Re: Do Dentists make more money than Doctors in USA?

daveywavey1000@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
George wrote:

daveywavey1000@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

In Australia, Dentists make substantially more than doctors if we
compare apples with apples. EG, a dentist will earn more than a General
Practitioner (I believe called a "family physician" in the USA).
Similarly, a dental specialist such an orthodontist will earn more than
most medial specialists.


I think since dentists are surgeons, to compare apples with apples, you
have to compare them to surgeons and not physicians. A good analogy is
probably general surgeons (in some countries they have all but vanished
and replaced with GI surgeons).

Regards,
George


Perhaps what they are doing is in a sense equivalent to surgery.
However, general dentists have only had a fraction of the training
that a medical surgeon has.In Australia, to become a surgeon takes
about 10 years post medical school.

On a side note, in Australia, maxillofacial surgeons have both dental
and medical degrees.



For comparison, in the U.S. a general practice physician may practice after a one-year internship. However, last I'd heard about 85% of physicians in the U.S. choose to specialize. This is the reverse of dentistry here, where 85% choose to remain generalists. Most medical and surgical specialists however have lengthy postgrad training regimens--probably a minimum of 3 years post-internship. There are necessarily sub-specialties--pediatric dermatologists, pathologists with a specialty in lung cancer, etc.--so the training can get as arcane as one wishes. I don't know if there are specific certifying boards in all of the subspecialties though.
The length of training may tend to winnow out enough candidates that the few making it through have a greater ability to keep fees high. Of course, your national health and our managed care severely disrupt what would be the natural course of affairs if there were a purely open marketplace.
Certainly, compensation in employment has never had a straight-line relationship to length and difficulty in training. In the past 3 years, my wife's income has been roughly twice mine. She is a real estate agent in what was a superheated market (now precipitously cooling down). Her total training for her license was 13 weeks of a 2 hour/week course. She told me I should do more crowns now.

Steve

--
Mark & Steven Bornfeld DDS
http://www.dentaltwins.com
Brooklyn, NY
718-258-5001
.