Dear Dentists of SDN,
I am currently a 3rd year dental student, who is very interested in specializing in perio. I am interested in gaining insight about how periodontists are currently performing in private practice. I understand that the private conventional perio office might not be as lucrative as in past decades, but how are current periodontists doing?
The reason I am concerned is because I've spoken to a couple of general dentists who tell me to stay away from perio because many dentists prefer not to refer to periodontists. Furthermore, general dentists currently prefer to do much of the profit generating perio work themselves (i.e. implants) and that it is not worth my time/money to specialize in perio.
As a dental student, I've maintained a close relationship with my school's perio dept and am absolutely in love with the specialty. My school's perio dept is very clinic heavy. Residents are placing 150-200 implants, performing all kinds of grafts, GTR, sinus lifts, soft tissue augmentation and everything an ambitious periodontists does. From a student's perspective perio seems very appealing however, I am not sure how periodontists do in the private practice setting.
I understand it's important to do what I am passionate about but I also understand the dental business setting has changed quite significantly in the last 15 years and I do not want to pursue my passion of periodontics blindly.
TL;DR Is specializing in perio worth it in the current state of dentistry? How much are current periodontists making? What kind of setting are they working in/types of procedures are they performing?
I am currently a 3rd year dental student, who is very interested in specializing in perio. I am interested in gaining insight about how periodontists are currently performing in private practice. I understand that the private conventional perio office might not be as lucrative as in past decades, but how are current periodontists doing?
The reason I am concerned is because I've spoken to a couple of general dentists who tell me to stay away from perio because many dentists prefer not to refer to periodontists. Furthermore, general dentists currently prefer to do much of the profit generating perio work themselves (i.e. implants) and that it is not worth my time/money to specialize in perio.
As a dental student, I've maintained a close relationship with my school's perio dept and am absolutely in love with the specialty. My school's perio dept is very clinic heavy. Residents are placing 150-200 implants, performing all kinds of grafts, GTR, sinus lifts, soft tissue augmentation and everything an ambitious periodontists does. From a student's perspective perio seems very appealing however, I am not sure how periodontists do in the private practice setting.
I understand it's important to do what I am passionate about but I also understand the dental business setting has changed quite significantly in the last 15 years and I do not want to pursue my passion of periodontics blindly.
TL;DR Is specializing in perio worth it in the current state of dentistry? How much are current periodontists making? What kind of setting are they working in/types of procedures are they performing?
