surface filling costs? I'd be interested to hear.

Hey Slave, my sister is working in the Houston area after graduating from UTH in 02. She is making a little over 6 figures right now, and is perfectly happy. As for making 2k a day as a recent graduate; I find that hard to believe.

 

[ItsGavinC]

Hey Slave, my sister is working in the Houston area after graduating from UTH in 02. She is making a little over 6 figures right now, and is perfectly happy. As for making 2k a day as a recent graduate; I find that hard to believe.

It may be hard to believe, but it isn't impossible. It all depends on the procedures that are being done.

 

[jk5177]

Wow this is an interesting thread.
People didn't mention the fact that dentist has much higher overhead costs than physicians do. I heard from a dentist in the San Fracisco Bay Area, that there is a 65% overhead cost, while doctors have a 15% overhead cost.

 

[aphistis]

Wow this is an interesting thread.
People didn't mention the fact that dentist has much higher overhead costs than physicians do. I heard from a dentist in the San Fracisco Bay Area, that there is a 65% overhead cost, while doctors have a 15% overhead cost.

Not if the physician is operating a private practice. Apples to apples, etc.