A Pros and Cons Breakdown for Recent Graduates
After you finally graduate from dental school, your next step is to decide where you want to begin your career. There are three basic options for entry level dentists; working for a corporate dental office, taking a job at an already established dental practice, or opening your own dental practice.
Practice Settings for a First Year Dentist
Whether you decide to become a specialist, or stick with general dentistry, choosing where to start your career can be difficult. Each option has significant pros and cons, so you should consider what aspects of each practice option are most important to you. Let’s go over what most new dentists like and dislike about each practice option.
Going into Corporate Dentistry (DSO)
Joining a DSO may pay less when compared to private practices, but they offer numerous other benefits and are becoming increasingly popular for entry-level dentists.
Positives
- Great benefits packages - One of the main advantages corporate offices have is their generous benefit packages. Entry-level dentists are often drawn to these incentives that aren’t always available through a private practice.
- Flexible time off - Since there are simply more staff members at a corporate office, getting time off to go on vacation and creating a schedule that works for you and your family is much easier to accomplish.
- Ample resources - If you like using the coolest, state-of-the-art equipment, corporate offices tend to get the newest tech first.
- Reliable income and less liability - Corporate dentistry is a good option if you want to be able to rely on a steady paycheck, and leave work at the office. You won’t have to worry about the cost or liability issues that come up in a private practice setting.
Negatives
- Lower salary - Although you usually get a substantial benefit package, corporate dental offices offer lower salaries, limiting the amount of money you can make overall.
- Sometimes focus on profits over patients - As with many corporate environments, a corporate dental office can sometimes feel like an assembly line. When you’re not in control of the final decisions, sometimes you might disagree with what call has been made.
- No pride in ownership - Corporate environments don’t have the same type of culture as smaller private practices.
Joining an Established Dental Practice
Working at an established practice is the most common choice for new dentists, since it is low-risk, and allows you to gain experience as a recent graduate. However, despite the steady paycheck and existing patients, there are also drawbacks.
Positives
- Immediate, reliable pay - One of the most obvious benefits of working for an established dental practice is being able to dive right into a work environment, without having to build up an entire business first.
- Less risk involved - The most risk involved at an established dental practice is incurred by the owners. You can rest easy knowing that none of the administrative duties or added costs fall to you.
- A great way to gain experience - Working at an established practice gives you the opportunity to learn about what it takes to run a dental office, before you invest your own time and money into creating your own.
- Lighter workload - Since you don’t have to do any of the administrative side of the business, find new customers, or hire and manage a full staff, the workload is considerably reduced. If you simply want to show up to work and go home immediately after your last appointment for the day, with more flexibility in your schedule, finding an established dental practice may be the best fit for you.
- No need to find patients - Established dental practices have already built up a following of patients. This means you don’t need to spend time and money on marketing, allowing you to focus on your work.
Negatives
- Fewer opportunities for growth - Risk is usually proportional to reward; when working for someone else you will have fewer opportunities to make a higher salary. You will also have less of an influence choosing the people on your staff, which can lead to frustration and a lack of pride.
- Less control - Not having control over the office style and messaging, as well as services offered and even your own schedule can begin to feel tedious. However, some people enjoy the lack of control as well, since you don’t need to make as many decisions.
- May have to use outdated equipment or methodologies - Many established practices have not kept up with modern technology and techniques, which could cause you to create bad habits.
Opening Your Own Dental Practice
If you have sufficient capital and credit, opening your own practice or becoming an associate with a smaller practice on a buy/sell agreement can increase your salary, but you take on a heavier workload, and more risk. Here, too, the positives and negatives are both substantial.
Positives
- You get to be your own boss - One of the most common (and important) reasons people choose to open their own practice is to become their own boss. Not having to answer to anyone is an exciting prospect, especially if you recently graduated from dental school.
- Higher earning potential - New graduates who open their own dental practice tend to earn significantly more than those working at an established practice. With your own practice, your earning potential skyrockets.
- A greater sense of accomplishment - You can’t help but feel a sense of pride when you open your own business, especially once you have a reliable staff in place.
- Control over large and small details - When you own your own practice, you get to determine the style, messaging, and treatment options.
Negatives
- Requires starting capital - A glaring obstacle between you and your own practice is starting capital. If you have sizable student loans or other debts, this may not be the best option to pursue immediately after graduation.
- More financial risk - In addition to requiring capital just to get started, you are also taking on more financial risk as the owner of your own dental practice, rather than choosing to be an employee. You need to have the necessary business acumen to be able to successfully start and run a practice, especially straight out of school.
- Longer hours and more responsibilities - As the business owner, you will have much longer hours, and less flexibility with your schedule. In addition to your regular workload and responsibilities, you will need to run the administrative side of your practice. This can be a deciding factor when choosing whether to open your own practice or work for an existing one.
- You need to build your own customer base - Without an existing practice, you will be building your customer base from scratch, which can be incredibly difficult. Marketing skills are essential when running your own dental practice.
Cost Benefit Analysis
Most dental students begin with the dream of having their own private practice, but this isn’t always a practical option when you still have student loans to pay off. If you would have to take on an immense amount of debt, it’s probably not worth it. When comparing the risks and rewards of any dental career option, always consider the cost-benefit analysis.
There’s A Reason Why SS White Dental has Been Around for Over a Century
SS White Dental focuses on creating innovative equipment and solutions for all practice models. Both new graduates and long-serving practitioners love our products and procedure kits. If you have a question, concern, or need to find a distributor in your area, contact us. We are happy to help!
Don’t forget to check out our FREE Grad Kits and other special offers. We love helping new graduates kick-start their career.
