What is the income potential of a general dentist or Ortho?

[OncePreDent]

Hey all! I have recently been accepted into dental school and was wondering what my potential income will be (starting to plan out financials).

I know income varies on many different levels; private practice, rural or urban, the state I want to live in, etc.

A few Questions:
On the lower end, what income could I expect for a dentist working 4-5 days a week as an associate? What about on the higher end? (Average daily pay?)

My ideal plan: (private practice)
After graduating, I would ideally specialize in Ortho or practice GD. Additionally, I would like to work for a practice and then purchase it after a year or two (I've always wanted to own my own practice - even if I have to create one from scratch). If I own a practice and I'm seeing patients 4 days a week, what could I expect my production & overhead to be? Also, for people that own multiple practices, what do you typically see for income, overhead, & turnover at multilocation offices? If you are hiring an associate, do you sell them ownership, % of production, or salary? What does the average associate produce?


I know this is very early for asking these questions, but I want to get a decent idea of what to expect after graduating. Any advice or recommendations is greatly appreciated!

Criticism is warmly welcome!

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[D1Bound]

Most important question: how much debt are you anticipating to have?

 

[Allthebags]

Anywhere from $100,000 (associate 4 days a week in a saturated area) to $2,000,000+ (GP or ortho with multiple practices). Way, way too many variables to answer this question that's been asked hundreds of times here. Hope you got into a cheap school

 

[GoDental101]

Hey all! I have recently been accepted into dental school and was wondering what my potential income will be (starting to plan out financials).

I know income varies on many different levels; private practice, rural or urban, the state I want to live in, etc.

A few Questions:
On the lower end, what income could I expect for a dentist working 4-5 days a week as an associate? What about on the higher end? (Average daily pay?)

My ideal plan: (private practice)
After graduating, I would ideally specialize in Ortho or practice GD. Additionally, I would like to work for a practice and then purchase it after a year or two (I've always wanted to own my own practice - even if I have to create one from scratch). If I own a practice and I'm seeing patients 4 days a week, what could I expect my production & overhead to be? Also, for people that own multiple practices, what do you typically see for income, overhead, & turnover at multilocation offices? If you are hiring an associate, do you sell them ownership, % of production, or salary? What does the average associate produce?


I know this is very early for asking these questions, but I want to get a decent idea of what to expect after graduating. Any advice or recommendations is greatly appreciated!

Criticism is warmly welcome!

You answered the question yourself....the income varies on many different levels.

What I think is the best route is what I'm doing. First, to go to a cheap school. After school go somewhere where there is high demand (usually rural areas), continue to live like a student under 3-5k a month expenses and pay off all loans with the remaining income as fast as possible.

From there I am free to do whatever I want at that point. Without my loans accumulating interest each month I could basically live anywhere I'd like and have a decent amount of excess income available. The key is sacrificing the lifestyle for a few more years after to school to payoff all loans. That few years will also teach you how to live below your means even though you have extra monthly income. A valuable life lesson to learn as someone whose income went from zero digits to six digits overnight.

 

[OncePreDent]

Most important question: how much debt are you anticipating to have?

I am expecting after graduating Dschool around $75-100k in debt. If I specialize then it would increase depending on where I get accepted (could be $0 - $300k).

 

[OncePreDent]

You answered the question yourself....the income varies on many different levels.

What I think is the best route is what I'm doing. First, to go to a cheap school. After school go somewhere where there is high demand (usually rural areas), continue to live like a student under 3-5k a month expenses and pay off all loans with the remaining income as fast as possible.

From there I am free to do whatever I want at that point. Without my loans accumulating interest each month I could basically live anywhere I'd like and have a decent amount of excess income available. The key is sacrificing the lifestyle for a few more years after to school to payoff all loans. That few years will also teach you how to live below your means even though you have extra monthly income. A valuable life lesson to learn as someone whose income went from zero digits to six digits overnight.

Yeah, that is what I plan to do. Live well below my means and pay off whatever debts (especially if I am buying a practice also), and then once everything is paid off, I will probably continue to live below my means and focus my income towards investments (either more practices or real estate).

 

[D1Bound]

I am expecting after graduating Dschool around $75-100k in debt. If I specialize then it would increase depending on where I get accepted (could be $0 - $300k).

Thank your lucky stars. That’s basically nothing.

 

[AONLINE]

@Pre-dent22

https://cdn.dentalpost.net/web/SalarySurvey_2023_AllPositions.pdf

Some potential GP numbers for you to look at, pay attention to page 9 and 10 of the report

 

[OncePreDent]

@Pre-dent22

https://cdn.dentalpost.net/web/SalarySurvey_2023_AllPositions.pdf

Some potential GP numbers for you to look at, pay attention to page 9 and 10 of the report
View attachment 365612
View attachment 365613

Thanks! The sample size is a little small for specialties (n = 94) & there are supposedly 12 different kinds of dental specialties (around 8 people per specialty). It goes give a pretty decent idea for GD though! It is also crazy how much more GD makes if they are providing implants: (pg 12)

 

[Thehighwind87]

Its all about debt service.



I would rather be a general dentist with minimal debt on an average 700k practice 50-60% overhead taking home 300-350k over a orthodontist 1 million+ in debt.

All things being equal- if no debt or both dentist/ortho similar debt loads- then ortho will obviously bring in more money. But that's not the case with paying for residency + accumulating debt + accrueing interest + lost opportunity cost.

 

[OncePreDent]

Its all about debt service.



I would rather be a general dentist with minimal debt on an average 700k practice 50-60% overhead taking home 300-350k over a orthodontist 1 million+ in debt.

All things being equal- if no debt or both dentist/ortho similar debt loads- then ortho will obviously bring in more money. But that's not the case with paying for residency + accumulating debt + accrueing interest + lost opportunity cost.

Yeah, that's where it's nice for other specialties that pay the residency $60k a year like pediatric dentistry.

 

[PerioDont]

I am expecting after graduating Dschool around $75-100k in debt. If I specialize then it would increase depending on where I get accepted (could be $0 - $300k).

thats pretty good numbers honestly