Why does dentistry cost so much?

While Dentists are fortunate to be involved in a helping profession, they are also small businessmen who run a private for profit business.

Getting started in dentistry is expensive and can leave young dentist's with a large debt load of hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. Opening a dental office can also be
expensive. Dental offices are costly to build and even well established dentists can feel financial pressures.

Most patients expect their dentists to stay current with both their continuing education and maintain a modern dental office that features current dental equipment. Also, since dentistry is a service profession, successful dentists must employ a professional and friendly staff in order to deliver their dentistry and make their patients comfortable.

Salaries and benefits for well trained dental staff can be expensive since they expect compensation that is competitive with the market place and they most talented employees can easily find work with other dental or medical facilities. Salaries and employee benefits for dental offices can account for about 28 percent of operating expenses.

Most patients demand that their dentist stay current both with their continuing education and expect that their dentists use first rate materials. Similarly dental laboratories that dentists employ to achieve create beautiful and well fitted dental restorations are not inexpensive either.

It is not surprising that that a high percentage of any dental fee goes to paying operating expenses. Most dental offices have operating overheads of 60-70 percent or more. This means that dentists are left with at best 40% of every dollar they bill out. For younger dentists much of this money is used to satisfy their educational debt service.

Still, when all is said and done,most dentists do manage to maintain a good standard of living and in my opinion most are motivated by a desire to help their patients maintain a high level of dental health. I believe most work hard at their professions and earn their incomes.