They are not among the best paid doctors.
The dental surgeon is a health professional specializing in diagnosis and management of oral problems (teeth, mouth and gums). He deals in particular for cavities, proceeds to the extraction of teeth, their devitalization, descaling, laying crowns or prostheses, treats abscesses and infections. Children, like adults, fear it. And for good reason, the care provided is often painful, but also expensive. This is the reason why in the collective imagination, the dental surgeon is extremely well paid. In reality, the income of a dentist varies according to several criteria and he earns less than a general practitioner.
First, its level of experience. A just graduate dentist earns his life less well than another who has been working for years. Then, the place of exercise: a employee dentist is generally less well paid than a liberal dentist who manages his workload himself and who can practice excess fees. Dental surgeons also have higher remuneration when they work in areas where many of them exercise. However, they are not among the best paid doctors in France.
According to the latest DREES figures, liberal-active liberal dental surgeons in mainland France declared an average of 89,000 euros in revenues in 2008, or around 7,400 euros gross per month. With pediatricians, rheumatologists, psychiatrists and dermatologists, they are specialists in the lowest remuneration. At the other end, we find the best paid doctors such as ophthalmologists whose annual income amounts to 191,900 euros, anesthetists-resuscitator (191,700 euros per year), medical oncologists at 187,100 euros and radiotherapists (417,500 euros per year).
Significant deviations exist between men and dentists. 66% of dentists are men and they have an income on average 50% higher than that of women: they declare 105,000 euros per year when they declare around 71,000 euros. The remuneration of dentists increases with age until reaching a peak at 40-49 years (the salary is at its highest level: 104,000 euros), then decreases.
