NHS Digital today released details of the earnings and expenses of General Dental Services (GDS) dentists in Northern Ireland in 2020/21. This is the fourteenth set of earnings and expenses data that have been produced for Northern Ireland.

Previously, separate country reports were produced; the Earnings and Expenses report has been published as a UK report for each of the past eight years.  This is the fifth year that the entire series of the Dental Earnings and Expenses Estimates has been published in one instalment.  In previous years, this report was issued in two instalments, entitled Initial Analysis and Additional Analysis.  Below we present key points for Northern Ireland only.

It is important to note that values are not comparable between countries due to differing contractual arrangements and the use of different methods to determine dental type in each country.

Note, the source for all figures is NHS Digital.

Key Points on GDS Earnings and Expenses Estimates in Northern Ireland 2020/21

The report presents key findings in terms of average gross earnings, total expenses, and taxable income estimates by dental type and contract type for dentists in Northern Ireland.  The report also contains a detailed breakdown of expenses by dental type, age, gender and activity demographics.  The Dental Working Patterns Survey was not carried out in 2020/21 due to the impact on working hours during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Additional analyses based on data usually collected by the survey such as weekly working hours, percentage of time spent on NHS dentistry and business arrangement were therefore not available for the 2020/21 report.

The first cases of COVID-19 in the UK were confirmed late January 2020 and the first UK-wide lockdown was announced in March 2020. Most routine dentistry was paused between April and June 2020. This was followed by a period of recovery and restoration of services throughout the remainder of 2020/21.  The pandemic is also likely to have impacted on expenses incurred during this period.

It is not meaningful to discuss the average earnings of an average dentist, as there is great variation in the different financial arrangements.  However, the key findings among self-employed GDS Northern Ireland dentists in 2020/21 are given below.  Where statistically permissible, comparisons for the main findings have been made with the 2019/20 results; however, comparisons should be made with caution.  Factors which can affect comparisons include: changes in the dental workforce, changes in type and volume of activity per dentist, changes to allowances, and VAT changes. It is also necessary to consider the absolute changes between years, as well as changes in percentage terms.  

• average taxable income (gross earnings minus expenses, before income tax) for all self-employed GDS dentists (Principals and Associates) was estimated to be Pound 72,500 (1) in 2020/21.  This was an 11.3% increase compared with 2019/20 (Pound 65,100).  This annual change was not statistically significant (2).
• average taxable income for Principal dentists was Pound 122,000 in 2020/21 compared with Pound 99,200 in 2019/20 (an increase of 23.0% - not statistically significant); and for Associate dentists was Pound 59,500 in 2020/21 compared with Pound 57,200 in 2019/20 (an increase of 3.9% - not statistically significant). 
• in 2020/21, average gross earnings for all self-employed dentists was estimated to be Pound 138,400 and average expenses (3) (business expenses allowable for tax purposes) estimated as Pound 65,900.   This equates to an Expenses to Earnings Ratio (EER) of 47.6% (i.e. the proportion of gross earnings taken up by expenses).
• for all self-employed dentists (Principals and Associates), the lowest combined average taxable income (from Health Service and Private Dentistry), of Pound 58,800, was reported for those dentists whose Health Service earnings accounted for at least 75% of their total gross earnings.  Those whose Health Service earnings accounted for 25% or less and between 25% and 75% of their total gross earnings had taxable incomes of Pound 86,600 and Pound 107,700 respectively. 
• as in previous years, regardless of dental type classification, male dentists had higher average gross earnings, total expenses, and taxable income than their female counterparts.  For all male self-employed GDS dentists, average taxable income was Pound 93,600, compared with Pound 56,800 for all female self-employed GDS dentists. 
• dentists aged over 45 had the highest average gross earnings, total expenses and taxable income. 
• for all self-employed GDS dentists in 2020/21, consistent with the results from 2019/20, the four largest expense categories were Other (4) (53.9%), Employee (25.6%), Office and General Business (9.2%) and (Premises 6.8%).

(1) Within the report, percentage changes presented are calculated on unrounded data, while all earning and expenses data are rounded by NHS Digital to the nearest Pound 100.