That sounds about right, good job.
However, how did you manage to finish school and produce over $250,000 in 6 months as a newbie associate? as in, how did you manage to bring up your speed so fast under a very short period of time? people who have been out of school for 3 or even 5 years don't produce that much, but I guess there other factors (like demographics, business model, case acceptance, etc) that defines how much $$$ you can generate.
"Getting your speed up" is something that dental students stress about, but for all but the slowest of students it really is a non-issue. You are a heck of a lot faster than you think. There are no start checks, no lines at the dispensary, no med history check, no prep check, no mid-procedure checks. You do your job and go to the next op.
Private practice is efficient in ways that school can't (and shouldn't) be. I don't step into the room until the patient is seated, watching a movie and set up on nitrous if I'm using it. The minute I enter the room I review the trx plan (that I have already reviewed once in the morning) chat a little with the patient and start working.
I will admit I was one of the faster students in my class, but that really doesn't mean much. I don't focus on working especially fast; I take the time I need to get the job done and usually tell the front desk to schedule me more time than I actually anticipate needing. The key to producing a lot of dentistry is not in working fast; it is in working efficiently. You can take your time to do excellent work and still be very efficient.
A big thing is doing multiple procedures at each visit. If I am doing 1and 2 surface fillings in #2,3,4 I may as well do the fillings in #30,31 at the same visit. It adds 10-15 minutes of procedure to time to do the bottom quad at the same visit, but if I schedule that quad for a separate appt I am going to ask the front desk for 30-40 minutes to account for chatting, letting the block take effect, etc... The patients appreciate being in your chair for fewer visits and your production goes way up without compromising quality.
Another big thing is not being afraid to see kids. You have to have the personality for it, but they typically have lots of decay and the work goes very quickly. Once you get good at placing the pre-crimped SSC they are the absolute easiest procedure in dentistry to do. We don't overcharge either - less than $150 for a pulpotomy and SSC. Fillings on kids are fast too. The preps are small and easy. Setting the business part aside, working with kids is just fun.
I am not hopping from chair to chair either. I spend a LOT of time on DT while I am at work and almost just as much time planning my startup practice. Our fee schedule is very low and we accept almost all traditional insurance (no HMO or capitation). I am in a pretty rural place and that helps a lot - there simply isn't much competition.
I am the only doc in this satellite office and the office itself typically produces about $60,000 month. I have to admit I am kind of jealous of all that hygiene, preventive, radiographic production that I see but don't get any part of. I'm not upset about it, I absolutley expect the owner to make a lot of money off me. But you can't help but think "what if this were my own practice?" I would really like to be getting 40% of $60,000 as opposed to the 32% of resto I am getting now. Still, I am very grateful to the owner for the position I have now.
I hope I don't come across as being too money oriented. I absolutely am not, but that's what this thread is about. I know how hard it is for students in school to get real world numbers. Everybody either feels it is too personal to share, pads their numbers to look better, or just plain feels it is wrong to talk about money. That is why I am sharing.