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Report shows costs are up and profits are down for dental practices

A general increase in expenses for NHS and private dental practices has offset an increase in overall income. (Image: Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock)

Mon. 1 April 2019

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LONDON, UK: The recently released NASDAL Benchmarking Report for 2017–18 shows that there has been a decrease of 3 per cent in net profits for a typical dental practice in the UK. While overall income for NHS and private dental practices has increased, this has been offset by an increase in expenses.

On a positive note, the average income of dental associates—non-owner dentists who work in a dental practice—increased by more than 6 per cent from 2017. According to NASDAL (National Association of Specialist Dental Accountants and Lawyers), this growth can be partially attributed to dental associates being in short supply and having increased bargaining power, particularly given the uncertainty surrounding the ongoing Brexit negotiations.

On the downside, private practices saw an average decrease in profit of 0.5 per cent, while both NHS and mixed practices saw profit reductions of around 10.0 per cent. Overall, NHS practices were the most negatively affected, according to the report, as the average total income per dentist dropped from £181,804 in 2017 to £169,615.

“It seems that the costs of running a dental practice are on the rise and that revenues have not yet increased to keep pace,” said Nick Ledingham, Senior Director at Morris & Co. and Chairman of NASDAL. “It is important that dental practices take specialist advice so that they can understand and react to changes in their business situation.”

The annual NASDAL Benchmarking Report is collated from statistics gathered from the accountant members of NASDAL who, together, act on behalf of more than a quarter of self-employed dentists across the UK.

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