Dental practice ownership and clinical care are evolving amid rising costs, student loan debt and insurance pressures.
For veteran clinicians, this means navigating a field that has become increasingly complex since graduating dental school. For prospective dental professionals, this means entering the field head on and deciding the best course to take to ensure career stability and financial sustainability.
Three dentists recently connected with Becker’s to discuss whether dentistry is still an attractive field.
Note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: Is dentistry becoming a less attractive profession? Why or why not?
Benjamin Falk, DDS. Florence (Mass.) Dental Care: Dentistry is still an attractive profession, and increasingly so for reasons that extend beyond what we were taught in dental school. It offers a unique blend of precision, purpose and ownership, where clinical skill and human connection translate directly into meaningful patient impact and long-term equity. What’s evolving is the structure, not the strength of the profession. Collaborative group practice models are reducing isolation, strengthening team-based care and creating more sustainable ways to practice.
Dentistry today provides real optionality. You can shape a career as a clinician, an owner, a partner or a combination of all three, depending on your goals and stage of life. Advances in technology and expanded treatment capabilities continue to elevate both the quality of care and the opportunity for growth. In communities like Western Massachusetts, dentistry maintains a strong foundation of trust and continuity, reinforcing its relevance and value at a personal level. For those drawn to leadership, the modern dental practice creates opportunities not just to treat patients, but to build teams, develop culture and guide an organization forward.
Dentistry remains a profession that balances autonomy, stability and fulfillment — with expanding pathways for those willing to grow within it.
Barry Sporer, DMD. 80 Park Avenue Dental (New York City): On the contrary, I believe dentistry is becoming a more attractive profession. While the cost of entering the profession, primarily the cost of education, can make starting your own practice prohibitive, the need for dental care continues to rise, particularly with advancements in cosmetic, orthodontic and implant dentistry. The business model also continues to evolve and will probably look similar to that of other professions where you start at an entry level job, rise to the level of director and ultimately partner with an equity interest in a larger organization. But most importantly, while AI can replace many of the jobs in other professions such as law, finance and consulting, it cannot replace dentists. In fact, AI will enhance the efficiency of practice both clinically and clerically, making it more rewarding in every aspect.
Owen Waldman, DMD. Waldman Dental Group (Scottsdale, Ariz.): Unfortunately, I think dentistry is becoming a less attractive profession. The tuition for dental school is absurd. Kids are coming out of school with $500,000 in dental school debt alone, which is a big burden if they’re trying to get into a private practice, buy a house and then own their own practice. Young dentists are almost forced into corporate dentistry mills to have all that volume of work to make enough money just to pay bills, versus getting mentored by an older private practice dentist stressing quality work [instead of] pumping out numbers because there is so much debt. Insurance companies don’t raise reimbursement rates for decades and have even lowered them after not raising for years on end. Hygiene salaries have gone through the roof after Covid, and general dentist pay on average has decreased the last several years.
Meanwhile, the world is much more expensive to exist in. I love dentistry and what I do. We change people’s lives for the better, but I can’t stand what has been allowed to happen with insurance companies crushing us … then add in trying to compete with [private equity] money on every scale and it has now made it much more difficult to thrive as a private practice dentist, which used to be the foundation of what being a dentist was. It’s still a great profession with so much new technology, etc., to deliver better care for our patients but it is sad what has been done to the private practice solo practitioner and the obvious push to get rid of them and make it almost all corporate, the way they did with medicine.
At the Becker's 5th Annual Future of Dentistry Roundtable, taking place September 14-15 in Chicago, dental leaders and executives will gain insights into emerging technologies, practice growth strategies and the evolving landscape of dental care delivery, with a focus on innovation, patient experience and operational excellence. Apply for complimentary registration now.
