What is the truth?

[guest]

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One of the hardest things to figure out in dentistry is... really how much will we all make out there in the real world? I am utterly confused about it all, my girlfriend is starting to get ideas that I will be making a crap load, even more so than what she'll make doing dermatology (medical school + several years of resisdency), I find that incredibly unlikely. But then again I have no idea on the subject.

Bottomline is how much can an asian guy speaking perfect english expect to make in the state of NC as a General Dentist?

 

[UBTom]

You want the "Tooth?" You can't handle the "tooth!"

The "Tooth" is that you can expect to gross between $80K-$100K in your first year of practice as a general dentist associate. Probably a bit more if you had gone through a GPR or AEGD program and picked up some marketable skills or developed good speed. And even more as a specialist, but that means extra years of training after dental school.

That's the tooth, and I'm sticking to it. 😀 Okay, I'll stop now..

 

[aphistis]

Originally posted by guest
One of the hardest things to figure out in dentistry is... really how much will we all make out there in the real world? I am utterly confused about it all, my girlfriend is starting to get ideas that I will be making a crap load, even more so than what she'll make doing dermatology (medical school + several years of resisdency), I find that incredibly unlikely. But then again I have no idea on the subject.

Bottomline is how much can an asian guy speaking perfect english expect to make in the state of NC as a General Dentist?

If your girlfriend is already into a dermatology residency, you two can count on many fine Christmas mornings and champagne evenings in your future 😀 If she's not, tell her she better buckle down...she's definitely not the only one out there wanting to pop zits for a living 😉 Good luck to you both!

 

[NewNameForGoogleBot]

Here's an old thread I started and seems to make sense to me (click)

 

[drPheta]

Originally posted by UBTom
You want the "Tooth?" You can't handle the "tooth!"

The "Tooth" is that you can expect to gross between $80K-$100K in your first year of practice as a general dentist associate. Probably a bit more if you had gone through a GPR or AEGD program and picked up some marketable skills or developed good speed. And even more as a specialist, but that means extra years of training after dental school.

That's the tooth, and I'm sticking to it. 😀 Okay, I'll stop now..

Oh boy. Tom, you NEED to graduate...NOW! 😀

 

[Supernumerary]

The truth is that there really is no answer for you. As UBTom said, most of us will start out with pretty similar earnings. After that, though, the pack starts to spread out and there is no surefire way to know where you will fall in that pack. Some dentists are barely seeing six figures every year while others are making $300,000+. A lot depends on where and how you practice and your personality. The ADA publishes that the average dentist who has owned his practice for 10yrs makes ~$175,000. But again, that is just an average. You may be $100,000 below that average or $200,000 above. There just is no way of knowing what the future holds. Rest assured, however, that you will be making more than 90% of Americans. You will not starve. 🙂

 

[DrJeff]

Originally posted by guest
One of the hardest things to figure out in dentistry is... really how much will we all make out there in the real world? I am utterly confused about it all, my girlfriend is starting to get ideas that I will be making a crap load, even more so than what she'll make doing dermatology (medical school + several years of resisdency), I find that incredibly unlikely. But then again I have no idea on the subject.

Bottomline is how much can an asian guy speaking perfect english expect to make in the state of NC as a General Dentist?

You'll stand a good chance of being the major bread winner, especially if she's going to have the classical dermatology practice (i.e. insurance based zap a wart here, treat some acne there, lop off a basil cell or two). Now if she's more cutting edge derm (botox and laser hair removal, i.e. non insurance all cash procedures, she may very well out earn you).

Also depends on how much and/or little you feel like working. Do you want to be the 45 hours 6 days a week dentist, or the 25-30 hour 3.5-4 day a week dentist?

As for the NC thing, one of my dental school roomates (born and raised on the North Shore of Long Island, accent and all) has a booming practice in rural Northen NC(the town he practices in borders Virginia) and coming up on 7 years out of dental school/6 years out of his GPR is not only building a monster primary home, but also a monster lake house about 1/2 hour South of Winston- Salem

The only problem with practicing in NC is that you'll have to root for the Carolina Panthers 😉 😀

 

[guest]

my gf actually wants to stay in the hospital, i don't know if that means she'll be zapping zits and picking off basil cells or doing botox and hair removal 😀

what if i decide to pursue the extremely lucrative field of cosmetic implants? i think i would really enjoy doing the general restorative work... does this mean i'll take a huge cut in potential income?

i think once you enter the field of cosmetics things get really hairy, the patients will be expecting a lot more. we had a speaker in class today describe the patients of her practice as very very very picky.

 

[aphistis]

Originally posted by guest
my gf actually wants to stay in the hospital, i don't know if that means she'll be zapping zits and picking off basil cells or doing botox and hair removal 😀

what if i decide to pursue the extremely lucrative field of cosmetic implants? i think i would really enjoy doing the general restorative work... does this mean i'll take a huge cut in potential income?

i think once you enter the field of cosmetics things get really hairy, the patients will be expecting a lot more. we had a speaker in class today describe the patients of her practice as very very very picky.

That's (one of) the best parts of dentistry--the autonomy to decide however you darn well please! You can go full-out and spring for the high-end expensive stuff, or you can spend your days doing basic operative--but even then, will you enlist with the amalgamites or the resinophiles? 😉 The breadth of options available to a competent dentist really is amazing.

 

[DrJeff]

Another thing to consider is that if you go implants/cosmetics, you're basically limiting your living area to urban/suburbs where in general the disposable $$ to support the big ticket esthetic items is presnt in greater quantities than in the rural areas.

If you go general you can go and practice anywhere, and do ANYTHING you want. I'm out in a rural setting and I'm averaging restoring 4 to 5 implants/month. A ton by big city standards, no, but 50 or so implants restored a year keeps me happy and familair with alot of fun restorative tricks.

BTW, you G/F can botox wrinkels and zap bikini lines in almost any setting. The general surgeon in the town where I practice actually makes more $$ doing laser hair removal than from his work in the OR , and he's not even the only guy doing laser hair removal in my smallish rural town

 

[guest]

all of the info has been helpful thus far. i'm just a first year dental student and my gf has to get into med school first, and i have no idea how hard it'll be to get into the dermatology program.

i might try to take some CE courses in the future to learn implants.

 

[ItsGavinC]

Originally posted by guest
and my gf has to get into med school first, and i have no idea how hard it'll be to get into the dermatology program.

Well in THAT case, your chances are MUCH better that you'll be the major breadwinner. Matching with derm is tougher than ever these days (since lifestyle specialties are in high demand among graduates).

 

[thisisit]

I was going to write that you show some high IQ by dating a dermatologist, don't ruin it by trying to work hard to make more money than her. Work part time and let her buy the beer 😀 😀

She has not even started medical school. Don't worry about it. Dermatology is one of the hardest residencies to get accepted to and most MD students change their mind a few hundred times during medical school.

You'll make anywhere between $80k and $500K if you work full time. I know that's not much of help but there a lot of factors involved in determining that. Start with a nice personality and go from there...