Why do people say dentists make more than doctors?

[JYPMITH]

I feel like it's clearly not the case yeah? Even FM makes ~300k a year but I don't think many dentists make over 150k.

[JohnGrisham]

Most FM do not make 300k

Dentists can have a higher ceiling than FM because they can have a bunch of hygienists running chairs. FM youre limited by how many patients you see.

[la marzocco]

It depends. The overhead burden for dentists are arguably much higher than an FM practice. Geography plays a big factor too.

[bearded frog]

The variation for dentists is higher. Since people need to pay out of pocket or through insurance, you need an element of sales and convincing people to come to you instead of the dentist down the street. If you're good at it, and you do a lot of private/asthetic stuff, you can do very well. But at the same time you can struggle if you aren't good at it.

 

[WomboCombo]

Your average established general dentist owner will be doing around double what you posted. They report 150K income as the income they pay themselves to maximize RRSPs and TFSAs but the rest stays in their professional corporation to be used for raising passive income, buying equipment, paying off practice and school debt, and etc.

[GrouchoMarx]

2 hours ago, JYPMITH said:

I feel like it's clearly not the case yeah? Even FM makes ~300k a year but I don't think many dentists make over 150k.

it is location dependent becuz of competition. dentists in smaller communities can make millions.

[Edict]

There is a lot of variation between physicians, a lot of family doctors who are in the right renumeration models can easily make way more for less hours. 

[goleafsgochris]

Having friends who are dentists in Toronto: the average dentist makes SOMEWHAT less than the average family doctor.  In both, there is the potential to make more (dentists also have a higher ceiling than GPs).  In Toronto they do seem to struggle to get as many patients as they would like, whereas GPs do not.  That being said, their salaries are comparable. 

And, obviously, in both dent and medicine, its possible to earn way more if you specialize.  Its PROBABLY easier to specialize in medicine than in dentistry from conversations I have had.  

[shikimate]

You'll never make a lot of $ if you take a salary or do the work yourself, even if you work 24hrs a day non stop.

[Coronaxtra]

On 2018-03-01 at 8:47 AM, goleafsgochris said:

Having friends who are dentists in Toronto: the average dentist makes SOMEWHAT less than the average family doctor.  In both, there is the potential to make more (dentists also have a higher ceiling than GPs).  In Toronto they do seem to struggle to get as many patients as they would like, whereas GPs do not.  That being said, their salaries are comparable. 

And, obviously, in both dent and medicine, its possible to earn way more if you specialize.  Its PROBABLY easier to specialize in medicine than in dentistry from conversations I have had.  

Again it depends. There are some GPs that make more than specialists and vice versa. The ceiling is high for GPs and specialists, both fields being great careers

[jlkhhylyiluh6]

dont forget they also pay about twice as much as us for dentistry school...50k per year, fuck that lmao

[IMislove]

2 hours ago, beeboop said:

dont forget they also pay about twice as much as us for dentistry school...50k per year, fuck that lmao

Med students? No they don’t, about 25k for tuition give or take a few thousand depending on school (except Quebec which is much cheaper). US different story hah. I guess with rent and food stuff starts increasing, but then so does dent.

 

edit: definitely got confused my bad lol.

[JohnGrisham]

1 hour ago, IMislove said:

Med students? No they don’t, about 25k for tuition give or take a few thousand depending on school (except Quebec which is much cheaper). US different story hah. I guess with rent and food stuff starts increasing, but then so does dent.

Some Canadian dental schools are indeed more expensive than medicine. UBCs dental program is 2x as much as the med program last I saw a few years ago.

[medigeek]

On 3/1/2018 at 0:54 AM, Edict said:

There is a lot of variation between physicians, a lot of family doctors who are in the right renumeration models can easily make way more for less hours. 

Precisely. FHOs can make upper 6 figs and even 7 figures if done right. 

[mononoke]

17 hours ago, medigeek said:

Precisely. FHOs can make upper 6 figs and even 7 figures if done right. 

I've never seen that before - is this rurally?

[medigeek]

1 minute ago, mononoke said:

I've never seen that before - is this rurally?

Not really rural. It just takes a large enough patient roster. 

[#YOLO]

ive seen a few fho docs in high 6s and two in 7s...fkin boss.

[drown besk]

Isn't the claim based on the average? No point in bringing some extreme outliers. What are the chances you'll be making upper 6 figs and 7 figs as fho? There are dentists who makes that much, but again, what are the chances? Safer to look at the median/mean and some deviations from there

[#YOLO]

3 hours ago, drown besk said:

Isn't the claim based on the average? No point in bringing some extreme outliers. What are the chances you'll be making upper 6 figs and 7 figs as fho? There are dentists who makes that much, but again, what are the chances? Safer to look at the median/mean and some deviations from there

well. 50 told me, go head switch the style up. and if they hate then let em hate and watch the money pile up. 

[goleafsgochris]

14 hours ago, drown besk said:

Isn't the claim based on the average? No point in bringing some extreme outliers. What are the chances you'll be making upper 6 figs and 7 figs as fho? There are dentists who makes that much, but again, what are the chances? Safer to look at the median/mean and some deviations from there

Exactly. I get that it’s possible for GPs to make close to a mil, but I have never seen it. It also would be insanely hard—it’s not like most GPs are trying NOT to make money.

its like saying you recommend acting school because George clooney made 100mil in his career.  It’s...not the average

[mononoke]

There would need to be more context given - if you have such a huge patient roster, this must be a fam doc who's working surgeon hours

[medigeek]

On 3/4/2018 at 6:13 PM, drown besk said:

Isn't the claim based on the average? No point in bringing some extreme outliers. What are the chances you'll be making upper 6 figs and 7 figs as fho? There are dentists who makes that much, but again, what are the chances? Safer to look at the median/mean and some deviations from there

Well here's the thing. If it's doable to do 7 figures, that shows it's very doable to do mid 6 figures. In other words, if your post overhead income is something like 580k with a 50 hour week, you're doing well. And more or less that's quite possible in an FHO model. In a FFS model you'll be running room to room squeezing in 50 patients a day for... maybe 400k post overhead? If even that. 

 

Average incomes are useless in medicine. If you're efficient, skilled, and gear your practice model towards generating more revenue - you will blow away whatever the average is easily. 

[#YOLO]

doctors are not smart people.

[blacktowel]

On 3/5/2018 at 9:45 PM, medigeek said:

Well here's the thing. If it's doable to do 7 figures, that shows it's very doable to do mid 6 figures. In other words, if your post overhead income is something like 580k with a 50 hour week, you're doing well. And more or less that's quite possible in an FHO model. In a FFS model you'll be running room to room squeezing in 50 patients a day for... maybe 400k post overhead? If even that. 

 

Average incomes are useless in medicine. If you're efficient, skilled, and gear your practice model towards generating more revenue - you will blow away whatever the average is easily. 

what is the FHO model?

[jane21august]

It depends mostly on the area where you work. If you have better dental plans in your surrounding region, that means it might be worth, to go in a Dentist profession.