Newer and younger dentists are waiting longer to buy or build their own practice after graduating from dental school, according to a report from the American Dental Association’s Health Policy Institute.
Among dentists who graduated from dental school between 1996 and 2000, 70% were practice owners five to nine years after graduation. Just 21% of dentists who are part of the 2016 to 2020 graduation cohort were practice owners five to nine years post-graduation.
Once reaching the middle stage of their careers, over 80% of dentists are practice owners, regardless of when they graduated.
Study authors attribute the shift away from practice ownership partly to demographic factors, citing “strong evidence to suggest demographic factors, such as race/ethnicity and gender, play a role in career choices of dentists, including practice ownership.” In addition, educational debt among dental school graduates is also a factor in the drop-off of early-career dental practice ownership, according to the report.
As of 2023, 73% of all dentists are practice owners, down from 85% in 2005.
Here is the percentage of dentists who are practice owners, broken down by the number of years since they graduated and when they graduated from dental school.
Editor’s note: Practice ownership percentages are not available for every career stage for each cohort.
Dentists who graduated from 1991 to 1995
Percentage of practice owners five to nine years post-graduation: Not applicable
Ten to 14 years: 86%
Fifteen to 19 years: 89%
Twenty to 24 years: 91%
Twenty-five years and more: 90%
Dentists who graduated from 1996 to 2000
Percentage of practice owners five to nine years post-graduation: 70%
Ten to 14 years: 84%
Fifteen to 19 years: 89%
Twenty to 24 years: 89%
Twenty-five years and more: 90%
Dentists who graduated from 2001 to 2005
Percentage of practice owners five to nine years post-graduation: 67%
Ten to 14 years: 83%
Fifteen to 19 years: 85%
Twenty to 24 years: 88%
Twenty-five years and more: Not appliable
Dentists who graduated from 2006 to 2010
Percentage of practice owners five to nine years post-graduation: 63%
Ten to 14 years: 72%
Fifteen to 19 years: 81%
Twenty to 24 years: Not appliable
Twenty-five years and more: Not appliable
Dentists who graduated from 2011 to 2015
Percentage of practice owners five to nine years post-graduation: 33%
Ten to 14 years: 58%
Fifteen to 19 years: Not appliable
Twenty to 24 years: Not appliable
Twenty-five years and more: Not appliable
Dentists who graduated from 2016 to 2020
Percentage of practice owners five to nine years post-graduation: 21%
Ten to 14 years: Not applicable
Fifteen to 19 years: Not appliable
Twenty to 24 years: Not appliable
Twenty-five years and more: Not appliable
