Why is dental school so expensive?

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Many dental schools are going above $80,000 per year for tuition alone. Why is dental school so expensive? Is it cost of materials? Faculty salaries? Malpractice insurance? I can't find any transparent explanation on this uncontrollable issue.

 

[NDPitch]

Because the Fed hands out an unlimited amount of money that students can borrow with no questions asked. Dental schools could charge 200 grand a year and eager students that don't understand the concept of crushing student debt levels would be happy to sign on the dotted line because they're so excited to go to dental school and be called doctor. The dental schools get their money up front and move on. The student is left disillusioned at the end of school when they suddenly realize that they can't live a life of luxury with their enormous student debt levels.

That's it in a nutshell, anyway. It's the student debt bubble. I've been waiting for it to pop for along time.

There always seems to be people that then say "so are you suggesting that only rich people should be able to go to school?? I need that student loan money because I can't afford it otherwise!!!"

No, that is not what is being said, you've misunderstood the issue.

 

[coolslugs]

Because the Fed hands out an unlimited amount of money that students can borrow with no questions asked. Dental schools could charge 200 grand a year and eager students that don't understand the concept of crushing student debt levels would be happy to sign on the dotted line because they're so excited to go to dental school and be called doctor. The dental schools get their money up front and move on. The student is left disillusioned at the end of school when they suddenly realize that they can't live a life of luxury with their enormous student debt levels.

That's it in a nutshell, anyway. It's the student debt bubble. I've been waiting for it to pop for along time.

There always seems to be people that then say "so are you suggesting that only rich people should be able to go to school?? I need that student loan money because I can't afford it otherwise!!!"

No, that is not what is being said, you've misunderstood the issue.

What can students (or doctors) possibly do to change this?

 

[txaggie03]

Why can they? Because there are currently no schools with empty seats. That is how they know they can charge what they do.

Demand. Simple as that. Well, that and the "free" money (see above).

 

[dmdluffy]

What can students (or doctors) possibly do to change this?

Devil's advocate here. Dental school has always been expensive. It's arguably the most expensive graduate degree to get. What makes it expensive is that a dental school has to build and run it's own clinics whereas medicine gets to turf that to a hospital. While clinics bring in income, that income has not gone up since most of the pts a dental school sees will be low income, medicare, medicaid. Thus, the clinic income has stayed the same or decreased in the last 15-20 years. What also has made cost go up is decreased funding from the state. Decreased state funding has almost shut down several schools in the last 15-20 years. So the only other income stream a school has and can raise to stay in business is tuition. The idea that just because government loans for students are guaranteed means schools have a blank check is dubious. These loans have been around forever and it's only in the last decade you've seen dental education costs double. Even before those loans, the influx of soldiers attending university because of the GI bill was high.

Dental school is expensive. You need income streams to offset tuition and at the moment, those streams are drying up. So the student bears the brunt. How do you stop that? Get with your local dental society, your state dental association, get involved with organized dentistry, and RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE. The odds of a school lowering tuition and fees is almost nil, but you can lobby for decreased interest percentage, capping the total amount of interest your loan generates, or increasing repayment programs.

 

[Mad Jack]

Because the Fed hands out an unlimited amount of money that students can borrow with no questions asked. Dental schools could charge 200 grand a year and eager students that don't understand the concept of crushing student debt levels would be happy to sign on the dotted line because they're so excited to go to dental school and be called doctor. The dental schools get their money up front and move on. The student is left disillusioned at the end of school when they suddenly realize that they can't live a life of luxury with their enormous student debt levels.

That's it in a nutshell, anyway. It's the student debt bubble. I've been waiting for it to pop for along time.

There always seems to be people that then say "so are you suggesting that only rich people should be able to go to school?? I need that student loan money because I can't afford it otherwise!!!"

No, that is not what is being said, you've misunderstood the issue.

It's not just that though. Dental school costs comparatively more than medical or veterinary school because the materials are significantly more expensive. If you look at the cost of medical school versus dental school in countries outside the United States, the same trend holds up- dental school always costs more if tuition is paid in a given country, because dental school requires supplies and facilities that medical schools generally do not need to provide for themselves, as their students rotate in hospitals that would be seeing patients anyway. Would it be cheaper without federal loans? Possibly. But look at first world countries that allow foreign students to attend at unsubsidized rates. Their tuition is pretty damn high for foreign students, most I can find are over 30k euros.

 

[str8ner]

Devil's advocate here. Dental school has always been expensive. It's arguably the most expensive graduate degree to get. What makes it expensive is that a dental school has to build and run it's own clinics whereas medicine gets to turf that to a hospital. While clinics bring in income, that income has not gone up since most of the pts a dental school sees will be low income, medicare, medicaid. Thus, the clinic income has stayed the same or decreased in the last 15-20 years. What also has made cost go up is decreased funding from the state. Decreased state funding has almost shut down several schools in the last 15-20 years. So the only other income stream a school has and can raise to stay in business is tuition. The idea that just because government loans for students are guaranteed means schools have a blank check is dubious. These loans have been around forever and it's only in the last decade you've seen dental education costs double. Even before those loans, the influx of soldiers attending university because of the GI bill was high.

Dental school is expensive. You need income streams to offset tuition and at the moment, those streams are drying up. So the student bears the brunt. How do you stop that? Get with your local dental society, your state dental association, get involved with organized dentistry, and RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE. The odds of a school lowering tuition and fees is almost nil, but you can lobby for decreased interest percentage, capping the total amount of interest your loan generates, or increasing repayment programs.

The comment that dental school has always been expensive, while not wrong, is a little subjective. The fact is that dental school tuition, along with most higher education tuition, has far outpaced inflation. It is true that some states have cut back their funding of dental schools but it is not universal. Maine voted to fund a new dental school recently. Furthermore, there are more dental schools now in the United States than ever. Most new dental schools are private. In addition, many existing dental schools are increasing enrollment. This has not happened because of altruistic motives. This is business. NYU is not churning out 360 dentists per year because we need that many. It is doing it because it can and it is good business.

Sure, you can make the supply and demand argument. However, there wouldn't be near the supply of prospective dental students if it were not for the easy access to student loans. The US Government is manipulating the market for dental professionals by making low interest loans available to people with no collateral and no income. A traditional bank would never do this. As a result there is an artificially high number of people able to pay this tuition. And as a result of that, dental schools have raised tuition and increased enrollment.

Here is another thought on supply and demand. Acceptance into dental school should mean that you survived a highly selective process. It should not mean that anyone with the money to pay tuition should be accepted. Therefore, there should always be more applicants than spots available. Opening more schools and increasing enrollment, decreases the selectivity of the dental school system.

Of course dental schools need revenue and they get it. While medicaid may not pay much, consider that there is quite a bit of free labor churning out the work. Every student not only does the work for free but also pays handsomely to be there. There are more surreptitious modes of funding too. For example, Delta Dental is a major funding source for the new school in Maine. Regardless of what they say, it is not because they care about you or the patients.

I agree with trying to get involved with local societies. However, prepare to be frustrated. These organizations are like big slow moving ships. Changing their course takes a lot of effort and time.

 

[Bereno]

Generally I agree with @Mad Jack and @str8ner.

 

[dmdluffy]

The comment that dental school has always been expensive, while not wrong, is a little subjective. The fact is that dental school tuition, along with most higher education tuition, has far outpaced inflation. It is true that some states have cut back their funding of dental schools but it is not universal. Maine voted to fund a new dental school recently. Furthermore, there are more dental schools now in the United States than ever. Most new dental schools are private. In addition, many existing dental schools are increasing enrollment. This has not happened because of altruistic motives. This is business. NYU is not churning out 360 dentists per year because we need that many. It is doing it because it can and it is good business.

They absolutely have outpaced inflation meaning tuition is rising and not just because of inflation but because a school is actually raising cost. I would venture to say that dental education has outpaced other high education tuition growth. The example of UNE opening a state school (and to some extend the University of Utah though that is funding mostly by private monies) is one example. There are 63 other dental schools in the country. The vast majority of state funded schools have decreased funding, especially historically (versus this year compared to last year). Your example of NYU churning out 360 dentists a year is not a class increase. They are graduating the same number of dentists. What's funny is that they do get more money since it's another 2 years of tuition since the international program is ended and replaced with students from the states. Although just one example, UIC has decreased their class size this year. OHSU has chosen not to expand despite a new building. But you have schools like MWUAZ that did grow.

Sure, you can make the supply and demand argument. However, there wouldn't be near the supply of prospective dental students if it were not for the easy access to student loans. The US Government is manipulating the market for dental professionals by making low interest loans available to people with no collateral and no income. A traditional bank would never do this. As a result there is an artificially high number of people able to pay this tuition. And as a result of that, dental schools have raised tuition and increased enrollment.

Your argument that a bank would not fund students loans for dental school isn't necessarily true. I think those seeking financing for practices are a great example. Using traditional metrics, sure it looks like a bad investment. But those in finance who understand dentistry realize dentists have a very high success rate. I don't see why a financial institution couldn't stretch that further and loan to dental students (though with higher risk management things in place) because less than 10% of dental students fail out or don't get licensed. It's a pretty good gamble. The point that bugs me when people make the argument that unlimited loans from the government drives up prices is that what is the alternative? If the US government doesn't loan it, odds are banks would. And it would be worse for students because interest would be worse, there would be no safety net in place for those who borrow, and odds are someone else would step up and loan relatively freely to a dental student.

Here is another thought on supply and demand. Acceptance into dental school should mean that you survived a highly selective process. It should not mean that anyone with the money to pay tuition should be accepted. Therefore, there should always be more applicants than spots available. Opening more schools and increasing enrollment, decreases the selectivity of the dental school system.

Decreasing selectivity isn't as black and white. With the ~5500-6000 students that matriculate, how many of the other 12k applicants are equally qualified as those that did matriculate? 100? 1000? How many are equally qualified but didn't get through because they applied later? Dental admissions is subject to many flaws that doesn't guarantee a qualified person is accepted.

Of course dental schools need revenue and they get it. While medicaid may not pay much, consider that there is quite a bit of free labor churning out the work. Every student not only does the work for free but also pays handsomely to be there. There are more surreptitious modes of funding too. For example, Delta Dental is a major funding source for the new school in Maine. Regardless of what they say, it is not because they care about you or the patients.

Free labor for dental schools has always been the case so it's never been an overhead a dental school has had to deal with. But declining payments are. The thing with Delta Dental gifts and research funding is that they are dynamic. You could have money for a program one year, but once that gift or grant expires and it's no longer offered to the school doesn't get it again, than what?

I agree with trying to get involved with local societies. However, prepare to be frustrated. These organizations are like big slow moving ships. Changing their course takes a lot of effort and time.

True that.

 

[NDPitch]

Your argument that a bank would not fund students loans for dental school isn't necessarily true. I think those seeking financing for practices are a great example. Using traditional metrics, sure it looks like a bad investment. But those in finance who understand dentistry realize dentists have a very high success rate. I don't see why a financial institution couldn't stretch that further and loan to dental students (though with higher risk management things in place) because less than 10% of dental students fail out or don't get licensed. It's a pretty good gamble. The point that bugs me when people make the argument that unlimited loans from the government drives up prices is that what is the alternative? If the US government doesn't loan it, odds are banks would. And it would be worse for students because interest would be worse, there would be no safety net in place for those who borrow, and odds are someone else would step up and loan relatively freely to a dental student.

Disagree.

We're talking about STUDENT loans, not business loans for dentists that have already graduated and established themselves as a reputable person that has the financial wherewithal to pay the loan back. Not only that, but banks look at the production numbers of a practice as part of the loan. Students have NOTHING to back up the enormous amount of money they withdraw. Notice that private student lenders are either exiting the market, or capping the amount they lend out to around 200k? Chase is one such bank that comes to mind - one of the largest banks in the United States no longer offers student loans. What financial sense does it make to lend 400 grand to a 21 year old kid that has no job, no credit, no savings, and no assets? Private banks know this and don't lend it. It's not profitable for them anymore, and it's risky.

Enter the Fed. They are now dominating the student loan market. They will loan out whatever the cost of education is, no questions asked.

Think about this for a second. Say you own a business that sells Product X. Product X is highly desirable, AND no matter what you charge, people will have a way to pay for it. What are you going to do with the price of Product X? Jack it through the roof. And why wouldn't you? You'd be laughing all the way to the bank.

I said this in my first post already. There's always someone that asks what the alternative is, because 'how else would people pay for it'? I only offer this...

What do you think would happen if, starting tomorrow, the federal government passed some new bill that limited the amount of money we could borrow to 250k, including undergrad? A good chunk of professional schools that charge your first born son, would either close, or slash prices.

This is eerily similar to the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Back then, people that had no means to pay back these HUGE mortgages were being approved left and right, with little to no questions asked. The banks were willing to do this because they thought that if the homeowner defaulted, at least the bank still owned the house that was increasing in value, of which they could sell (but even that bit them in the ass, too). Except, student loans have NO COMMODITY tied to them that has value. It's just plain debt. You can't sell a degree to someone else and turn a profit.

So to me, it's shortsighted to say that an unlimited money supply plays no role in the prices of higher education seen across the entire country. The bubble can only get so big.

I also found this pretty interesting...

http://www.elliottwaveanalytics.com/2012/12/fed-balance-sheet-horrific-student-loan-exposure/

 

[dmdluffy]

Disagree.

We're talking about STUDENT loans, not business loans for dentists that have already graduated and established themselves as a reputable person that has the financial wherewithal to pay the loan back. Not only that, but banks look at the production numbers of a practice as part of the loan. Students have NOTHING to back up the enormous amount of money they withdraw. Notice that private student lenders are either exiting the market, or capping the amount they lend out to around 200k? Chase is one such bank that comes to mind - one of the largest banks in the United States no longer offers student loans. What financial sense does it make to lend 400 grand to a 21 year old kid that has no job, no credit, no savings, and no assets? Private banks know this and don't lend it. It's not profitable for them anymore, and it's risky.

Enter the Fed. They are now dominating the student loan market. They will loan out whatever the cost of education is, no questions asked.

Think about this for a second. Say you own a business that sells Product X. Product X is highly desirable, AND no matter what you charge, people will have a way to pay for it. What are you going to do with the price of Product X? Jack it through the roof. And why wouldn't you? You'd be laughing all the way to the bank.

I said this in my first post already. There's always someone that asks what the alternative is, because 'how else would people pay for it'? I only offer this...

What do you think would happen if, starting tomorrow, the federal government passed some new bill that limited the amount of money we could borrow to 250k, including undergrad? A good chunk of professional schools that charge your first born son, would either close, or slash prices.

This is eerily similar to the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Back then, people that had no means to pay back these HUGE mortgages were being approved left and right, with little to no questions asked. The banks were willing to do this because they thought that if the homeowner defaulted, at least the bank still owned the house that was increasing in value, of which they could sell (but even that bit them in the ass, too). Except, student loans have NO COMMODITY tied to them that has value. It's just plain debt. You can't sell a degree to someone else and turn a profit.

So to me, it's shortsighted to say that an unlimited money supply plays no role in the prices of higher education seen across the entire country. The bubble can only get so big.

I also found this pretty interesting...

http://www.elliottwaveanalytics.com/2012/12/fed-balance-sheet-horrific-student-loan-exposure/

I'm fully aware we are talking about students loans. But not all degrees are equal. Dentistry has a fantastic track record for fiscal responsibility. There are new graduates that get a loan just fine from bank with no or very little numbers to back up their earning potential. We're not talking about a undergrad degree in English where the person ends up making coffee. We're not talking about lawyers, pharmacists, or physicians. If you look at business loans for dentists, if you walked into a bank and asked for a practice loan, they would laugh at your face. That's why Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and US Bank all have specialty lenders that deal specifically with dentists. We are a niche market even in finance.

I don't see how the Fed enters in at all. The Fed largely controls cash flow in the economy and interest rates. Student loans are sent out via Direct Loans and backed by the Dept. of Education. The interest rate for these loans are now tied to the t note which the government or banks can sell. The Fed's actions largely affect business loans and the finance system at large but the education financing is largely insulated.

Again, to refute your point. student loans have acted as they have for a long time. I'm sure if it was a easily milked system as you say it is, the cost of dental education would have double 30 or 40 years ago instead of 10 years ago. There are rules and regulations as to what can be borrowed and the dental schools have to abide by those rules.

In your scenario, schools would initially try to cut cost but really the end result is they would close their doors. I would agree with you that it is short sighted of me to say unlimited student loans don't play a part. They absolutely do. But to attribute the entirety of the situation, as ****ty as it is, to this one thing is not right. Dental schools are businesses absolutely. They have to cover their cost. This is why schools either raise tuition or expand class sizes or the number of spots for OOS applicants. The solution is either to find alternative funding to replace missing revenue that was once legislature or clinic supported instead of tuition supported.

The way I see it, yes the principle loan amount is huge and that sucks. But what exacerbates it is interest. If you lower the interest, cap the interest that can be accrued or something like that, it isn't letting people off the hook. It's just making it more reasonable to pay back. The idea that you accrue stupid amounts of debt that compounds on the student while in dental school is ridiculous.

Also, on your point of relating this to the housing crisis. You're right in that there is no physical thing the bank and repo once you can't make your payments. However, you also can't discharge student loan debt like you can other debts. That **** is with you for life!

So for the sake of this argument, sure it student loan financing as it is contributes some. But I think it is disingenuous to say the entire reason for the mess dental education costs are in now is because of only student loan financing. It's a thought that gets recycled on SDN a lot and it's a shame to see.

 

[sacapuntas]

Because the Fed hands out an unlimited amount of money that students can borrow with no questions asked. Dental schools could charge 200 grand a year and eager students that don't understand the concept of crushing student debt levels would be happy to sign on the dotted line because they're so excited to go to dental school and be called doctor. The dental schools get their money up front and move on. The student is left disillusioned at the end of school when they suddenly realize that they can't live a life of luxury with their enormous student debt levels.

That's it in a nutshell, anyway. It's the student debt bubble. I've been waiting for it to pop for along time.

There always seems to be people that then say "so are you suggesting that only rich people should be able to go to school?? I need that student loan money because I can't afford it otherwise!!!"

No, that is not what is being said, you've misunderstood the issue.

Your argument would be stronger if it wasn't for stories like this: http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal...l-acts-to-fix-broken-system/?intcmp=obnetwork

Law schools are reducing tuition as a response to decrease in demand, not less availability of student loans. To me, this further illustrates that the cause of high tuition isn't as much due to the gov't making unlimited funds available as much as it is there being students willing to pay current and higher tuition prices.

If we experience significant declining application numbers, schools will finally know their price is too high and respond appropriately. Hopefully we are hitting that point soon, though I wish we hit it 5 years ago.

 

[NDPitch]

Your argument would be stronger if it wasn't for stories like this: http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal...l-acts-to-fix-broken-system/?intcmp=obnetwork

Law schools are reducing tuition as a response to decrease in demand, not less availability of student loans. To me, this further illustrates that the cause of high tuition isn't as much due to the gov't making unlimited funds available as much as the cause is there being students willing to pay current tuition prices.

If we experience significant declining application numbers, schools will finally know their price is too high and respond appropriately. Hopefully we are hitting that point soon, though I wish we hit it 5 years ago.

I agree. It's definitely not the only cause. But I still think it's a major contributer, not just to dental school, but higher education in general.

 

[#dental4life]

I agree. It's definitely not the only cause. But I still think it's a major contributer, not just to dental school, but higher education in general.

+1

 

[Dentalguy8621]

Your argument would be stronger if it wasn't for stories like this: http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal...l-acts-to-fix-broken-system/?intcmp=obnetwork

Law schools are reducing tuition as a response to decrease in demand, not less availability of student loans. To me, this further illustrates that the cause of high tuition isn't as much due to the gov't making unlimited funds available as much as it is there being students willing to pay current and higher tuition prices.

If we experience significant declining application numbers, schools will finally know their price is too high and respond appropriately. Hopefully we are hitting that point soon, though I wish we hit it 5 years ago.

400k is ridiculous and definitely the point for me.

 

[Samsara21]

During the financial aid portion of my USC interview, it was candidly stated that it was highly unlikely that we would ever be able to personally pay off our dental tuition. IIRC, to pay the loan off in 10 years would require 7k/mo. allocated to debt repayment the day one got out of dental school. If one were to pay their debt over 20 years the amount paid would swell to approximately 3million. Their alternative was to essentially manipulate the US tax system and wait for the 25 year loan forgiveness program now being offered. Over that timespan the USC graduate would still end up paying a substantial amount towards their education (~300-400k) but the rest of their debt would be placed on the government.

As NDPitch said it's a huge bubble waiting to burst. Can't blame USC though. They're just doing the obvious.

 

[Temperature101]

This is getting crazy! How can a school justify 80k/year tuition? Why can't the state legislatures regulate tuition for higher education? I know it is free market capitalism, but tuition for higher education is getting out of control. What kind of salary one will have to be able to pay back 500k student loan? No matter how bad I wanted it, I would have to think very hard before going to school with such price tag--unless I have the prospect of making 350k+/year right out of school as a dentist or physician... I have been agonizing over 32k/year tuition for med school. Boy! Now I can put that in perspective..

 

[TheWeeIceMan]

During the financial aid portion of my USC interview, it was candidly stated that it was highly unlikely that we would ever be able to personally pay off our dental tuition. IIRC, to pay the loan off in 10 years would require 7k/mo. allocated to debt repayment the day one got out of dental school. If one were to pay their debt over 20 years the amount paid would swell to approximately 3million. Their alternative was to essentially manipulate the US tax system and wait for the 25 year loan forgiveness program now being offered. Over that timespan the USC graduate would still end up paying a substantial amount towards their education (~300-400k) but the rest of their debt would be placed on the government.

As NDPitch said it's a huge bubble waiting to burst. Can't blame USC though. They're just doing the obvious.

Yes, yes you can. And if/when student loan forgiveness programs are gutted in the future, schools like USC will just sit back and say "well, we did everything we could ."

 

[Silent Cool]

During the financial aid portion of my USC interview, it was candidly stated that it was highly unlikely that we would ever be able to personally pay off our dental tuition. IIRC, to pay the loan off in 10 years would require 7k/mo. allocated to debt repayment the day one got out of dental school. If one were to pay their
debt over 20 years the amount paid would swell to approximately 3million. Their alternative was to essentially manipulate the US tax system and wait for the 25 year loan forgiveness program now being offered. Over that timespan the USC graduate would still end up paying a substantial amount towards their education (~300-400k) but the rest of their debt would be placed on the government.

As NDPitch said it's a huge bubble waiting to burst. Can't blame USC though. They're just doing the obvious.

Did they actually say that? Holy crap. I actually emailed USC awhile back about their insane tuition, and all they said in response was, "just do IBR."

 

[sgv]

Nah, nah. It's like this dawg. In the beginning, state schools were dirt cheap because it was cheap to train a dentist and state had a lot of money and private schools had to compete pretty, pretty, preettaay, preeeeettttaaayyyyy hard to get prices competitive to state schools. Private school be like "fug you bro." Then state schools get less and less money from state. State school has to raise tuition. Private school be like "Coo coo cool." Then ten years from now, state school tuition be the same as private school tuition. Stateschools be like "Dam, well I tried."And private school be like " AWW YISSS." Students be like "FUUUUQQQ!"

All while this shiet was going on, dental technology was advancing and costing a ton more. Composite costs more than amalgam, cone beam costs more than normal xray, dental school has to buy panoramic, newer, more accurate, and lower dosed x ray machines cost more than older models, paper doc. vs. digital records, there are more procedures are invented and therefore more time and material has to be spent to train this shiet to the newer students, more expensive material cost in general, less lucrative to become a professor so schools try hard to make salaries as competitive to private practice as possible. This shiet is why it costs more to train a dentist. How much of this cost gets dumped on student is depends on state (subsidy) then federal (interest rate). What all you dawgs above who are talking about interest rate and availability of federal loans are wrong thinking that it caused the greatest rise in what it costs to train a dentist. state schools set the price and they're trying to get it as low as possible. Meanwhile private schools are just trying to match the price of state school but now they don't have to as much since state schools can't help but put more cost burden on student. Forget it, i'm probably drunk.

 

[Dentalguy8621]

Nah, nah. It's like this dawg. In the beginning, state schools were dirt cheap because it was cheap to train a dentist and state had a lot of money and private schools had to compete pretty, pretty, preettaay, preeeeettttaaayyyyy hard to get prices competitive to state schools. Private school be like "fug you bro." Then state schools get less and less money from state. State school has to raise tuition. Private school be like "Coo coo cool." Then ten years from now, state school tuition be the same as private school tuition. Stateschools be like "Dam, well I tried."And private school be like " AWW YISSS." Students be like "FUUUUQQQ!"

All while this shiet was going on, dental technology was advancing and costing a ton more. Composite costs more than amalgam, cone beam costs more than normal xray, dental school has to buy panoramic, newer, more accurate, and lower dosed x ray machines cost more than older models, paper doc. vs. digital records, there are more procedures are invented and therefore more time and material has to be spent to train this shiet to the newer students, more expensive material cost in general, less lucrative to become a professor so schools try hard to make salaries as competitive to private practice as possible. This shiet is why it costs more to train a dentist. How much of this cost gets dumped on student is depends on state (subsidy) then federal (interest rate). What all you dawgs above who are talking about interest rate and availability of federal loans are wrong thinking that it caused the greatest rise in what it costs to train a dentist. state schools set the price and they're trying to get it as low as possible. Meanwhile private schools are just trying to match the price of state school but now they don't have to as much since state schools can't help but put more cost burden on student. Forget it, i'm probably drunk.

Lol seriously you win.

 

[Silent Cool]

Nah, nah. It's like this dawg. In the beginning, state schools were dirt cheap because it was cheap to train a dentist and state had a lot of money and private schools had to compete pretty, pretty, preettaay, preeeeettttaaayyyyy hard to get prices competitive to state schools. Private school be like "fug you bro." Then state schools get less and less money from state. State school has to raise tuition. Private school be like "Coo coo cool." Then ten years from now, state school tuition be the same as private school tuition. Stateschools be like "Dam, well I tried."And private school be like " AWW YISSS." Students be like "FUUUUQQQ!"

All while this shiet was going on, dental technology was advancing and costing a ton more. Composite costs more than amalgam, cone beam costs more than normal xray, dental school has to buy panoramic, newer, more accurate, and lower dosed x ray machines cost more than older models, paper doc. vs. digital records, there are more procedures are invented and therefore more time and material has to be spent to train this shiet to the newer students, more expensive material cost in general, less lucrative to become a professor so schools try hard to make salaries as competitive to private practice as possible. This shiet is why it costs more to train a dentist. How much of this cost gets dumped on student is depends on state (subsidy) then federal (interest rate). What all you dawgs above who are talking about interest rate and availability of federal loans are wrong thinking that it caused the greatest rise in what it costs to train a dentist. state schools set the price and they're trying to get it as low as possible. Meanwhile private schools are just trying to match the price of state school but now they don't have to as much since state schools can't help but put more cost burden on student. Forget it, i'm probably drunk.

Best post ever on SDN.

#QFT