It's around this time of year that dentists finish their finals after 5 years of dental school.
Even though it's 32 years since I finished mine, it’s still quite fresh in my memory.
That feeling of excitement, of unlimited possibility of relief, of achievement- all of those things together.
When I finished dental school in 1994, the world had dramatically changed from when I went into dentistry in 1989 (although I never knew it). We had passed the ‘1992 moment’
It was the birth of private dentistry and the exit of a considerable number of practitioners from the NHS due to the cut in the contract value, which effectively led to a 33% pay cut to NHS dentists.
I was oblivious to this because I never understood the finances of dentistry when I went into dentistry, and I never went in to make a living; I just couldn't believe they would let me in there. Nowadays though, the pace of change from the start of dental school to the end of dental school is absolutely astronomical.
The curve of change is exponential, and so consider someone who finishes the finals this week or next week in 2026, and the difference in the environment from 2021 when they entered dental school.
At that stage we were effectively trying to exit a pandemic; there were so many patients trying to request treatment that it was almost impossible to keep up.
People weren't going on holiday, and they'd already bought all the garden furniture, all the free weights, and all the blow-up hot tubs they could possibly manage.
They were spending money on health; they were spending money on dentistry.
The prices of dental practice at that stage were going through the roof; there was a lot of money around. It seemed like the honeymoon would last forever.
Even back then in 2021, OpenAI had not been launched (they would not launch for another two years). The world is unfathomably different.
One of the main things that's likely to change moving forward is the number of dentists who will re-enter the dental market in the United Kingdom.
Relatively under the radar, the government and the powers that be are opening the gates on the overseas exam (the ORE) to allow at least 1000 new registrants a year.
With this in mind, in 5 years' time, just when you're coming out of your initial 5 years as a dentist, you'll find that the market is saturated with dental associates, many of whom have been qualified for a lot longer than you.
The other thing that will happen over the next 5 years, in all likelihood, is that the expansion of the role of dental nurses and the huge expansion in the role of dental therapists will take hold.
Match this up with an NHS contract which is being designed to screw down the value of dentists and to reduce their reliance on dental graduates (10% of your UDA contract can now be spent on nurse-supplied fluoride), and there will be a huge pressure on the availability of jobs. I honestly think it's likely to take a complete swing to become a principal's market, where you have a selection of 20 or 30 applicants per post.
How do you choose then, as a principal?
How do you get the job that you want as an associate?
Also, this is likely to drive down the value of dental associates, particularly the early start of their career, and therefore the price that you get paid as a dentist will be much less than that which you expected and will sit badly against the amount of debt that you've accrued.
What would be the solution to this?
Top tip and big secret reveal -
The top 10% will do the best, get paid the best, get the jobs, and have the greatest amount of satisfaction and happiness.
Just get to the top 10%.
By the way, it's always been like this; it was exactly the same in 1994 as it is now: the people that did more went further, did better. Same old story.
Blog Post Number - 4560