Associate Dentist

There are different types of dental practice. Nowadays, it is increasingly common for local dental practices to be bought by bigger ‘umbrella’ organisations, who continue to run the practice as an individual business but who provide centralised support and administration services.

On the other hand, many local dental practices are still privately owned, often by a dentist who continues to work there. These privately owned practices can do both NHS and private dental work to boost their income. Unlike the practices that are part of a bigger company, they have the flexibility to source cheaper different materials, offer different services and treatments and run the practice in different ways.

What does the job involve?

As an Associate Dentist, you will be brought in by the practice owner to increase the number of chargeable hours available to the practice. By increasing the number of chargeable hours, you will help to drive up patient numbers and the levels of income generated.

Practice owners have a number of options available to them when recruiting Associate Dentists. Usually, the practice owner will forecast how much extra income can be generated and balance that against the extra cost of dental materials and other necessities. Then the owner will offer the Associate a percentage of the net income.

Although it is a less common scenario, the owner may agree a monthly rental fee with the Associate. Once this fee has been paid each month, the Associate can run their part of the practice almost as an independent business, paying from their own materials and keeping everything that is left of the income that they generate.

In reality, the type of agreement that the practice owner offers will depend upon what sort of skills the Associate Dentist brings to the practice. If the Associate Dentist is skilled in an advanced type of treatment that can generate significant amounts of private income, this could affect the agreement.

What qualifications do you need?

It takes five years of study to become a dentist and you must be registered with the General Dental Council before you can practice. As each Associate opportunity has the potential to be remunerated differently, you need to find a practice that matches your skills set and which can give you the opportunity you need to build your expertise and develop professionally. As you do this, you will increase your value to the practice and increase your earnings potential.

What are the career prospects?

Associate dentists who continue to invest in their own development can continue to increase their earnings potential by offering different services and treatments. Most dentists aim to own their own practice in the future.