Is dentist ownership of dental practices declining?


The American Dental Association reports that the percentage of dentists owning private paratices has declined since 2005. The trend was not surprisingly most pronounce among dentists under 35 years of age (lower by 16%). The fact that our youngest dentists have put off or declined owning a dental practice is not surprising since most are more burdened by debt from their educations.

That being the case the ADA graphic shows that in the 44-54 year old group approximately 90% of the respondents have managed to become owners of their dental practices( lower by 4 % since 2005). Although I find this trend alarming, we dentists have been probably faring better than our colleagues who are pharmacists or  physicians, who seem to have more fully embraced working for corporations  as opposed to owning their businesses.

Still the writing is on the wall. Younger dentists are finding it more difficult and possibly undesirable to own their own practices and are more and more often choosing to remain as employees rather than owners of dental practices. In my own interactions with my younger colleagues I have met a number who have either put off owning their own practices. This is especially true for the women dentists that I have met who may be hesitant to purchase a practice at a time when they are either planning a family or about to start one.  .  The ADA article points out that female dentists are less likely than  to be owners than men. The ADA graphic shows in 2017, that while 84 percent of male dentists own their own practices, only 63 of women dentists do.  When I graduated in 1980 about 20% of my class were women, now 50% of dental school graduates are women. I Believe this is progress and I admire many of the women dentists I know, but sometimes progress has unintended consequences.

Currently many dentist owners I talk to in Manhattan are experiencing  financial pressure. They are seemingly being squeezed by a combination of rising rents,fmanaged care and increasing competition for patients. More and more my colleagues seem to be contemplating joining a group practice and working on what amounts to a percentage commission.

Still, I personally enjoy owning my own dental practice even if it means that I may earn less than I would working in a corporate setting. Call me old fashioned, but I like running "Lawrence Spindel D.D.S" and look forward to continuing to do so, in the manner that I always have, for as many years as possible.

from Ask Dr. Spindel - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/2018/04/is-dentist-ownership-of-dental.html - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/

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