DENTISTS’ PERCEPTIONS ABOUT THEIR NET INCOME

The ADA recently surveyed a number of dentists concerning their satisfaction level with current net income.


     Positive about his/her net income:
          2014 - 33%
          2013 - 21%
     Neutral (neither positive nor negative) about his/her net income:
          2014 - 37%
          2013 - 38%
     Negative about his/her net income:
          2014 - 30%
          2013 - 41%

What do those numbers indicate? Several possibilities: (1) Young dentists are in greater demand as associates because more mature dentists are choosing early retirement; and, when they join a practice, the young practitioners can demand and receive higher beginning compensation. (2) Overhead is better in control in a majority of practices, resulting in the dentist(s) enjoying higher net income. (3) Improved management systems in many practices assure production and collection goals are met, resulting in improved net income for the dentist(s). On the other hand, another possibility is that the survey was done after only one quarter of 2014. Revised economic statistics now show the U.S. economy did, in fact, decline almost 3% by the end of March 2014. This leads one to wonder if the survey were taken now, would the “Positive” perceptions still show a 12% increase over “Positive” feelings in 2013?