Orthodontists have the highest rate of DSO affiliation when compared to dentists in seven other dental specialties, according to May data from the American Dental Association's Health Policy Institute.
Benchmarking
Dental hygienists in Alaska are paid $54.70 an hour, the highest hourly wage of any U.S. state, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Nevada has the highest percentage of dentists that are affiliated with a DSO with 23 percent, according to data from the American Dental Association's Health Policy Institute.
The average hourly wage for dentists largely exceeds the minimum wage in each state, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Department of Labor.
Dentists in Mississippi — the worst state for dental health, according to rankings from personal finance website WalletHub — have an average salary of $157,110.
Advertisement
Dentists in Wisconsin, the best state for dental health according to rankings from personal finance website WalletHub, have an average salary of $174,810.
Dental hygienists earn more than three times the cost of living in Alaska, the state with the highest annual salary for this role.
The average annual salary for dentists ranks below that of other medical specialties, while the salary for orthodontists ranks above 10 other medical specialties, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Medscape's 2023 "Physician Compensation" report.
The average annual salary for dental assistants is higher than the cost of living in every state but Hawaii, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The federal executive branch is the highest-paying industry for dental laboratory technicians in the U.S., according to salary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.