Dentaltown March 2020 - 47

I talk to a lot of associates and new graduates. The only constant is that they have no clue
what they are talking about when it comes to money. My guess is that your friend is impressing
you by telling you their production, not what they are actually making. I talked to a guy once
who was bragging about his production. As we talked, he was including the hygienist production; as we talked more, he got paid on collections not production, so his production was
irrelevant. He didn't get paid any of the hygiene production, so it was irrelevant.
If you really want to cut through all the BS, just ask, "How much money did you earn that
you reported to the government and paid taxes on?" Then look them in the face to see if they
are confused (meaning they don't know what they are talking about) or if they look offended
(which means they are lying).
Ask to see their taxes. Almost nobody lies to the IRS. My conversations tell me most new
grads make in the $100,000-$200,000 range, depending more on their contract and less on
their production. Kind of eye-opening that you and your friends can be producing the same and
you can make almost double just because of the terms in your contract. 35% production is a lot
more money than 28% of collections. Way more than 7%! ■

drtommymurph
Member Since: 04/05/02
Post: 9 of 207

12/28/2019

Would have to agree that your friends are probably stretching the numbers. With that
said, it is possible without doing crazy stuff. I sent a long email to another grad about production numbers a while ago that you may fi nd useful, but long-winded for the forum. Send me
a message if interested.
These are mainly Canadian numbers, but my sister works in Pittsburgh, so I have some
insight there as well. ■

sekersha
Member Since: 09/26/16
Post: 13 of 207

12/28/2019

My experience is $150K-$200K unless you are doing specialty work or large cases. Someone
fresh out of school, $120K. This is assuming you practice in a saturated metro. ■

dalmacija
Member Since: 04/14/15
Post: 18 of 207

12/28/2019

Only W2 jobs I know are located far, far away from any civilization. $1,200/day but at least
two hours away from any small city or any small airport, and six to seven hours from major
cities. (But I heard Uncle Sam takes $400 from that $1,200.)
I was the first one in my class to buy a practice. I kept that pretty low-key because I was
afraid of failing. However, some people knew, and I often got asked how things are periodically.
I'm pretty honest and shared my highs and lows. Good and bad. After 18-24 months of grinding and working my butt off, things are better and stable. All of sudden, some of my "friends"
are doing so well and so much better than I am after realizing that things are going better for me.
People have low self-esteems and fragile egos. I wonder if they know this is not a competition.
You do you and you live your life your way. ■

NW123
Member Since: 10/15/11
Post: 32 of 207

12/28/2019

Really, the sky is the limit. If you invest in yourself and take advice from people who have
done it, and forget your ego, you can crush it. Most dentists have a hard time taking advice from
others because we want to figure it out ourselves. This feeds the ego. Some people get it early on,
some people are late adopters, and others never get it. ■

shortfill
Member Since: 08/05/10
Post: 36 of 207

12/28/2019

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Dentaltown March 2020

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