When you think of your career, do you see yourself being your own boss in your own practice?
Or perhaps you want to go one step further towards the ultimate capitalist dream and have your clinic’s team drive your profit for you? Either way, we have some good news and bad news.
Let’s start with the bad: data from the US shows practice ownership is becoming harder, especially for newer generations of dentists.
Only 21% of dentists who graduated between 2016-2020 were owners within 5-9 years of graduation. Compare that to 63-70% for those graduating before 2010 at the same career stage.
The good news? The journey may take longer, but you'll get there eventually.
It turns out that practice ownership is still the career "end game” for most dentists. The numbers show that after about 15 years of an oral care career, most roads still lead to ownership across all generations. You just need more patience on the road.
Want to see the data behind these trends so you can make decisions about your future? Dive into the complete research brief from the ADA Health Policy Institute.
No matter how much you want to start your own practice, please don't take inspiration from this couple, who went full YOLO and decided to open a “clinic” at their house. Unsurprising plot twist: They ended up in jail.
Practice ownership is not the only prominent barrier in high-performing oral care. Dental hygienists have been struggling with autonomy for over a century. Read more about how smashing deep-rooted stereotypes can become a core part of human-first dentistry.
