NHS England has released figures on the earnings and expenses of General Dental Services dentists in Northern Ireland for 2024/25.
The Department of Health said this is the eighteenth set of earnings and expenses data produced for Northern Ireland. The report has been published as a UK report for each of the past twelve years, although the department presented key points for Northern Ireland only.
Officials stressed that values are not comparable between countries because contractual arrangements differ and different methods are used to determine dental type in each country. The figures cover average gross earnings, total expenses and taxable income estimates by dental type, along with expenses broken down by dental type, age, gender and activity demographics.
For all self-employed GDS dentists in Northern Ireland, including principals and associates, average taxable income was estimated at £87,600 in 2024/25. This was up 13.7% from £77,000 in 2023/24, and the increase was described as statistically significant.
Average taxable income for principal dentists was £133,500 in 2024/25, compared with £121,200 in 2023/24. The department said the 10.2% increase was not statistically significant. For associate dentists, average taxable income was £76,500, up from £65,500, with the 16.7% increase described as statistically significant.
Average gross earnings for all self-employed dentists were estimated at £184,700, while average expenses allowable for tax purposes were estimated at £97,100. This produced an expenses to earnings ratio of 52.6%.
Compared with 2023/24, all dentists’ gross earnings increased by 16.4% from £158,700. The report also found that dentists with 75% or more of gross earnings from Health Service Dentistry had lower average gross earnings, total expenses and taxable income than those with smaller Health Service Dentistry shares.