Orthodontist Salary

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molarseeker

molarseeker

Hopeful Future Int. Rad
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Just wondering...does anyone know what the average salary for an orthodontist is in California?
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So you're eyeing oral surgery and now ortho... for salary. I see I see.
 
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How come every time someone asks about salary everyone jumps their ass and acts like they are only in it for money? I am in love with dentistry and i know I would love oral surgery and ortho as I have seen both. I am trying to weight the years in school, debt, stipends, etc which I think is a good idea.
 
molarseeker said:
How come every time someone asks about salary everyone jumps their ass and acts like they are only in it for money? I am in love with dentistry and i know I would love oral surgery and ortho as I have seen both. I am trying to weight the years in school, debt, stipends, etc which I think is a good idea.
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dont let everyone get to you about the money thing. We all know that we all definitely like the idea of getting 200,000+ per year. 😉 But, have you shadowed the two specialties? and do you know the difference in length of their respective programs? If you can answer the two questions then that should clear up some things for you. I would rather be an ortho than oral surgeon b/c I dont want to brk jaws and put screws in mouths for the rest of my life. I prefer a less invasive specialty. BUT, I do still like the blood/gore sometimes so Im considering perio for that reason. I also love ortho though. The difference is huge between any of the specialties considering patient relationships, and daily schedules, length of procedures, and calmness. I'd say perio is the most calm of the three, just by my experience shadowing. hope that helps!
 
dentalchick2016 said:
dont let everyone get to you about the money thing. We all know that we all definitely like the idea of getting 200,000+ per year. 😉 But, have you shadowed the two specialties? and do you know the difference in length of their respective programs? If you can answer the two questions then that should clear up some things for you. I would rather be an ortho than oral surgeon b/c I dont want to brk jaws and put screws in mouths for the rest of my life. I prefer a less invasive specialty. BUT, I do still like the blood/gore sometimes so Im considering perio for that reason. I also love ortho though. The difference is huge between any of the specialties considering patient relationships, and daily schedules, length of procedures, and calmness. I'd say perio is the most calm of the three, just by my experience shadowing. hope that helps!
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Awesome. Thank you!
 
On SDN it is completely unacceptable to be concerned about your future income. If you wouldn't be content practicing dentistry for free then you're going to hell.
 
Straight answer: 300K + once you have your private practice set up. More if you have multiple clinics. Straight out of college as an associate? I don't know. Average salary according to online sources is around 175K...seems low to me, but that is what people on the surveys indicated.

Ortho isn't a good idea though due to 3 things:
1) The residency doesn't normally have a stipend...you have to pay the schools money even during residency (some don't have this but most do!)
2) California isn't as good a market anymore since after 2006, orthodontists from other areas are finally being recognized in California or something. The ortho I was shadowing was telling me how newer orthos are having to compete with out ot state folks.
3) Same ortho said that the market is shrinking for orthodontists. His point was that general dentists and things like invisalign are cutting into the orthodontist's clientele. He is really successful, but when I expressed interest, he said it might not be the excellent decision it was a couple decades back.

OMFS is a longer residency though and you'll have MDs vying for those spots. Well, make plans now, but be ready to change them when time calls for it. Take into account all this debt and earnings stuff, but do so with a grain of salt since 6-8 years from now, god knows how these things will be.

I'm just hoping to get into OMFS or pediatric programs (love the handi-work and don't mind kids), but general dentistry is cool with me too if I end up not doing as well as I want.
 
My orthodontist would often be late to the appointments because he would take his time landing his new helicopter on the roof of the practice.... good answer? haha
 
wcombs said:
On SDN it is completely unacceptable to be concerned about your future income. If you wouldn't be content practicing dentistry for free then you're going to hell.
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What a wack job
 
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dentalchick2016 said:
google it. =)
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ikr?

Anyhow, Bureau of Labor Statistics would be a good source for you Molarseeker. While I can't comment on your passion(what a cliche word eh?) for dentistry, I can see why some SDNers are judging (esp. if they have seen the other thread about oral surgery made by you). From my experience for shadowing an orthodontist and chairside assisting for an oral surgeon for a year, I think they're VERY different in terms of treatments you provide and the relationships you have with your patients. It is good that you're exploring these specialties, but I really don't think you'll be able to come to a conclusion of what specialty you will pursue at this point.
 
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wow... dense. BTW.. dental school will likely help you settle for mediocrity.. so you (predents in general) may be gung-ho for ortho and oral surgery but once school starts you'll be like.. damn this is hard, maybe a B or C isn't so bad... (especially when 50% of your class lands below a 70-75%)
 
autoclavemonkey said:
From my experience for shadowing an orthodontist and chairside assisting for an oral surgeon for a year, I think they're VERY different in terms of treatments you provide and the relationships you have with your patients. It is good that you're exploring these specialties, but I really don't think you'll be able to come to a conclusion of what specialty you will pursue at this point.
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Second it.

I shadowed an orthodontist too just because he was my orthodontist (and he was a wonderful guy) but after seeing the work I can't say I was all too thrilled. I loved shadowing the oral surgeon (though he was a jerk). Also the 2 year+ relationships with ortho vs. the 20 minutes for OMFS and all its pretty much apples to oranges in terms of work, patients etc.

You're also right about not being able to say anything with certainty...yeah we don't quite know everything yet.
 
yes. not exciting.. you can't see anything because their big microscope is taking up the room and they pretty much do the same thing over and over. I've been through endo didactic and lab and it's not that much fun.
 
So what would you say the "best" specialty is? Everyone vote!
 
I've shadowed Endo-dontists! Their work is way too routine imo. The fashioning of crowns is pretty neat and they are pretty artistic people (at least the two I shadowed). Some cases are really challenging though when there isn't enough of the tooth to put a crown on, but the root-canal stuff is pretty much routine. I feel I am not nearly artistic enough to do the crowns part 😳.

Periodontists probably see the most variety in my estimation, but every job has its routines and repetition ain't all that bad I guess.

@Goff - yeah that's another problem, hardly any angles to really check out the action!
 
if you like repetition, and I mean doing the same thing over and over again.. you know? repetition. it's as if you're doing it one minute.. then doing it the next minute. repetition you know? Over and over again... you get my point.. GENERAL DENTISTRY!!!
 
I can't see myself catering almost only to teens and braces. Why limit yourself? Keep your life flavorful so you can do multiple procedures.
 
molarseeker said:
So what would you say the "best" specialty is? Everyone vote!
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So about the endodontist.....my experience was not exciting at all. I couldnt see anything for one, and she never talked to me much about what she was doing. lol She was very efficient though and serious about her work so thats great, but I wouldnt want to do 5 root canals a day that take up to 2 hrs per patient.....I think the reason some ppl go into this field is b/c ppl will always need root canals, and money will never be an issue. Also, it's very detail oriented just like general dentistry, but its too repetitive to me. At least w/ ortho some patients have different cases, such as exposures, herbst appliances, expanders, crazy wire situations trying to pull teeth down from way high....so you get my point. Theres more variety w/ ortho to an extent, but generally you will be bonding braces at least on 5 pts per day, which take about 1.5 hrs to do. You assistants mainly do the wire adjustments. I had a lot of experience in this field because I worked in the lab and trimmed models and made retainers most of the day, but also learned just about everything else like assisting. so i love the field. But, perio is my ideal specialty b/c i think it has the most variety, its way more chilled out than ortho. endo is even more chilled than perio.
 
according to our faculty.. perio is WAY WAY WAY more chill than Endo.
 
Perio has the most variety. Unless your an oral surgeon dealing EXCLUSIVELY with trauma cases (good luck landing that job btw) perio is probably the most interesting.

@ OP: As for "THE BEST SPECIALTY", there isn't one! Shadow dentists from those that interest you. No simple answer exists to the question you've posed. Once you get into dental school, pay attention in classes and clinical rotations and see which ones motivates you the most. The best specialty is the one you genuinely find interesting and can picture yourself doing for the next 30-40 years. And if you can't find that or don't manage to get in, there's always general dentistry!
 
I think I would enjoy general, but I think endo would be cool too because you're really helping people with pain.
 
molarseeker said:
I think I would enjoy general, but I think endo would be cool too because you're really helping people with pain.
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So do all dentists. Why don't you get yourself into dental school first and thoroughly understand the basic philosophies and art of dentistry and pass your boards before you start thinking about salary and specializing? The "best" specialty is a very relative term. How you feel about dentistry now and how you feel about it as a first and second year are completely different. Similarly, you'll look at it another way when you're practicing.

You have to learn your strengths and weaknesses and pick something that suits you. If money is your ONLY concern, then you will never be a great dentist.
 
OP: Why not become a world renown Oral and Maxillofacial surgeon? I hear Mayo has a good program.
 
yappy said:
OP: Why not become a world renown Oral and Maxillofacial surgeon? I hear Mayo has a good program.
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That would be awesome minus the fact I wouldn't start practicing till I'm 36
 
molarseeker said:
That would be awesome minus the fact I wouldn't start practicing till I'm 36
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Lots of my coresidents will also be 36+ when they start practicing; it isn't as uncommon as you'd think with OMFS. Of course if you don't like school or don't want to spend that long in training, I understand. But know that OMFS has the most variety in procedures by FAR. Even the guys in private practice keep busy with shucking teeth, pre-prosthetic work, bone grafting, placing implants, doing pathology cases, occasional orthognathics, etc. Leave alone the major reconstructions, trauma, oncology, cosmetics that academia can yield. Of course this is vastly different from general dentistry and does require significant interest. Second, in terms of variety, would be general dentistry.

Cyrus
 
CMistry said:
Lots of my coresidents will also be 36+ when they start practicing; it isn't as uncommon as you'd think with OMFS. Of course if you don't like school or don't want to spend that long in training, I understand. But know that OMFS has the most variety in procedures by FAR. Even the guys in private practice keep busy with shucking teeth, pre-prosthetic work, bone grafting, placing implants, doing pathology cases, occasional orthognathics, etc. Leave alone the major reconstructions, trauma, oncology, cosmetics that academia can yield. Of course this is vastly different from general dentistry and does require significant interest. Second, in terms of variety, would be general dentistry.

Cyrus
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I just want to start my life earlier I think. If I could work and make some money while in school I'd like to, but the debt is just horrendous
 
If you really want to do a specialty don't let age deter you. Any way you cut it you're out of dental school. In many OMS residencies you're PAID and get some vacation. From what I understand the residency is rough but at the same time I've heard it described a lot more like a job than schooling.


molarseeker said:
I just want to start my life earlier I think. If I could work and make some money while in school I'd like to, but the debt is just horrendous
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Now obviously I'm just another pre-dent who has no idea what he/she is talking about. But from most of what I've heard and read, ortho doesn't seem to be the massive moneymaker it was a decade ago. Also, I haven't heard too many good things about orthos in saturated markets like LA and NY. But of course, the work isn't very stressful and if you're into it, you can still carve out a great living. There's a lot of articles on the topic if you search through them.
 
Thanks for the input people! Anyone else?
 
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