- HIGH
- Business
- Tier 1
- Hard News
Dental school costs have risen 40% in 10 years - Is it still worth it?
- Source
- Becker's Dental + DSO Review
- Author
- Cameron Cortigiano
- Originally at
- beckersdental.com(opens in a new tab)
Summary and scoring by The Bell Brief (Dr. Jennifer Bell) using the Drill-Down Protocol. Not the original publisher.
Why it matters for dental
Rising dental school tuition and debt levels are pushing more graduates toward DSO employment rather than practice ownership, a shift that changes the buyer pool for practice sellers and the hiring pool for established owners.
Key points
- 01
ADA Health Policy Institute data show private-practice ownership among dentists fell from 84.7% in 2005 to 72.5% in 2023, and among dentists younger than 30 from 25.4% to 8.8%.
- 02
The American Dental Education Association states that, under HR 1, new borrowers cannot take Grad PLUS loans after July 1, 2026, and federal borrowing for professional students is capped at $50,000 per year and $200,000 total.
- 03
The Education Data Initiative reports the average 2025 dental graduate carried $297,800 in education debt, of which $280,300 was from dental school alone.
- 04
Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2025 data list average annual earnings for general dentists at $191,350, with state averages ranging from $139,320 in Idaho to $241,580 in Missouri.
Who should care
- Owner
- Associate
- DSO
- Student
Read the original
Becker's Dental + DSO Review
Full reporting and any paywalled content live on beckersdental.com. We summarize and score; we do not republish.