Shelby Dentist Explains Why Dental Care is So Expensive

I had a reader of the Senior Living News who submitted a question asking why dentistry was so expensive.

Cost of Dental Care:

I hear it all of the time that dentistry is expensive but never really addressed this issue until a reader recently wanted to know what is behind the high cost of delivering high quality dental care. This is my attempt to a complex question: I would first of all like to address the fact that recent graduating dentists coming out of dental school will acquire an average debt between $175,000-$200,000. They also have to deal with the fact that they have been out of the job market for about 7-8 years. This means that those who invest in higher education have put their lives on hold and delayed the benefits of earning an income in hopes of a higher standard of living and increased income as they perform their passion (At least I do).

Couple this with the fact that the cost of dentistry has gone up in past years like everything else. Listed are some of the factors that go into the cost of delivering dentistry.

Proper sterilization infection control for safe delivery of care.
Experienced and high quality employees command incomes that are reflected in their tasks that they do. Hourly wages of support staff including dental hygienists range from $12- $35/hour on average in the Macomb County area. Benefits such as health insurance, vacation and sick time all add up to an additional $4-5/hour on to their wage.
Other costs: In addition to these costs, there are the associated fixed costs such as utilities, rent, and technology are constantly increasing the cost of care. Technology such as digital x-rays, in office crowns all come at a higher cost investment.
Be aware that there are a number of dental practices who send their lab work such as crowns, bridges, and denture work to labs which outsource these to China or Mexico. There is the risk of inferior quality in these procedures. I am proud to say that the labs we use are located in Macomb and Livonia which keeps the money locally invested.
The standard of care continually increases and a conscientious dental team requires increased training to keep current with the times. Specialized continuing education courses such as implants, sedation, comprehensive and cosmetic dentistry usually require out of town travel. The cost of these courses is upwards of $4500 per weekend plus the cost of air fare and hotels. The more specialized the dental care becomes the more educated and trained the dental team needs to be to be and this is why high quality and high end dental care can seem so expensive.
Government intervention and mandates will continue to increase the cost of care.

The question is: Do you want to risk having your smile and health affected by a low end, low fee dental practice who have not had the most up to date training and technology?