As much as some of the people here like to complain how dentists are
money-greedy whores and that whatever work produced by a dental clinic
is crap, I'm actually surprised that there's no discussion on how it
appears on the other side of the fence.

As a dentist, I'm pretty much fed up with the patients themselves. I
mean, how can people be so cheap? My point is, you get what you pay
for, on top of whatever your condition is. So if you already have
little vertical bone height on the mandibular, it's your fault that it
happened and don't complain of how the lower complete denture wouldn't
function. That CD costed a mere $600, way below the market price to
begin with. It was just $500 a piece ( again, an outrageous price )
for the two overdenture implants to make a lifestyle difference. And
about the crown that keeps falling off, just pay the heavily
discounted $450 for a new PFM, dammit. It's not my problem that the
decay underneath is making it fall off even after recementing. And no,
I'm not obligated to recement it over and over again for free
( recementing is only $20 ) , as it wasn't my fault to begin with. For
the bridge I made for you last year, there are caries now underneath
not because of me but you.  And it's the Medicaid patients that are
the worst offenders. They're being treated free of charge and they act
as if they're entitled to everything, all the while not wanting to pay
a single dollar out of pocket but willing to pour hundreds onto a new
cellphone or thousands for a diamond ring.

The business overhead in a typical GP's practice is around 60%. That
doesn't include the burden of micromanaging an office. Lab fees easily
deduct 35-55% of fixed/removable procedural profits. Couple that to
150k- 350k of educational debts incurred by dentists. And then there's
the expense of continuing education. Just one hands-on course can
mount to $5000 in tuition with traveling expenses.

And then there are the factors where you can't assign nominal figures
to. They include daily fatigue with potential for musculoskeletal
disability, chronic exposure to airborne particles causing a good risk
for pulmonary disease, and the risk of contracting bloodborne
pathogens. In fact, I had 3 needlestick injuries, 2 mouth-water
splashes to my eyes, and 3 accidental stabs to my thumb from perio
instruments. I'm getting tested for HIV, HBV, and HCV at least once
every 6 months. And I get headaches form using composite lights.

But none of my patients can't fathom any of this and think that I was
raised as a rich snob and I'm now a Mercedes-driving doctor with a
beautiful wife and kids, living in the affluent suburbs. Every single
one of these is false. Rather, it's the complete opposite that's
true.

I don't think I'm exaggerating when I strongly believe dentists like
myself are being under-appreciated and under-paid by a wide margin.