Next to doctors, society views dentists as some of the richest professionals. They forget that dentists, like so many others, come out of college and dental school ridden with student debt and facing the costs associated with opening their own practice– which are much higher than someone opening a regular office-based business. Even with dental practice financing , most dentists can’t afford to go into business for themselves. So most end up joining an existing practice or clinic.
When it does become time to open a new dental clinic, dentists are still more likely to do so in partnership with others rather than on their own. Even established dentists with a profitable client base are going to find the costs of a clinic to be daunting. This is based mostly on the amount of equipment needed. There are dentist chairs and x-ray machines to buy. There are also a whole host of tools and equipment needed to diagnose and treat patients. There are also specialized computer systems that track patients through the clinic and store all their records so that they can be accessed from computers and monitors throughout the clinic.
After equipment, there are personnel and building costs to consider. Dental technicians and office staff need to have special skills to do their jobs, and that training usually entitles them to higher salaries. Dental clinics need to have special water and drainage systems in place and likely have higher water and electricity bills due to the running of all that dental equipment. All these needs translate to higher start up costs and higher operating costs.