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Anyone who says don't do it for money didn't grow up poor. Some of us want the things we've never had and helping people is a bonus.

I shadowed a dentist two days ago that just made 800k last year. He was extremely efficient though and was always moving. He worked extremely hard for his money. (General dentist)

It’s definitely about money while paying off your debt. But after that period is over then you can actually practice what you enjoy and not what you owe

I’m starting off as a dentist assistant at 25 years old. The sky is the limit for myself and many others. The money is very motivating but so is helping people improve their life which is why I got into this in the first place.

Money is often a taboo topic to discuss, but it's valuable to know how much you can expect to make as a dentist as you plan your career. Most research shows that beyond $75,000, emotional well being doesn't increase. But that being said, we all need money for our lifestyles and money can buy you freedom. What are your thoughts on this? Also, follow me on Instagram @meyersonjoel :)

You can move to Alaska and do medicaid and make 400k+ I moved to rural texas after school and I made 300k a year I have colleagues who made 400k I moved back to a big city after 5 years

dentistry definitely feels the most entrepreneurial medical field.

It’s about time someone made a video like this. Thank you sir

Thanks Joel. Great video and you obviously know your stuff. As a business major considering switching to pre-dent it's cool to hear from someone who understands the business side of running dental practices. It's clear you'll do very well.

If been trying to find good info on dentist salary/income for a long time and this video was absolutely priceless. I’m applying to dental school next cycle and your content has been so helpful I honestly feel like I should repay you. Huge thanks from me Joel, keep it up. 👍

future dental student here ! love your videos man. thanks for the insight

The real money in dentistry is made in owning your own space, and renting it out to other dentists who will pay a fortune.

Thank you for making such high-quality content! I hope you're able to continue making videos for years to come.

I’m a dentist and have been out of dental school for a little over 3 years and I would say this seems pretty accurate as far as numbers go

Practice owner here. Doing well working 35 hrs a week.

Thank you so much Joel! I watched all your videos on DAT Bootcamp back in my pre-dental days and I'm so glad I stumbled across this channel! I'm a D3 now and am thinking a lot about what to do when I finally graduate. This channel has great content, I'd love to see one about residency programs (GPR and AEGD especially...) in the future maybe!

There is a pediatric dentist in my town that is a close family friend. I shadowed him a good bit and eventually we got to the talk about salary. He owns 2 practices and nets about 3.5 million a year. However he works 5 days a week and his main practice sees about 130 patients a day. He also only has 1 part time associate at this practice. I’ve shadowed other dentists of all kinds of specialties and can say that he is the fastest and most skilled overall dentist I have ever seen. So it just is about what you want to do and how hard you are willing to work.

Great video Joel! The fact that you reached out to your dental friends was really cool! Thanks for this content and keep it up! You've been killin the game!

Owned my own practice for 24 years. Made really good $$$ for years, however, with the advent of aspen dental and other dso's life will change for all new dentists. I firmly believe the golden days of dentistry are done. Corporate dentistry, hedge funds, etc have ruined a great profession. Good luck.

Dentistry is getting extremely saturated and harder to make a living. Many dentists struggling to make ends meet. Just get into med school, believe me it’s much better

This video is pretty spot on. Very useful for a new grad. I do worry about people hearing this and going into a profession that they end up hating. It's really hard and not for everyone. I love it but I have the personality for it and practice in a way that suits me. You should do a gloom and doom video about what is hard about dentistry.

This is an extremely useful video for a person like me who plans to practice in the US afterwards. Thank you very much for investing your time and sharing this information!

From PAT help to career help, you’ve been with us at every step of the way!

Thinking about taking this career, it pays very well and something that I would enjoy.

Me just staring at his clean teeth entire time

Here in FL you don’t need to be a dentist to start a practice. I started mine before going to dental school with another Doctor that I knew while being a dental assistant and I’m truly happy. The goal is 5 more office at least!!

The problem is they usually have a ton of student loan debt, come out of school and finance a new car and house, and then borrow even more to buy a practice. Crazy.

This is a great video! In my last year of school, most are making $150-200k starting salary

How much does a dentist make? That would depend on so many factors, the major one is how much of the dentist's time they are prepared to devote to work. If you are not doing surgery, you are losing money. The over heads can be crippling, but this is variable from a small clinic to a larger clinic. The graduated dentist can take many years to catch up on the compound effect of losing at least 5 years of income and accumulating substantial debt. Getting a good balance of work/life balance can be difficult. If you work too much, your family life is diminished and your body will suffer. "Dentist's back" is common, from working long hours with the head forward. Finding a good spouse who understands that high income means long hours at the clinic, and they are prepared to do the lion's share of parenting. Break even point can be around Thursday lunch time, after paying for staff wages, dental equipment, rent and supplies and taxes. That is assuming that the dentist is fully booked and scheduled well for production. I am a retired dentist of 45 years service and the above is based on my experience.

My wife is a dentist and she makes about $130k but only works 3 days per week. 300k school debt. I’m a mortgage loan officer and I make triple what she does…. Zero debt. 💪🏻

I have seen so many dentists with below-average manual dexterity messing up with patients' oral health. Dexterity is something you are born with, and it doesn't improve much through training, so I hope more dental schools have higher standards checking on it.

Thank you for your videos! I learn so much from them all the time, I am very excited to start my journey on becoming a dentist! & you have such a wonderful personality for the career as well, I hope one day I have a mentor just like you. Thank again for the great videos ! :)

I would say this is getting easier said then done over the years. I graduated back in 2015 and I make a good income (I do every procedure as a GP), but it's not as easy to build a practice as it once was. A lot of upfront costs with ownership, and you'll go from making great money as an associate to having a very thin budget till your office becomes established. Not for everyone. No regrets though, dentistry is a great career path.

After two years, go buy a GOOD rural practice.... I have rural dental practices listed for sale where AFTER debt service the buyer would make $550k+ a year. Pay your student loans off in a year.

This is an awesome video and I love your transparency!

Interesting video. I'm all for recent grads to know more about finances and having good financial education. Subscribed!

Thank you for putting this together, Joel. It is probably worthwhile to mention that your "dollar" values are in Canadian dollars, if that is indeed the case. In February 2023, $800K Canadian dollars equates to approximately $587,600 U.S. dollars. Cheers...I'm proud of you for the work you have put in to get where you are.

I just turned 49. I've worked at the same place as a mechanical engineer for 22 years now. I don't work much overtime (43 hours/week is typical). Giving up years of happiness for double the money doesn't seem like something I would look back on and be happy about.

I remember you from somewhere big?! DAT Bootcamp?....Currently in dental school because of your help, big thank you

Oral surgeon here. Making close to 2 mils a year. Life is good.

You just got a new subscriber. Love your videos and commitment to helping people :)

Cool video! I'm an Australian dentist. Our numbers are remarkably similar for associates both for new grads and ones with more experience. Practice owners I dont know as I'm not an owner and don't know what their overheads are.

My mom is a dentist assistant and the dentist last year earned 1 million dollars clean, after all the bills and everything, not to mention he has 2 more offices so just imagine how much he earns!!

I got a 25 on PAT because of watching your videos, much love!

Thanks so much , I am a german dentist, I learn a new perspective on my job here.

$290k for a practice owner seems a lot less than i thought to be hoenst

35% billing is NOT typical in the US. Good luck getting 35% production lol. I’m sure they are out there but the average is much lower

Thanks for making this. It's weird how much the dental articles and blogs beat around the bush about their income.

I’m so happy I found your channel I loved your bootcamp videos too, thank you for all you do!!

One of my oldest friends is a dental specialist in our small city. An endodontist partnership (2 very busy practitioners, 1 office) bills about $6 million and they keep overhead low. No night call, very low risk...not bad.

Bless you Joel for the treasure trove of knowledge you bring us 🙏🙌

You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you. --Maya Angelou..

Don’t practice in saturated areas. Big cities where there are several dental schools. I’ve associated in several offices but never made over $150,000. When I was looking to purchase a practice I looked at the financials for at least 30 offices. Including addbacks many owners were making $200k to $250k. Now that I own my own office I can say this is true. The overhead particularly staffing makes ownership incredibly hard. Hygiene is actually a loss leader. It’s hard to find a Hygenist so starting pay is $60/hour but may insurances only pay $56/hour. You won’t make money employing hygiene. Add $5000k school loans and $5000k to open a practice. That’s why most dental students are bankrolled by rich family. Impossible if you come from a middle class family. There are much easier ways to make a lot of money and dentistry is not one of them.

Like MANY crafts I have seen doctors and dentist who coast and others that hustle. The ones that hustle can make 5 times more than others. Working long hours is the easiest way to directly hustle more.

I own a mattress store and I deal in luxury mattresses. I made $600 thousand last year, Net. No college education. No chance for a lawsuit for messing up someone's mouth.

You say those Big numbers but then there is taxes :(

Seeing Joel triggered me and made me think about the PAT section of DAT Bootcamp 😂

Here you go guys: New grad 125,000-200,000 Established dentist 150,000- 400,000(super dentist) Practice Owner sky is the limit

I'd like to know more about "super GPs". Seems like a great route to take from a financial perspective. Take continuing education courses and be able to perform advanced procedures that pay more, sort of sounds like a specialist. Why isn't it a lot more common? I know nothing about continuing education courses in dentistry and what that entails.

You didn’t mention how much stress increases when going up the income brackets. More specialized procedures mean more stress as more can go wrong. Not to mention live CE courses are 10-15k$ easy to just scratch the surface of learning the specialized procedures. And then you have to actually get good at the procedures. Not every office will allow for you to climb the learning curb as an associate. Also, more money means you will need to do more physical dentistry in the same amount of hours in a day meaning juggling multiple patient rooms. Yes this man made a lot of money living in rural Canada but most people want to come back to the city eventually. And maintaining a high income means maintaining a high level of stress. And it’s the sustainability of the high income that can lead these high producers to “early retirement” from dentistry. It’s doable, but is it sustainable? No offense, but your side business in dental school prep materials combined with you retiring from clinical dentistry after less than a decade should really cause viewers of your channel to take what you are saying with a grain of salt.

My mind is officially blown 🤯🤯🤯 Screw becoming an MD or DO, I should just become a DMD or DDS

Love your videos but the music was a bit too loud to hear here. Thank you for your content!

1.1 million solo pediatric dentist, 4 ops, 2400 Sq ft, 43 percent overhead. If you argue for your limitations, you will get to keep them.

Thanks for being so transparent and helpful. I’ve been watching your videos since you started YT. But this is my first comment. I love your PAT stuff on DAT bootcamp tho bro. I never ended up taking the DAT last year but this year is gonna be the year I take it and get it if the stars align. Your videos are awesome and I hope you keep making more.

I assume this video applies to the USA? Similar in Canada?

salaries vary by location. SoCal grads 25% adjusted production is normal with some corporate offering even less

Thanks so much for this.!!!! 🙌🏾

Real truth is money no matter how much people give BS about social work.

Hi Joel! Great video as always, but I'd greatly appreciate some clarification! I currently work as an assistant (I'm starting dental school in Canada in May), and from my experience associates are usually paid around 45% of their production. But what I'd really like to know, is if they still pay significant tax after that, and if so, how that affects total take-home pay? You mention that you made $300k up in Wawa, but was that "in-the-pocket", or gross income before tax? I have worked with many dentists here regularly billing $70k - $100k per month, so I know they are theoretically earning $30k - $45k per month, but what about the following tax season? do they then "lose" half of it?! What is the actual take-home at the end of the year? Many sincere thanks and please keep the videos coming

Great video! I start dental school in Aug and one thing I am worried about is the amount of debt I will be in.

If you can come out with minimal debt, 200 to 300k can definitely be good making a strong 150 to 200. But what a lot of people dont realize is you really need to bust it if you have 400 or 500k or more in debt. That debt is growing to the tune of 30 to 40k per year and even if you're making a strong say 350k salary, which is quite taxing you need to keep doing that year after year and the 350 after taxes, is only maybe 225k if you're lucky and on higher taxes states you are looking at paying near 50% of your income in taxes. So that 400k strong salary get cut to 200k and even putting 100k a year on the debt still a very long process to pay off and by that time your prob in your mid 30s or 40s even

Things can be various. CA- very competitive, wages are typically lower than other state, taxes are high, so the take-home $$ is low even with high production. There are things you need to be care to see- def look at the collections NOT productions (ins are not paying every penny you claim) and overheads (rent, staff salary, supplies, etc). I would say it’s hard to make more than 200k+ if you work as an associate unless you produce $3000 solid collection for office working 5days for my case. Of course if you move rural area then def they pay you more because there are not many dentists out there. Even so 200k+ is hard to beat. You need to open an office but you need to know how to handle insurance and administrations. It’s not all about dentistry at that point so I learned dentistry as much as I can as an associate and bought one. Pretty happy.

Thank you very much for this video I have always heard from my friends that dentistry doesn't pay you well and you will end up poor or not rich

Great content brotha! Keep it up!

125 - 200k as a new grad is nuts, here in Aus the avg is 84k (59kUSD) as a new grad and 106K USD for associates.

I think people do not want to discuss money because they do not want to be sized up. In regards to pay, it is very locally dependent like Los Angeles vs. Cedar Rapids.

I work 2 hours further west of Wawa....its a beautiful place to begin your career....

I passed and got a position with a very high salary. They are looking for more dentists. My experience : I spoke to a super kind recruiter who got to know me and where I would like to work. They paid all expenses for my girlfriend and I to visit offices and spend a week with owner dentists. I was offered an extremely high salary. I was offered TN work VISA cost free + relocation expenses coverage (plane ticket, housing, etc.) + many more advantages. I found an office I like a lot and I moved there. Let me know if you would like to know more about the offers available. My friend is a recruiter and is looking for many dentists. The salary is beyond what I expected. Cheers dear colleagues.

Did you just convince me to become a dentist?

One day I will become a dentist :)

You have to do a lot of root canal...it sucks

Let's not forget, most dental students are putting themselves in debt to the tune of $500,000 or more while in school from 4 to 5 years, accruing interest while in school.

this is so useful thank you so much. It really helps me to determine if I want to pursue this career

It can be hard to sell a practice if you are a super dentist. No one new grad can do what you do. I need to have 3 different buyers to cash out, if I ever decide to do that. A good GP, an orthodontist, and and a pediatric dentist. (I’m a GP who is board certified in pedo). And my physical space isn’t even big enough to bring in an associate. My best year was a decade ago, I’m sorry to say. I work 4 days a week now and I bill about 1.2 million. I used to make somewhat more than that.I run my practice on about a 50% overhead. COVID put a big hickey on my 2020 numbers but we are recovering. it isn’t clear if we are past the point on COVID, however. I don’t encourage anybody to own multiple practices, unless you want to be an entrepreneur more than being a dentist. I once had 3 locations, and I don’t miss that one bit. Good video. Glad I ran across your channel.

Very interesting video! I was considering being a dentist when I started out, but I went into Engineering instead. Now I am almost done with my career, and I can tell you we don't make that kind of money usually! It looks like the dentists make more than engineers right from the start, and then pass us up by a factor of about 2 after 10 years or so. But it's a lot different type of work, probably more stressful being a dentist.

Can you make a video to compare between dentist(DMD) vs medical doctor(MD) in work-life balance or income?

This is USD not Canadian right? Btw, absolutely love all your videos! Money and profit is a topic most practice owners avoid to talk about with pre-dent/dental student. I recently got accepted to my dream school and your videos def make me feel more confident about what I’m getting myself into!

Thank you so much this was very informative and helpful .......... I'm shooting for dentistry and MBBS hope i can come back after about 2 months as student in the field 🤧🤞🏻

Not me watching this thinking that I now want to become a dentist now, as if I could just apply to dental school and ace it! 😳😬😁

EXACTLY THE VIDEO I NEEDED!!!!!!!! THANK YOOOUUUUUUUUU

I think you underestimate the amount of money couples need for one year’s expenses. Also, 6.5 percent gains have not been my experience. And the price for a new car is over $31,000 for the majority if cars. Inflation is robbing Americans.

Wtffff so thats where I know you from!! You were the guy from DAT bootcamp lmaoo I think for the reading section haha I was trying to remember where in the world did I see this guy

Very informative man.

i've found your channel helpful, keep going btw, can you reduce the level of that bg music, i found it hard to focus on ur speech

had to check and make sure it wasn't playing at 1.25x speed

شكرا لك على هذا الفيديو التفصيلي كان مفيدا جدا أحببت أن أكتب لك بلغتي الأصلية العربية لترى أن المحتوى الخاص فيك يتم مشاهدته من جميع أنحاء العالم شكرا مجددا

Owning an NHS practice in the UK can mean earning less than £70k if you’re in an area of low UDA rates (what the government pays your practice for carrying out treatment). Associates can make more than working practice owners.

Very informative. Thank you

you are the man joel!