Dentist salary

Why is a dentist salary so rewording?
Because a dentist is a medical doctor whose forte is the diagnosis and treatment of teeth and oral cavity related issues. A competitive graduate with an impressive GPA and enviable scores in the Dental Aptitude Test (DAT) can easily find a place in a premier institute.

Recommendations by imminent names in the field of dentistry can also enhance one’s prospects regarding admission. The dental schools curriculum involves 4 years of full time study, by the end of which the dental student becomes a licensed dental surgeon.

Dental practitioners are of different job profiles such as dentists, dental assistants, dental hygienists, orthodontists and maxillofacial surgeons, among others. Many people confuse a dental assistant with a dental hygienist. A dental assistant works closely with a dentist and a dental hygienist is more independent.

Average dentist salary

One of the prominent aspects which attract more and more candidates to pursue the profession is the dentist salary. Geography and experience are two criteria which adjudicate dentist salary.

The annual salary of the lowest paid dentists is approximately $111,150, whereas the top-of-the-heap dental surgeons can pocket a whooping $240,000 per year. The average dentist salary in US accounts to about $153,290 on an annual basis. Dentists who work on hourly basis earn a median salary of about $67.81 per hour. A few of them, less than 10%, earn $34.32 and the leading 10% earn more than $80.00 on an hourly basis. For this simple reason dental schools continue to thrive.

Dentist salary by state

Dentist salary varies significantly from state to state. New Hampshire, incidentally, is reported to have the highest dentist salary structure in the country of around $222,860. Closely followed by North Dakota ($207,810) and Maine ($205,050), geography is one of those key factors which determine a dentist salary. States like Iowa and North Carolina are not far behind, with pay packets of around $202,750 and $196,060 offered respectively.  

Metropolitan areas offer attractive salary prospects to dentists. Rocky Mount in North Carolina serves dentists with the best salary in the country, of about $248,200. Chico in California ($238,950), Yakima in Washington ($238,520) and Abilene in Texas ($234,100) are other well-paying cities a dentist can aim for.

Northwestern Oklahoma and Kansas lead the pack when it comes to a dentist salary in non-metropolitan areas, with salaries offered around $ 248,200 and $ 246,250 respectively. Other significant areas are South Georgia with a reported salary of $244,100 followed by Southern Oregon ($243,420) and North Georgia ($233,700).

According to the reports of USA department of Labor National, dentists who earn a salary were estimated to be around 86,380. The approximate number of qualified dentists as per the records of American Dental Association is 173,540. Amongst the dentists who work in the US, around 87,700 are employed in the best private dental clinics or in hospitals and are in a position to demand the salary they deserve.

“Become a dentist”

In a nutshell, dentists who are employed by other dentists earn around $138,000 annually whereas those who work for other health professionals office have an annual package of $125,000. One of the major pluses of the profession is that it never goes out of vogue and every year dental schools are adapting to the growing number of dental students. As long as human beings live, there shall be dental diseases, and the dentist salary will soar, year by year.