Launched yesterday, the ADA's 2019 Fees Survey provides a snapshot of the fees charged nationwide by generalist and specialist dentists on over 120 of the most commonly used items of service, including diagnostic, preventive, restorative, endodontic, prosthodontic, orthodontic and oral surgery procedures.
The data gathered is extremely valuable for use during advocacy on behalf of members where, for example, there is a need to demonstrate the real cost of providing dental services to private health insurers, or to highlight the differences between CDBS and DVA dental benefits schedules and the actual cost of providing these services.
The survey also equips members with useful information on what is being charged within and between states and territories although ultimately what is charged by any particular practice is influenced by a variety of factors including the complexity of the service, labour charges, the patient's ability to pay and local market forces, and for some services, laboratory charges and the cost of materials used in the procedure.
(The ADA does not play a role in setting or recommending fee structures for members; what a practice decides to charge is a matter solely for the practice itself).
ADA members are encouraged to complete the survey, which asks members for the fees charged in their practice on 30 June 2019, as a vital contribution to the ADA's advocacy work on their behalf.
An email invitation with a link to the survey has been sent out to a sample of 11,000 members who are active in private practice.
