Dental practice expenses outpace revenue

For the past 15 years, general dentists’ inflation-adjusted average net incomes have been declining, and they were flat from 2024 to 2025.

The stagnation in incomes is due to an ongoing “fiscal squeeze” characterized by dental practice expenses rising more than dental practice revenue.

These results pertain to general dentists who own their practices.

Source: ADA Health Policy Institute. Trends in dentists' income, revenue and hours worked. June 2026. Available from: ADA.org/resources/research/health-policy-institute/dental-practice-research/trends-in-dentist-income.