|
Income and Gross Billings
What is a dentist's average net income?
The average net income for an independent private practitioner who owned all or part of his or her practice in 2005 was $198,350 for a general practitioner and $304,020 for a specialist.
Source: 2006 Survey of Dental Practice—Income from the Private Practice of Dentistry
Item code: SDPI-2006/SDPI-2006D.
What are a dentist’s average annual gross billings?
The average gross billings per owner dentist in 2005 was $660,640 for a general practitioner and $882,320 for a specialist.
Source: 2006 Survey of Dental Practice—Income from the Private Practice of Dentistry.
Item code: SDPI-2006/SDPI-2006D.
Does the ADA have information on income by state and city?
No. The Survey of Dental Practice only provides information on a national level and by the nine U.S. Census regions.
Source: 2006 Survey of Dental Practice—Income from the Private Practice of Dentistry.
Item code: SDPI-2006/SDPI-2006D.
What is the average salary for dental school faculty?
The ADA does not collect or publish this information. Contact the American Dental Education Association at 202-289-7201 or www.adea.org  and ask about their Faculty Salary Survey.
For information on number and characteristics of faculty, see the 2005–06 Survey of Dental Education: Volume 3: Faculty and Staff report (Item code: SDE3-2005/SDE3-2005D).
Does the ADA have information on gross billings by state and city?
No. The Survey of Dental Practice only provides information on a national level and by the nine U.S. Census regions.
Source: 2006 Survey of Dental Practice—Income from the Private Practice of Dentistry.
Item code: SDPI-2006/SDPI-2006D.
Does the ADA have income information for dentists during their first year?
No. Due to sampling at the national level, the number of dental school graduates each year is generally too small to report reliable numbers. The Income from the Private Practice of Dentistry report does have income averages for dentists who graduated in the last five or 10 years.
Related item: 2006 Survey of Dental Practice—Income from the Private Practice of Dentistry.
Item code SDPI-2006/SDPI-2006D.
What is the average hourly salary of a full-time hygienist and a full-time chairside dental assistant?
Nationally, independent dentists reported paying full-time dental hygienists $30.80 per hour in 2005. Full-time chairside dental assistants were reported to earn $16.40 an hour in 2005.
Source: 2006 Survey of Dental Practice—Employment of Dental Practice Personnel.
Item code: SDPE-2006/SDPE-2006D.
Does the ADA have information on dental hygienist and/or dental assistant salaries by state?
Yes, there are two reports in the Dental Health Policy Analysis Series that contain this information: the 2004 Workforce Needs Assessment Survey: Dental Hygienists and the 2005 Workforce Needs Assessment Survey: Chairside Assistants.
Sources: 2004 Workforce Needs Assessment Survey: Dental Hygienists and 2005 Workforce Needs Assessment Survey: Chairside Assistants
Item codes: WNASH-2004/ WNASH-2004D and WNASA-2005/ WNASA-2005D
Return to Top
Education
How many dental schools are there in the U.S. and Canada?
Currently, there are 57 accredited dental schools in the U.S. and ten in Canada. The U.S. dental school most recently granted accreditation by the Commission on Dental Accreditation was Midwestern University in Glendale, AZ; it was approved for initial accreditation in February 2008 and is scheduled to enroll its first class in Fall 2008.
Related Item: 2006–07 Survey of Dental Education—Volume 1: Academic Programs, Enrollment, and Graduates.
Item code: SDE1-2006/SDE1-2006D.
How many students are enrolled in/graduate from dental schools?
During the 2006–07 academic year, there were 19,038 students enrolled in predoctoral education programs. The class of 2006 had 4,515 predoctoral graduates.
Source: 2006–07 Survey of Dental Education—Volume 1: Academic Programs, Enrollment, and Graduates Item code: SDE1-2006/SDE1-2006D.
How many/what percentage of dental students/graduates are female?
In 2006–07, 8,431 predoctoral dental students were female (44.3%), and 44.9% (2,026) of graduates were female.
Source: 2006–07 Survey of Dental Education—Volume 1: Academic Programs, Enrollment, and Graduates Item code: SDE1-2006/SDE1-2006D.
Is dental school enrollment on the increase or decrease?
Total predoctoral enrollment was at its highest level during the late 1970s/early 1980s, with peak enrollment of 22,842 in the 1980-81 academic year. In the last ten years, first-year predoctoral enrollment has risen an average of 0.9% annually.
Source: 2006–07 Survey of Dental Education—Volume 1: Academic Programs, Enrollment, and Graduates
Item code: SDE1-2006/SDE1-2006D.
Where can I find a list that ranks dental schools?
The ADA does not rank dental schools. The Survey of Dental Education report series has reports that cover applications, enrollment, program information, tuition, faculty, curriculum, and finances, which individuals may use to make their own comparisons between schools.
Related items: 2006–07 Survey of Dental Education series. (Item code for complete set: SDES-2006)
- Volume 1: Academic Programs, Enrollment, and Graduates (Item code: SDE1-2006/SDE1-2006D.)
- Volume 2: Tuition, Admission, and Attrition (Item code: SDE2-2006/SDE2-2006D.)
- Volume 3: Faculty and Staff (Item code: SDE3-2005/SDE3-2005D. Not published for 2006–07.)
- Volume 4: Curriculum (Published in alternate years—latest version covers 2006–07.) (Item code: SDE4-2006/SDE4-2006D.)
- Volume 5: Finances (Item code: SDE5-2006/SDE5-2006D.)
Return to Top
Workforce
How many dentists are there in the US?
As of 2006, there were 179,594 professionally active dentists (dentists using their dental degree in some fashion), and 164,864 active private practitioners in the U.S. (Note that the latter number is included in the former.)
Source: 2006 Distribution of Dentists in the U.S. by Region and State.
Item code: DOD-2006/DOD-2006D.
How many dentists are female?
Among 179,594 professionally active dentists in 2006, 19.7% (35,444) were female.
Source: 2006 Distribution of Dentists in the U.S. by Region and State.
Item code: DOD-2006/DOD-2006D.
What percentage of dentists are specialists?
In 2006, over one in five professionally active dentists (21.2%) reported that their practice, research, or administration area was an ADA-recognized specialty.
Source: 2006 Distribution of Dentists in the U.S. by Region and State.
Item code: DOD-2006/DOD-2006D.
Does the ADA have any projections for the number of dentists in the U.S.?
Yes, the ADA's Dental Workforce Model report is used to project the number of dentists up to 2025.
Source: 2007 American Dental Association Dental Workforce Model: 2005 to 2025.
Item code: DWM-2007/DWM-2007D.
How many dentists are usually working in a dental practice?
In 2005, solo dentists (those who worked in a practice with no other dentists) comprised 63.1% of all private practitioners; 20.0% worked with one other dentist, and 16.9% with two or more dentists.
Source: 2006 Survey of Dental Practice series.
Item code: SDPS-2006
Return to Top
Patients
Could you give me the ADA recommended ideal dentist to patient ratio?
No. It is the ADA’s view is that a simple dentist to patient ratio cannot take into account the differing economic environments from region to region, state to state, urban to rural, so the ADA does not give any kind of recommended dentist to patient ratio.
Source: 2006 Distribution of Dentists in the U.S. by Region and State.
Item code: DOD-2006/DOD-2006D.
How often do people visit a dentist?
Most adults reported they had seen a dentist within the past year. A total of 48.7% said they last saw a dentist less than six months ago, while an additional 18.9% saw a dentist between six months ago and a year.
Source: 2007 Public Opinion Survey: Oral Health of the US Population.
Item code: POS-2007/POS-2007D.
Why do people not visit their dentists?
The reason for not going to the dentist more often that was cited by the largest percentage of respondents was that it costs too much (34%). More than half of consumers (51%) who have not been to the dentist in the past five years reported that high costs are an important factor. About 26% of consumers had a previous bad experience with a dentist and one-quarter do not feel that it is necessary to go to the dentist until a problem occurs.
Source: 2003 Public Opinion Survey: Oral Health of the US Population.
Item code: POS-2003/POS-2003D.
Return to Top
Fees for Dental Procedures
How much do particular dental procedures cost?
The ADA cannot quote fees for dental procedures. Survey data from a nationwide random sample of dentists who were asked to record the fee most often charged for different dental procedures are collected and published in the ADA's Survey of Dental Fees report. The report provides information on what dentists who completed the survey typically charge, but these are not "recommended" fees from the ADA, or an ADA standard for fees
DISCLAIMER: The published survey data should not be interpreted as constituting a fee schedule in any way, and should not be used for that purpose. The ADA is forbidden by federal law to set or recommend fees. Dentists establish their own fees based on their individual practice and market considerations.
Related item: 2007 Survey of Dental Fees.
Item code: SDF-2007/SDF-2007D.
Because the survey is conducted in odd-number years, please note that this report is published every other year; it is not updated annually.
Where can I get the ADA’s fee schedule?
The ADA does not publish a fee schedule, as Federal law forbids the ADA from setting fees for dentists. The ADA does conduct a Survey of Dental Fees, from which a report is published. Our Survey of Dental Fees report can be purchased by anyone, including dentists, patients, and insurance companies.
Related item: 2007 Survey of Dental Fees.
Item code: SDF-2007/SDF-2007D.
Because the survey is conducted in odd-number years, please note that this report is published every other year; it is not updated annually.
I called my insurance company to dispute what they consider to be "reasonable and customary/usual and customary" charges for my zip code. They said that if we have an issue, to take it to the ADA, because that's who supplies them with the "usual and customary fees" for zip codes.
The insurance company is misinforming you. If an insurance company has fee information by zip code, it did not come from the ADA. The ADA does conduct a Survey of Dental Fees, from which a report is published. However, Federal law forbids the ADA from setting fees for dentists. Our Survey of Dental Fees report can be purchased by anyone, including dentists, patients, and insurance companies. The report does not have average fees for zip codes, cities, or states.
Related item: 2007 Survey of Dental Fees.
Item code: SDF-2007/SDF-2007D.
Because the survey is conducted in odd-number years, please note that this report is published every other year; it is not updated annually.
Return to Top
|
