polardoc Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 Hey guys, I am in my late 20's and am thinking of switching my career from a researcher to a dentist. This is because I love working with my hands and I believe dentistry would be a good profession that I will truly enjoy. I am interested in pursuing dentistry and as you would imagine I want to be careful with finance as the tuition costs a fortune. What I would like to know is, how much do you make as a general dentist? I mean, I did some googling and search on this forum and I was seeing 120k/year. I mean 120K is a lot of money but would that even allow me to pay off 250k LOC + interest, mortgage and a practice that costs 1M<??? If you are not comfortable disclosing your income (anyone will be) please pm me. Obviously, I wouldn't expect anyone to give me an exact number but please tell me rough estimate (after overhead but bf tax) to see if switching career at this point in life is feasible. I mean, I do want to get married and have kids you know Thanks a lot!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ostracized Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Well, first of all, the $120K figure (rather meaningless - highly variable!) is talking about net income for an associate. You don't need to buy a practice right after you graduate - in fact that would be a terrible idea. Further, a $1 million practice should gross $1 million dollars per year, so if you are able to keep your overhead low you can do well. Best advice is that if you want to do very well, you have to be prepared to not live in a major city. Dentists in major cities are less busy, and yet they pay more for practices, leases, staffing, etc. I've seen practices in small towns selling for $30,000, because no one wants to buy them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donnadee Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 golden advice there by Ostracized...to add to it, generally once you've a practice, expect to bring in anything ranging from as low as 300K to as high as million depending on how enthusiastic you are, number of operatories, dentists working for you, market conditions e.t.c off course this is before overhead is cutoff which would be anywhere from 60-70%...also a million dollar practice with low overhead is a rare find Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1234 Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Overhead is really 60%? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ostracized Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Overhead is really 60%? 60% would be considered fairly low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleanup Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Overhead is really 60%? Prob closer to 70% in general. That's why the most successful dentists (in terms of their gross income) bring in revenues in excess of $1 million a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1234 Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 I guess dentistry is truly a business Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donnadee Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 I guess dentistry is truly a business lol why do you think so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKS Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 I've seen offices with overhead as low as 30-40%. It totally depends on how you run it. 70% is way high... Prob closer to 70% in general. That's why the most successful dentists (in terms of their gross income) bring in revenues in excess of $1 million a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Visceral Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 15k per month take home for me. Incorporated so I won`t go into tax details but saves me a fair bit of tax. My accountant knows best (huge tip: get a good one after graduation!). Been increasing since I started, which is expected. Should be higher once I feel more comfortable with complex prosth. I do tons of endos and extractions. Lots of factors come into play. I work in an area some would think is underserviced, but I also only work like 35 hours a week, M-F and get off around 3-4 during the summer, but later (4-5) during the winter. I would not worry about student loans. Paid off about 130k already and I have not even practiced one year as an associate. Buying a practice can be expensive, but that is an expense way down the road and quite manageable with a good accoutant and fiscal management. Now, I am not saying it will be all peaches, especially in a city, but if you have an acceptance letter in hand, then money should not be that big of a concern. But always be responsible. Each situation is different. If you want to go to an American school and practice in the GTA....might be tough. Dentistry has been fantastic for me, and hope it will be for you too. One caveat though, don`t go into this profession for the money. Dentistry is a rich profession and offers much, but if you want money then there are other careers that are less taxing on your body and mind if you don`t love it. I feel the high burnout rate from this career is if you don`t love it, it will eat you alive hahah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleanup Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 15k a month as an associate? That's fantastic. Whereabouts are you practicing (ballpark; no need to name a specific town or anything). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koft Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 15k a month as an associate? That's fantastic. Whereabouts are you practicing (ballpark; no need to name a specific town or anything). To be honest, it depends as an associate how the principal owner treats you, if s/he gives you crap like wellfare, etc. basically making nothing. If an okay practice about $800 - 1000 take home per full day (give or take). As for overhead, it depends how efficient you practice is (GP ranges from 55% to 75%) while some specialty can be much lower to mid 40% overhead.. If you go to a town where there are big companies with good benefits the sky is the limit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleming-ard Posted June 26, 2012 Report Share Posted June 26, 2012 Well, moving to a dentist before any problem is better option as dentist make precautions and helps one from any type of defect to be occurred in the teeth. One looking for best dentist in torrance than I provide you one good information on it. dentist torrance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolab Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 Dentistry is a rich profession and offers much, but if you want money then there are other careers that are less taxing on your body and mind if you don`t love it. Bullsh*t. Doctors and Dentist are always saying there are other careers that just as lucrative but offer an easier path. Its as if they are trying to convince themselves money wasn't a large factor in choosing their careers. What other professions? I'm all ears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCATwannabe Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 Bullsh*t. Doctors and Dentist are always saying there are other careers that just as lucrative but offer an easier path. Its as if they are trying to convince themselves money wasn't a large factor in choosing their careers. What other professions? I'm all ears. Business. I know a dude who owns Lawn mowing services in Ottawa and cashes $500K/year. All he has done is buy a bunch of Law Mowers, employ students, and making them go around town door to too and ask if someone wants they Lawn mowed, or aerated. He has even expanded to parking asphalt fixing. Oh did I mention, he doesn't even have grade 12. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ostracized Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 Sure, entrepreneurs can get rich. Or they can go bankrupt. The latter is probably more common. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dentopia11 Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 also photography if you're good...i know a guy who took up photography not more than 6-7 yrs ago. through extensive marketing, hes made a name for himself...last i saw, he had booked 75 portrait sessions, worth $200 each through a facebook ad in a few weeks..thats 15grand there, alot of it, in cash. however, this is not to say, there arent the less successful ones out there as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dentaldoc Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 i have a friend who graduated in engineering and started his own business with a colleague of mine. He's now a board member of several city businesses. some other board members include the ceo of sunnybrook hospital and holt renfrew. But to be like him you have to have a keen business sense and the will to work crazy hours. BTW, why do ppl post ads on this forum. That's just annoying and it creates a bad image for their practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phantombds Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 Hi, I just graduated from Sydney dental school last year in 2012. Our unis are supplying way too many dentists these days so there are no jobs for us in Australia. We need to put food on the table as well so that's why we are coming to steal ur jobs in Canada! It is not our fault that Australia dental job market is so poor. Look online and you can find many references about how our Australian Dental Association is trying to convince our selfish Australian government that there is an oversupply but they are not listening. Now it seems like you Canadians will have to pay the price for their policy! Take a look: https://www.facebook.com/AustralianDentalAssociation It says "one in five dental students in Australia cannot find work after graduating in 2012." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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