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JADA Continuing Education

Background. The authors determined the economic returns from an educational investment in the specialties of orthodontics and oral and maxillofacial surgery. They also addressed problems found in previous studies.

Methods. The marginal return for specializing in orthodontics or oral and maxillofacial surgery was determined using net present value and internal rate of return, or IRR, with the income of the general dentist serving as the common opportunity cost. Extreme scenario, threshold and one-way sensitivity analyses were used to account for variation in the data.

Results. The median group of orthodontists broke even 5.9 years after specialty training and had a working lifetime net return of $271,536 above that of general dentists; the IRR for them was 10.36 percent. The median group of oral and maxillofacial surgeons broke even 2.3 years after training and had a working lifetime net return of $587,563 above that of general dentists; the IRR for them was 25.30 percent.

Conclusions. Under the most likely conditions, the authors found a positive economic return to dentists in both specialties from their additional dental training.

Practice Implications. The positive financial returns brought by specialization indicate that the demand for additional dental education should continue within an environment of increased educational investment costs.

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