GROSS INCOME among dentists who run their own practices in the Republic is significantly higher than that of their counterparts in Northern Ireland, a new study has revealed.
The research, commissioned by the Irish Dentists Association (IDA), found net incomes were, however, lower in the Republic because of a disparity in operating costs relating to staff wages, laboratory fees and premises costs.
The study found “principal dentists”, who owned all or part of their practices in the Republic, earned an average gross income of € 477,410 per annum but paid out € 340,701 in costs, resulting in a net income of € 136,709.
The equivalent gross annual income for principals in the North was €390,839, but their costs were substantially lower at €238,669, resulting in a higher net income of €152,170, some €15,461 more than their southern counterparts.
The converse was true for “associate dentists” or those who worked in practices which they did not own. The report found the average income, even after costs, for associates in the Republic was €111,500, compared with €83,051 in the North.
The findings lend some weight to claims that higher fees charged for dental treatments in the Republic reflected higher operating costs. But the British Dental Association’s director for Northern Ireland, Claudette Christie, said the earnings figures for the North used in the report were based on experimental data derived from a small sample size that was subject to some “double counting”. “In some cases, the gross earnings of the principal and associate were combined together as one figure, which tended to over-inflate the earnings of dentists in the Northern Ireland,” she said.
Nevertheless, the IDA’s chief executive, Fintan Hourihan, insisted a “broader more rounded view of patients’ fees needs to take account that dentists’ costs in the Republic are significant”.
He said the situation was compounded by the fact that dentists here were obliged to fully finance their practices unlike those in the North who get significant government support to offset their costs.
The earnings data for dentists in the Republic was derived from a sample of 41 dentists, representing 2 per cent of the dentists operating in the State, while the figures for the North were obtained from the latest Dental Earnings and Expenses Report compiled by the National Health Service.
The report found differences in income also related to gender, with men earning more than women, both in gross and net terms.
The gender gap in Northern Ireland was twice that in the Republic, with men earning on average €44,600 more than women, compared with €22,600 in the Republic.
But Ms Christie said: “The differences in income by gender are explained by the increased likelihood of women working part-time.”
Earnings also varied depending on the proportion of work devoted to publicly funded patients.
Dentists whose work focused more on private patients had higher gross and net incomes than those whose work was more geared towards patients on publicly funded schemes.
The report also noted that the percentage of patients citing cost as a “barrier to care” was about 20 per cent, similar to rates observed in other EU countries.
