The NHS Information Centre today (Thursday) publishes Dental Earnings and Expenses, England and Wales 2008/09, detailing dentists’ pay.
The report considers only the self-employed earnings and expenses of full and part-time primary care dentists who undertook some NHS work in England or Wales in the year, and covers both their NHS and private income.
It shows that in 2008/09:
* All self-employed dentists earned on average £89,600 (before tax), compared to £89,100 in 2007/08.
* Practising dentists who held a contract with a primary care trust (PCT in England) or local health board (LHB in Wales) to provide NHS dental services earned on average £131,000 (before tax) – up 3.3% from £126,800 in 2007/08.
* The average gross earnings of these practising dentists who held a contract with a PCT or LHB was £366,500 – up 6.0% from £345,700 in 2007/08 – with average expenses of £235,500, up 7.6% from £218,800.
* Dentists who worked in a practice but who did not hold a contract with a PCT or LHB, earned on average £67,800 (before tax) – up 3.1% on 2007/08 when they earned £65,700.
The report also looks at earnings and expenses by the working patterns of the dentists, their age and gender, their level of orthodontic activity and the Strategic Health Authority in which they worked.
NHS Information Centre chief executive Tim Straughan said: ‘The England and Wales report reveals that the average earnings of NHS dentists varied greatly depending on whether they personally held a contract with a primary care trust or local health board.’
The report for England and Wales is here.
