Why do patients sometimes comment that a dentist is being well-compensated for their "thinking time"? Because the fee for time spent diagnosing and planning treatment looks higher per hour than what most patients pay in their own working lives, even when the dentist's fee fairly reflects the years of preparation, equipment costs, team overhead, and clinical risk involved. Patients see a one-hour visit and a substantial fee and do the simple per-hour math. They are not factoring in the doctor's eight years of post-secondary education, multiple post-graduate continuums, decades of accumulated clinical judgment, the cost of running a fully staffed practice, [...]

Why do patients sometimes comment that a dentist is being well-compensated for their "thinking time"? Because the fee for time spent diagnosing and planning treatment looks higher per hour than what most patients pay in their own working lives, even when the dentist's fee fairly reflects the years of preparation, equipment costs, team overhead, and clinical risk involved. Patients see a one-hour visit and a substantial fee and do the simple per-hour math. They are not factoring in the doctor's eight years of post-secondary education, multiple post-graduate continuums, decades of accumulated clinical judgment, the cost of running a fully staffed practice, [...]

Why do patients sometimes comment that a dentist is being well-compensated for their "thinking time"? Because the fee for time spent diagnosing and planning treatment looks higher per hour than what most patients pay in their own working lives, even when the dentist's fee fairly reflects the years of preparation, equipment costs, team overhead, and clinical risk involved. Patients see a one-hour visit and a substantial fee and do the simple per-hour math. They are not factoring in the doctor's eight years of post-secondary education, multiple post-graduate continuums, decades of accumulated clinical judgment, the cost of running a fully staffed practice, [...]