Co-Deputy Director Oral Health Workforce Research Center
Participants should be aware of the following financial/non-financial relationships: . Sai Sindhura Gundavarapu, BS, PhD Candidate: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.. Simona Surdu, MD, PhD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.. Margaret Langelier, MSHSA: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of dentists’ gender, age, and other demographic and household characteristics on personal annual income from wages and/or self-employment. METHODS: The analytic dataset (n=148,878 dentists who worked >40 weeks/year, >350 hours/year) was drawn from the 2014-2018 American Community Survey. Data were weighted to be representative of the US population. Descriptive statistics and multilevel Poisson regressions (Prevalence Ratios [PR], 95% Confidence Intervals [95% CI]) were conducted to estimate associations between dentists’ annual income (≤$100,000 vs >$100,000) and their sociodemographic and family factors, adjusting for employment characteristics. RESULTS: Female dentists (31.1%) had a significantly lower average annual income than male dentists ($157, 509 vs $210,097) and were proportionally more likely to earn <$100,000 yearly (37.3% vs 25.4%). Female dentists aged 35+ were more likely to earn lower incomes than their male counterparts (PR=1.70, 95% CI=1.38-2.10). Black African American dentists (PR=1.39, 95% CI=1.11-1.73) were more likely to earn lower incomes than White non-Hispanic dentists. Dentists having >3 children and/or a non-dentist spouse/partner were less likely to have lower incomes than those without children and/or spouse/partner. Presence of older dependent(s) in the household was predictive of lower incomes (PR=1.25, 95% CI=1.10-1.42). CONCLUSIONS: Dentists’ gender, age, and racial disparities contribute to the likelihood of earning a lower income. These findings are similar to results from studies on dentistry and other professions. As dentistry continues to diversify and practice patterns undergo change, it is important to monitor these disparities and potentially identify strategies to reduce them.
Source of Funding: This project is supported by a grant from HRSA.
