It’s not an easy question to answer. There isn’t some flat rate gauge. In any profession, a salary estimate will be dependent on setting, location, education, experience, whether one is self-employed and, of course, the service offered. Location is key in the dental health care profession. Utah is reportedly oversaturated with dentists, while the Alaskan dental community is reportedly scarce. Of course, that doesn’t solidify any facts about either salary, but it does offer perspective.
If one considered the world of general dentistry, it might be easy to calculate an average of what a dentist makes, but that figure shouldn’t be etched in stone. After all, factor into the equation that there is more than one type of dentist and, again, it changes everything.
- Endodontist: specializes in the inner portion of the teeth’s care
- Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon: treats mouth and jaw injuries and defects
- Oral Pathologist: examines, identifies, diagnoses and treats mouth diseases
- Orthodontist: designs and applies appliances that realign crooked teeth
- Pediatric Dentistry: cares for infants, children, adolescents and special patients
- Peridontist: treats diseases of the soft tissue and bone that surround the teeth
- Prosthodontist: designs, constructs and fits replacement teeth
This fairly comprehensive list doesn’t factor in that any of these professions could be a private practitioner, an associate, or could be a salaried employee in an academic situation, such as the military, or even if they work in a hospital, clinic or school.
The Source(s)
The best way to find out how much does a dentist make is to walk up to a dentist and ask. And hope they answer. Even then, walk up the corridor to another practice and then query that dentist about their salary, the number might change drastically. Determining a dentist’s income will always depend on the source.
Overall, ‘Dentist’ and ‘Oral Surgeon’ can be found on most ‘highest paying career’ lists. This includes the regular relevant information released by, to name a few, the government, CNN and MoneyWatch.
How Much Does a Dentist Make? It depends on how long they take to get there.
There is a long road to walk first. Before the privilege of seeing first hand how much does a dentist make, prepare to spend 3 to 4 years completing pre-med. After receiving a bachelor’s degree, or completing the equivalent of at least 2 years of pre-dental college level courses, there will an additional four years of dental teaching at a school endorsed by the Commission on Dental Accreditation. Once that’s done, you will need to pass all state examinations before being granted a license to practice.
The U.S. Government Bureau of Labor Statistics culls data from a number of sources to derive salaries for any number of professions. In their most recent findings, the Bureau operated under an assumption that a dentist worked a 40 hour week, thus putting in a total of 2,080 hours per year. Using a base dentist salary of $153,290, the Bureau established that the average salary of a dentist was an hourly wage of $73.70. The lowest 10%, regardless of the type of dentistry practiced, was earning $26.56 per hour, or $55,250 per year. The upper, likely more experienced dentist earned upwards of $80 an hour, or $166,400 a year.
There is, of course, the argument that the very idea of establishing what a dentist makes is moot. Dentists, these theorists say, are self-employed. (This is arguable, of course. There are a small percentage of dentists that are not in private practice.) Under this idea, it’s not so much a dentist salary that has to be taken into account, but their specific gross and net income. Even then, that could vary with each individual, using the criteria mentioned above of setting, location, education and experience. Still, after factoring in overhead expenses, the figure still finds dentist jobs in a top 10% of U.S. income earners. That puts the salary anywhere between low and mid six figures.
There are statistics compiled by the American Dental Association, the leading advocate and premier source for oral health care. In calculating how much does a dentist make, their official documents suggest dentists in private practice can earn a net salary of over $180,000 a year. A dentist that worked in a dental office, i.e., for a dentist, could look to take home $135,000 annually. That number can drop to as low as $120,000 if that dentist is employed in a general practitioner environment.
The states that offer the best salaries for these health care professionals are Oregon, New Hampshire, Hawaii, Georgia and California. Practicing in any of these states will offer an estimated hourly rate ranging from $80 to $120.
How Much Does a Dentist Make? The Truth.
The lowest paid dentist can earn in the area of $110,000 annually. At the other end of the spectrum, the higher salaried dental professional is looking at somewhere in the vicinity of $240,000. Again, none of this information is etched in stone. It would not be even mildly surprising to find a successful practitioner that could say they were generating an annual income in the area of seven figures.
Like any other profession, success will always be where you find it. Regardless of how much does a dentist make, the discovery will be at the end of a good education, training and hard work.