Here is how 2022 average annual salaries for three professions in the dental industry compared with the 8 percent inflation rate from 2022, using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Inflation Calculator.
Benchmarking
Illinois and Rhode Island are the only two states where dental assistant pay dropped from 2021 to 2022, according to salary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The average annual wage for dental hygienists has dropped in six states from 2021 to 2022.
There were 10,906 practicing orthodontists and dentofacial orthopedists in the U.S. in 2022, according to the American Dental Association's Health Policy Institute.
Home healthcare services is the highest-paying industry for dental hygienists in the U.S., according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Home healthcare services is the highest-paying industry for dental assistants in the U.S., according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Delaware had the largest increase in dental assistant salaries between 2021 and 2022, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
State government facilities are the top paying workplaces for dentists in the U.S., according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In 2022, there were 5,724 practicing endodontists in the U.S., according to April data from the American Dental Association Health Policy Institute — an increase of 41.5 percent since 2001.
The annual compensation for dentists far exceeds the base cost of living for each state in the U.S., according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Living Wage Calculator.