It’s here! DentalPost’s Annual 2025 Dental Industry Salary Report shares insights into salaries, compensation, bonuses, benefits, and work conditions for the dental industry.

In this article, we’ll specifically look into front office employees, such as practice managers, billing specialists, and receptionists. Let’s dive in.

What front office staff love about their jobs

When respondents were asked what they enjoyed about their jobs, some of the most common responses were:

• Helping patients navigate dentistry, insurance benefits, and oral health
• Positive relationships with coworkers, “no drama” workplaces
• Good office culture
• 4-day work weeks
• Working for practices with high ethical standards
• Flexibility and work-life balance
• Autonomy at work

Respondents explain their “wins”

• “I love to provide dental education to parents regarding their children’s oral health needs. I also enjoy listening to parents’ questions and concerns, finding solutions to help them pay for treatment, and breaking the barriers they may have toward dentistry. I’m an educator, patient advocate, counselor, and financial strategist throughout each day.”
• “I am most happy when I’m helping patients feel comfortable and confident in their decision to better their dental health. It’s so important that they truly feel like they are making the right decision. The relationships with the patients is my favorite part of my job.”
• “That I get to research nonpaid claims, and access the information needed in order to get paid. I love seeing a zero balance.”
• “Very small office, and it is fee-for-service. I file insurance for patients, and wait for payment, but we are not contracted with any plans. My collection rate is 99%!”
• “The atmosphere is peaceful, and the doctor is highly respectful and generous to staff.”

What front office staff dislike about their jobs

However, after a tough few years in dentistry, survey takers had plenty of concerns and challenges to share. Chief among these were:

• Difficulty working with insurance, increasing denial rates
• Feeling like a “second class” member of the staff compared to clinical team members
• Lack of raises, benefits, and opportunities in the dental profession
• Angry, grumpy, or abusive patients
• Being micromanaged
• Consequences of the staffing shortage
• Lack of practice culture or direction
Toxic coworkers and drama

Respondents explain their challenges

• “Insurance is becoming increasingly more difficult to work with, and less transparent with less help to solve issues they create. Patients have become way more difficult since 2020. The constant undercurrent of anxiety and stress makes interacting difficult and patients more likely to get upset about things that they didn't pre-2020. Team’s personal lives have always affected a practice, especially a small team. Now there are more childcare and school schedule issues that affect the practice.”
• “The continual push and pull between clinical staff and administrators. We are all a part of a team and should matter just as much as the clinical staff. Most administrators are the first in and the last out each day, but over the years are being more and more discounted and discouraged.”
• “Staffing is unstable, and the doctor is complacent. They need to be more proactive to get more production.”
• “I hate the entitlement of patients. They get upset when they can’t get in, there’s a lack of patients wanting to cooperate with us, and we fight to get information to bill their insurance. I also do not like working with insurance carriers.”
• “Patients who have been brainwashed about insurance and the two free cleanings philosophy. Lack of motivation of team members to do a little extra, and the negativity that comes up from time to time with staff ruminating on an issue without finding or offering solutions.”
“No benefits, no bonus, and less pay when I moved with more than two decades of experience. Economy prices and cost of living have all increased, and one of our offices made salary cuts! It’s horrible. Can’t afford bills now.”

Salary highlights

The DentalPost salary survey collected information on both dental practice managers and dental front office associates, including receptionists and billing specialists.

Practice managers

Two hundred and seventy-one practice managers responded to the survey. While the mean hourly wage of practice managers rose 4.7% to $36.03 in 2024, this was a more modest increase compared to the previous year (16.4%). The average full-time income of respondents was $71,292, which is down from $76,279 in 2023. The decrease in yearly income wasn’t correlated with lower work hours in 2024, so two factors could have played a role. Fewer practice managers responded to the 2024 survey, which may have impacted the results. Another possibility is that the highest wage earner’s hours may have been more limited last year.

Regardless of the reason, satisfaction with pay among office managers is declining: 42.6% of respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with their compensation, compared to 49.3% in 2023 and 58.0% in 2023. This is similar to a decline noted among dental hygienists.

Other front office associates

For other front office staff, the mean (average) full-time income was $46,616. The median income was $45,000. The average hourly wage was $25.43, and the mean was $25.00.

Next, check out our coverage of the DentalPost Salary Report for dental hygienists.

To get additional insights into benefits, hours, job turnover, and more for dental front office employees, download the 2025 DentalPost Salary Report.