Job Outlook after D-School

[CaliSurfergal2]

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Is anyone else worried about finding a job after graduation with all the new schools that are opening up? How are recent grads finding the job market? Heck, at this point it seems like even my garage can be accredited.

 

[peg lateral]

Is anyone else worried about finding a job after graduation with all the new schools that are opening up? How are recent grads finding the job market? Heck, at this point it seems like even my garage can be accredited.

It depends where you want to practice. In big cities, there are more jobs, but also more dentists. And with the down economy, it was hard for me to find a job as well as many of my classmates, unless they had a sweet deal coming right out of school to work in a practice owned by one of their family members. The opening of new schools contributes to the difficult job market somewhat, but in all honesty, the economy seems to be the biggest contributor. There are fewer dentists retiring right now because of the economy. There are fewer people going to the dentist. When the economy goes south, people quit spending money on things, one of them being dental care, because much of the general population do not understand the importance of going to the dentist. The dental IQ in this country is not that great. Good news is, when the economy picks back up, which it will, at some point, everyone who put off their dental work are going to come in and have a lot more dental-related problems. So, the way I look at it, is it sucks right now, but it will inevitably pick back up. My advice is to start looking early, start networking, and be persistent.

 

[charlestweed]

It depends where you want to practice. In big cities, there are more jobs, but also more dentists. And with the down economy, it was hard for me to find a job as well as many of my classmates, unless they had a sweet deal coming right out of school to work in a practice owned by one of their family members. The opening of new schools contributes to the difficult job market somewhat, but in all honesty, the economy seems to be the biggest contributor. There are fewer dentists retiring right now because of the economy. There are fewer people going to the dentist. When the economy goes south, people quit spending money on things, one of them being dental care, because much of the general population do not understand the importance of going to the dentist. The dental IQ in this country is not that great. Good news is, when the economy picks back up, which it will, at some point, everyone who put off their dental work are going to come in and have a lot more dental-related problems. So, the way I look at it, is it sucks right now, but it will inevitably pick back up. My advice is to start looking early, start networking, and be persistent.

The dental IQ in this country is actually very high. This is why dentists in this country are doing much better than dentists in other countries. This is why many foreign trained dentists want to come to the US set up shops here.

The biggest problem that the new grad dentists are facing right now is the enormous amount of student loan debt. In the 90s, the new grad dentists only made $70-75k a year and yet they all were very happy with their jobs. In the 90s, the jobs were also more abundant.

 

[Daurang]

It looks really bad for you new grads.

Last night, my brother who do dental hygiene for a major chain in Norcal told me his work schedule have been reduced to 2 days a week; three years ago they had 2 hygienist working 4 days but now it's just him and it's still reduced it to 2 days. He now have to answer phone, check insurance, and do the trash at the end of the day. New dentists are offered $150 per day (NOT $500) or 25% of production with dentists paying lab fee. I do believe him because my practice is suddenly the slowest ever since opening 11 years ago... and the economy in my area is pretty good!🙁

 

[peg lateral]

The dental IQ in this country is actually very high. This is why dentists in this country are doing much better than dentists in other countries. This is why many foreign trained dentists want to come to the US set up shops here.

The biggest problem that the new grad dentists are facing right now is the enormous amount of student loan debt. In the 90s, the new grad dentists only made $70-75k a year and yet they all were very happy with their jobs. In the 90s, the jobs were also more abundant.

When referring to dental IQ, I am talking about how patients view dentistry-- which is a lot of patients still do not understand the importance of receiving dental care, practicing good home care, 6 month visits, how diet, tobacco use, and alcohol affect oral health and overall systemic health, etc.

 

[7 Iron]

It looks really bad for you new grads.

Last night, my brother who do dental hygiene for a major chain in Norcal told me his work schedule have been reduced to 2 days a week; three years ago they had 2 hygienist working 4 days but now it's just him and it's still reduced it to 2 days. He now have to answer phone, check insurance, and do the trash at the end of the day. New dentists are offered $150 per day (NOT $500) or 25% of production with dentists paying lab fee. I do believe him because my practice is suddenly the slowest ever since opening 11 years ago... and the economy in my area is pretty good!🙁

Sucks for all you guys in California. In the midwest I know new grads making 120k out of school. I don't mean to slam anyone... just, keep an open mind and as someone said, it really matters where you want to practice.

 

[yappy]

CA is the worst state in the union. Why any wishes to live their is beyond me.

 

[dentalWorks]

yey another depressing thread

 

[charlestweed]

When referring to dental IQ, I am talking about how patients view dentistry-- which is a lot of patients still do not understand the importance of receiving dental care, practicing good home care, 6 month visits, how diet, tobacco use, and alcohol affect oral health and overall systemic health, etc.

In many other countries, people only go see the dentists when they have toothache. There is no such thing as preventive dental care….no such thing as 6 month routine check up…no such thing as comprehensive dental care. I didn’t know what the dental floss was until I came to the US. I had my very first dental exam when I was 17 yo. When I told friends and relatives in my birth country that I am an orthodontist and my wife is a periodontist, they had no idea what I was talking about.

In America, the dentists are able to work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week because many people understand the importance of having healthy teeth. Dental specialists are doing well. Dental chains, like Western Dental, Brightnow, SmileCare, CoolSmile etc, continue to expand their businesses to treat the HMO and medicaid patients since most private practices don’t accept HMOs and medicaid. Companies like Colgate, Oral-B are making big bucks.

 

[JLum]

Is anyone else worried about finding a job after graduation with all the new schools that are opening up? How are recent grads finding the job market? Heck, at this point it seems like even my garage can be accredited.

The best option is to move to NYC or LA and associate in all the thriving cosmetic practices. Easy 300k a year straight out of school!

 

[Daurang]

CA is the worst state in the union. Why any wishes to live their is beyond me.

Many productive and indigenous people already left the states. What you have now is a bunch of illegals, welfare recipients, and public employee unions sucking outrageous freebie benefits from the ever-decreasing tax base of the productive citizens stuck behind. I left a long time ago and never looked back.

I asked my cpa, who have hundreds of dentist clients, how they're doing. He said it's been a real tough year for dentists. A few are up, most are down, some are down for the first time ever. I feel better now cause I though maybe something wrong with my practice.

 

[yappy]

Sounds about right. I dont know where I'll end up after dental school... though, the idea of some where kinda rural/medium city sounds nice. I went on a trip to Colorado not too long ago and it was bliss.

Do you know of any areas in the country that are friendly to newly graduated dentists?

Many productive and indigenous people already left the states. What you have now is a bunch of illegals, welfare recipients, and public employee unions sucking outrageous freebie benefits from the ever-decreasing tax base of the productive citizens stuck behind. I left a long time ago and never looked back.

I asked my cpa, who have hundreds of dentist clients, how they're doing. He said it's been a real tough year for dentists. A few are up, most are down, some are down for the first time ever. I feel better now cause I though maybe something wrong with my practice.

 

[Daurang]

Sounds about right. I dont know where I'll end up after dental school... though, the idea of some where kinda rural/medium city sounds nice. I went on a trip to Colorado not too long ago and it was bliss.

Do you know of any areas in the country that are friendly to newly graduated dentists?

If I know I'd let you know but I simply don't know. I can't even figure out for myself where I'm gonna retire. I keep hearing Texas but most new dental offices and dentists there now seems to be transplants from California. By the time you graduate, it'll probably be as saturated and as competitive as California because of dentists from California. Maybe area around Washington DC because they're still growing richer, with home values still rising, due to government forever growing bigger, and the printing and spending huge amount of money that goes with it.

 

[yappy]

TX does seem solid; though, I too have heard that alot of people are moving in. I have even read how some resent the CA movement into their state as they believe it will screw it up lol.

lol @ DC. Sad but true. I just hope we're both wrong and that in <4 yrs we'll be back at full employment.

PS: Mr Daurang: Is the employment situation the same for GP's vs specialists? meaning - if one had a endo/ortho/OS/perio practice does that offer more flexibility?

If I know I'd let you know but I simply don't know. I can't even figure out for myself where I'm gonna retire. I keep hearing Texas but most new dental offices and dentists there now seems to be transplants from California. By the time you graduate, it'll probably be as saturated and as competitive as California because of dentists from California. Maybe area around Washington DC because they're still growing richer, with home values still rising, due to government forever growing bigger, and the printing and spending huge amount of money that goes with it.

 

[Daurang]

Is the employment situation the same for GP's vs specialists? meaning - if one had a endo/ortho/OS/perio practice does that offer more flexibility?

I don't know cause I only hang out with very few specialists. charlestweed is a specialist and his posts from the last few days didn't paint a very positive pictures either. Go and read his posts from the past few days.

 

[BlueToothHunter]

Sounds about right. I dont know where I'll end up after dental school... though, the idea of some where kinda rural/medium city sounds nice. I went on a trip to Colorado not too long ago and it was bliss.

Do you know of any areas in the country that are friendly to newly graduated dentists?

Colorado is apparently a saturated market as well!

 

[yappy]

It's all good. I'm going to be a world renown oral surgeon.

Colorado is apparently a saturated market as well!