Dentists: What are you earning?

Title says it all really....im thinking of applying for dentistry in the near future, i really liked the job in work experience: positive impact on society, technically challenging, academically challenging...just wanted to know what they earn...

I looked around on the net and found some ranges but if there's any dentists out there, i would appreciate some first hand knowledge. You can make urself anonymous if you want. Also if you can give any words of wisdom on the actual career of a dentist, it would also be welcomed.

bout 350

OP

Original post by bertstare

bout 350

Not sure what you mean there bert, 350 per day?

Reply 3

NabilC18

1

six hunnit fiddy

(edited 9 years ago)

tumblr_mlx82o9cqo1ryqzcno1_500.jpg32.9KB

Reply 4

infumed

OP

7

Original post by NabilC18

six hunnit fiddy

lol Allow trolling me bro...this is a serious question

Reply 5

teen1234

Original post by infumed

Title says it all really....im thinking of applying for dentistry in the near future, i really liked the job in work experience: positive impact on society, technically challenging, academically challenging...just wanted to know what they earn...

I looked around on the net and found some ranges but if there's any dentists out there, i would appreciate some first hand knowledge. You can make urself anonymous if you want. Also if you can give any words of wisdom on the actual career of a dentist, it would also be welcomed.

Im not a dentist but Im starting dentistry in sept. so ive done a bit of research.
Your foundation year is 30k. You will then most likely become an associate dentist where you salary will be around 50 - 65k after a couple of years <5. If you then so chose to become a partner of a surgery/open its around 100k. This is all taxable income - so after expenses and such. Specialists such as orthos, of course, have higher salaries. If you're only after money take your grades into accounting/econ at a london uni.

Reply 6

infumed

OP

7

Original post by teen1234

Im not a dentist but Im starting dentistry in sept. so ive done a bit of research.
Your foundation year is 30k. You will then most likely become an associate dentist where you salary will be around 50 - 65k after a couple of years <5. If you then so chose to become a partner of a surgery/open its around 100k. This is all taxable income - so after expenses and such. Specialists such as orthos, of course, have higher salaries. If you're only after money take your grades into accounting/econ at a london uni.

Why do you say ur on 50-60k after a couple years? i thought ur self employed straight after VT? lol i don't just want money, dad's a fixed income trader and he regrets not doing something more meaningful...

Reply 7

teen1234

Original post by infumed

Why do you say ur on 50-60k after a couple years? i thought ur self employed straight after VT? lol i don't just want money, dad's a fixed income trader and he regrets not doing something more meaningful...

lol im exactly the same as you - Id hate to be an employee! 50-60k is the average but yes you are self employed and you are not salaried. Im just saying thats the average. I dont do well with authority so I always knew I had to go into a career where I was self employed - Dentistry fit perfectly!

Reply 8

andbegin

4

Original post by infumed

Title says it all really....im thinking of applying for dentistry in the near future, i really liked the job in work experience: positive impact on society, technically challenging, academically challenging...just wanted to know what they earn...

I looked around on the net and found some ranges but if there's any dentists out there, i would appreciate some first hand knowledge. You can make urself anonymous if you want. Also if you can give any words of wisdom on the actual career of a dentist, it would also be welcomed.

Hi, Im a dentist I graduated 4 years ago and Im on just under 70k - most of my friends are on 60-70k (associate dentists)
Ive just written a long post on my opinion on dentistry which is currently being moderated. I answer a lot of the questions it seems like you want to know :smile:

Reply 9

zippity.doodah

3

never go into a field for the money - the biggest mistake I ever made.

Reply 10

teen1234

Original post by andbegin

Hi, Im a dentist I graduated 4 years ago and Im on just under 70k - most of my friends are on 60-70k (associate dentists)
Ive just written a long post on my opinion on dentistry which is currently being moderated. I answer a lot of the questions it seems like you want to know :smile:

Cant wait to see this post :biggrin:

I just hope its not another overly bleak outlook like another post on this site about dentistry

Reply 11

andbegin

4

Original post by teen1234

Cant wait to see this post :biggrin:

I just hope its not another overly bleak outlook like another post on this site about dentistry

Thank you.
Yes I have seen that post. Whilst it is very bleak (a little too bleak imho) most of the points made are very true and I understand all that the fellow dentist has said. Although, from what I thought dentistry would be to what it actually is, my expectations have been met in most cases - I love it :tongue:

. My post will explain a lot of my feelings

Reply 12

infumed

OP

7

Original post by andbegin

Hi, Im a dentist I graduated 4 years ago and Im on just under 70k - most of my friends are on 60-70k (associate dentists)
Ive just written a long post on my opinion on dentistry which is currently being moderated. I answer a lot of the questions it seems like you want to know :smile:

Hey thanks for the reply. Yh i read ur post, very insightful. One thing i have to ask however is that do u ever feel restricted in dentistry? One of the things which i worry about is the repetitive nature of the career. For example I've been told the NHS severely restricts what dentists can and can't do on the NHS, resulting in them doing 15-20 procedures (crowns, fillings, scaling, extractions ect) again and again. Don't you think it would ever get rather tedious doing the same things over and over again?
In comparison however, a medical surgical speciality such as neurosurgery or orthopaedics would allow you to do hundreds of different things.

Lol i may sound a little pedantic but i just wanna make the right decision.

Also is it possible to earn 70k STRAIGHT after vt? Because some dentists have told me it takes a few years to be able to get fast enough to do enough UDAs for you to be earning that amount?

Reply 13

andbegin

4

Original post by infumed

Hey thanks for the reply. Yh i read ur post, very insightful. One thing i have to ask however is that do u ever feel restricted in dentistry? One of the things which i worry about is the repetitive nature of the career. For example I've been told the NHS severely restricts what dentists can and can't do on the NHS, resulting in them doing 15-20 procedures (crowns, fillings, scaling, extractions ect) again and again. Don't you think it would ever get rather tedious doing the same things over and over again?
In comparison however, a medical surgical speciality such as neurosurgery or orthopaedics would allow you to do hundreds of different things.

Lol i may sound a little pedantic but i just wanna make the right decision.

Also is it possible to earn 70k STRAIGHT after vt? Because some dentists have told me it takes a few years to be able to get fast enough to do enough UDAs for you to be earning that amount?

Most practices are NHS and private and so you can do a lot more than crowns, fillings, extractions etc. theres a few other things that you've missed out that are fairly regular. Neurosurgery would take you half a lifetime to get to, OMFS would be the 'equivalent' in dentistry and the things they do are incredible.
Its pretty much impossible to earn 70k straight after VT - you'd either have to be a God or very, very unethical. Besides the UDA system will not last for much longer(not sure how long) but the government are piloting schemes to get rid of the ghastly UDA system.
Also, it seems you don't realise how much 70k really is. Dentistry is not for people wanting to get rich quick - you will find yourself demotivated, your work will be sub par and its likely you will have an unhealthy relationship with your patients and your dental team(nurses, (dreaded) practice managers etc.)

Reply 14

bertstare

6

Original post by infumed

Hey thanks for the reply. Yh i read ur post, very insightful. One thing i have to ask however is that do u ever feel restricted in dentistry? One of the things which i worry about is the repetitive nature of the career. For example I've been told the NHS severely restricts what dentists can and can't do on the NHS, resulting in them doing 15-20 procedures (crowns, fillings, scaling, extractions ect) again and again. Don't you think it would ever get rather tedious doing the same things over and over again?
In comparison however, a medical surgical speciality such as neurosurgery or orthopaedics would allow you to do hundreds of different things.

Lol i may sound a little pedantic but i just wanna make the right decision.

Also is it possible to earn 70k STRAIGHT after vt? Because some dentists have told me it takes a few years to be able to get fast enough to do enough UDAs for you to be earning that amount?

Worth remembering that there are only a few medical specialities which will offer a large amount of variety, the main one being Emergency Medicine. Dermatologists spend most of their time handing out topical eczema creams, Endocrinologists see mostly diabetic patients, Colorectal surgeons see mostly haemmorhoids, Cardiologists see mostly hypertension or angina cases - this is true of almost any speciality, it will end up being fairly repetitive and only rarely will you see very exciting cases. House MD =/= real life

Reply 15

Mother Teresa

Original post by zippity.doodah

never go into a field for the money - the biggest mistake I ever made.

Everyone says but tbh they're lying. If money makes you happy then you'll love doing the job that allows you to gain that money.

I'm sure there's more money in dentistry than there is in medicine what with opening your own place and charging extortionate prices for doing a filling.

Reply 16

teen1234

Original post by Mother Teresa

Everyone says but tbh they're lying. If money makes you happy then you'll love doing the job that allows you to gain that money.

I'm sure there's more money in dentistry than there is in medicine what with opening your own place and charging extortionate prices for doing a filling.

An NHS dentist makes roughly the same as a private. The nhs pay for a lot of dentistry and so they dont have to charge as much as a private dentist.
The prices dentists charge is mostly due to the insane amount of overheads and the high level of expertise they have.
Go see how much a private dermatologist charges for a consultation - private dentists are no different.

Reply 17

zippity.doodah

3

Original post by Mother Teresa

Everyone says but tbh they're lying. If money makes you happy then you'll love doing the job that allows you to gain that money.

I'm sure there's more money in dentistry than there is in medicine what with opening your own place and charging extortionate prices for doing a filling.

I thought the same thing - "just stick it out and remember what the end result might be one day" (e.g. in the case of a law degree) but honestly it feels horrible doing something and trying to convince yourself that you'll help happy in the end if you don't enjoy the subject; I'd much rather get a reasonable wage doing what I love

Reply 18

teen1234

Original post by zippity.doodah

I thought the same thing - "just stick it out and remember what the end result might be one day" (e.g. in the case of a law degree) but honestly it feels horrible doing something and trying to convince yourself that you'll help happy in the end if you don't enjoy the subject; I'd much rather get a reasonable wage doing what I love

Law degrees dont require as much research as a dentistry degree, its a lot less 'variable'.
Law degrees are not as secure as a dentistry degree also. Unless you have a law degree from 5 or so top unis it wont even be comparable to a dentistry degree. You're unlikely to make much money in law unless you go to one of these universities so that would be ridiculous anyway.

Reply 19

Thewildcat

3

Original post by bertstare

Worth remembering that there are only a few medical specialities which will offer a large amount of variety, the main one being Emergency Medicine. Dermatologists spend most of their time handing out topical eczema creams, Endocrinologists see mostly diabetic patients, Colorectal surgeons see mostly haemmorhoids, Cardiologists see mostly hypertension or angina cases - this is true of almost any speciality, it will end up being fairly repetitive and only rarely will you see very exciting cases. House MD =/= real life

This is probably the most ridiculous thing I've heard in my life. Dermatologists don't just sit around handing out eczema creams all day. Im not sure if your from america or not (hence why you're comparing uk medicine to house md) but in the uk we have something called the nhs, where GPs do most of the filtering. The only cases which are referred to consultants are the most complex ones which require a doctor who has experience in that specific field. So for the example of dermatology, the consultants would be doing skin resections and ablations for most of the day such as squamous cell carcinoma or basal cell cancer ablative therapies. They may also get some type of extreme ache patients or some type of severe lupus. The list goes on and on, but its definitely more interesting than what ur making it out to be. Consultants get to see the most severe forms of their field.

Dentists: What are you earning?

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