ADAPT Blog

Of course you love doing dentistry. And everyone is even happier when the pay is appropriate for the work that is done!

Yet I hear from far too many associates who don’t really understand how their pay is calculated — and owners who haven’t fully thought through how much their associates’ pay can vary.

It’s pretty easy to understand a straight salary, which is common for those working in public health, academia, or government agencies. 

It gets more complicated for those paid in whole or in part based on some percentage of their overall productivity in the office — which is the more common scenario for dentists employed in private practice or DSOs. In these cases, pay is typically based on total production, billable production, or total collections.

Five years into his dental career, Dr. Jerry has a very clear vision of his ideal practice. He has perfected his skills and is ready to buy. He knows he wants to stick to high-end cosmetic procedures. And he does NOT want to be beholden to any insurance companies for payment.

Now comes the hard part: finding the right practice. Since Dr. Jerry and his wife plan to relocate across the country to be near her family, he must rely on numbers to decide which practices are worth pursuing during his limited visit time.

Right now, he is torn between two practices.

Let’s look at some of the variable expenses against Dental Economics industry benchmarks to see what we can learn about these practices and which one may be a better fit for Dr. Jerry’s vision:

You asked, we're answering! Today we're introducing Real Talk to answer your questions about career planning, finance, practice management during transitions, and more. First up is this More Than Meets the Eye post, designed to answer one of our most-asked questions: "How do I compare two practices?"