- HIGH
- Business
- Tier 1
- Hard News
Dentistry’s new economic reality
- Source
- Becker's Dental + DSO Review
- Author
- Ariana Portalatin
- 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
Owners, associates, and DSOs face sustained margin pressure as equipment and staffing costs have risen faster than payer reimbursement rates, with general-practice net income down nearly $60,000 in inflation-adjusted dollars.
Key points
- 01
ADA data show the dental reimbursement-rate index rose 19% since January 2021 while inflation reached 27% over the same period.
- 02
Dentira’s Dental Spend Index reports DSOs absorbed price increases of 9–20% across multiple product categories in recent years.
- 03
Building a new dental practice now costs $900,000–$1.7 million.
- 04
ADA figures indicate the average net income for general-practice dentists fell nearly $60,000 over the past 16 years when adjusted for inflation.
Who should care
- Owner
- DSO
- Associate
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.