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Becoming a dentist is a good idea, but not if we talk about the financial requirement before you become one. Dentist debt is absurd. Even if your wage once you become a licensed dentist is high, you still won't enjoy it because a huge part of it will go to the government or a private institution.
In this post, I will show you how expensive it is to become a dentist by answering the following questions:
How much money would it take per month to pay down dentist debt?
Are American dental schools more expensive than the ones in Canada? Or not?
Should you go to a public school or a private school? In-state or out-of-state? Which is the cheaper route?
Let's get started.
Before we go into the financial aspect of becoming a dentist, we should first talk about why it is indeed a good idea to become one.
We all know that dentists are those people we go to whenever there's a problem with our teeth, but not all dentists are created equal.
All of them were trained to remove dental plaque, get rid of cavities, perform tooth extractions, and do minor oral treatments. However, only some of them are allowed to fix teeth alignment, conduct oral surgeries, and perform tooth extractions on children, among others.
Some types of dentists that are common include:
General dentist (teeth cleaning and minor extractions)
Orthodontists (dental braces)
Pediatric dentist (children and toddlers)
Oral surgeons (oral surgeries)
Prosthodontists (veneers and dentures)
A lot of people are interested in becoming a dentist, and that's not surprising because there are many positive things about it, like the wage. You see, dentists earned $178,260 in 2019 and it is expected to increase by 17% in 2029.
What's more, it is not difficult to get a job in this field. In fact, the US is actually in need of more dentists. There is a shortage!
Nonetheless, I have mentioned earlier that dentists are earning a lot, and they are even among the top earners. If you were to enter dental school in 2021, you would probably graduate and possibly be employed in 2025.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that dentists will earn $196,424 in 2025.
Divide $196,424 by 12 months and you will get $16,368.67 per month.
Subtract the $4,150 payment per month to the creditor from the average wage per month in 2025 and the answer is $12,218.67.
You'll be able to survive in the US with $12,218.67 per month even after taxes, so that's good news.
But then again, the cost of becoming a dentist, including the high interest rate, is still too much. Having a huge debt can affect the everyday life of anyone, not just of the dentists.
And it is not guaranteed that those who will complete their degree will get a job that pays over $180,000. You see, different states pay different amounts, some of which are lower than the average.
Having said that, even though being a dentist is a great thing, you will only appreciate its greatness ten years later.
If you wish to lower your debt, should you go to a dental school in the US or in Canada?
There isn't a simple answer to that question because just like any school for any field, the school fees depend on other factors apart from the area where the school is situated, like whether or not it is prestigious and whether it is a public school or not.
Nonetheless, I picked some universities both in the US and in Canada that offer dental programs and compared their costs so I can come up with an answer that may help you with your decision-making. The costs were from the official websites of the universities.
Let's start off with the American dental schools, which are:
AT Still University: $369,942
Creighton University: $414,614
New York University: $383,076
University of Pennsylvania: $400,838
University of South California: $419,086
If we solve for the average cost of an American dental school using the values above, the answer is $397,511. The universities mentioned are all private universities. The average cost may decrease if public schools were considered.
In Canada, on the other hand, the average cost of a dental school is $350,749. If we compare that to the $397,511 of the US, then dental schools in Canada are less expensive. There is a $46,762 difference!
And even if you look at the individual amounts on the graphs above, all the Canadian universities are much cheaper than the American universities.
The Canadian dental schools on which the average cost was based include:
University of Alberta: $340,062
University of British Columbia: $381,690
University of Toronto: $330,495
But then, the average costs mentioned are just average costs.
