What to Pay a Pediatric Dentist
Budget in the range of $170,950–$224,990 a year as a directional band, not a target — there's no BLS wage figure specific to pediatric dentistry.
The federal government groups it with endodontics and periodontics under one occupation code, so this band is bracketed by the general-dentist median on one side and that grouped-specialist median on the other, not a precise pediatric-dentist benchmark.
Unlike a hygienist or general dentist, there's no dedicated BLS Standard Occupational Classification for pediatric dentistry, so there's no percentile table to cite here the way the general-dentist salary guide can.
What BLS does report — "Dentists, all other specialists" (SOC 29-1029), a median of $224,990 (OEWS, May 2025) — lumps pediatric dentists in with endodontists and periodontists and cannot be split back out.
See which dental specialty pays the most for the full BLS ranking.
What moves the real number in practice: whether the hire is an associate (paid a percentage of production or collections, a daily rate, or a base-plus-bonus salary) or an owner/partner (clinical pay plus practice profit, which a wage survey barely captures).
Group-practice affiliation concentrates among early-career dentists — the figures below — so it is worth benchmarking your offer against group postings in your market, not only against other independent practices.
Ways to structure the pay
Percentage of production or collections
Best for: An associate with a steady, full schedule
The associate is paid an agreed percentage of the production or collections they generate, rather than a flat salary.
Our research found no published typical percentage, so the number is yours to set and defend.
Trade-off: Pay scales directly with the associate's own output, which rewards a productive hire but means a slow ramp-up period, or a quiet season, is felt immediately in their paycheck.
When to use: When the associate will have real control over their own schedule and case volume from early on.
Daily-rate guarantee
Best for: New hires, or practices with an uneven early schedule
A guaranteed rate per clinical day, sometimes with a production-based upside once collections clear a threshold.
Trade-off: You carry the ramp-up risk instead of the associate.
That risk shift is the reason to pick this structure: it holds the associate's pay steady while their schedule fills.
When to use: The first several months of an associate relationship, or any period where patient volume isn't yet predictable.
Base salary plus production bonus
Best for: A salaried-style offer with upside, for associates who want predictable income
A fixed base salary plus a bonus tied to production.
Our research found no published typical base salaries or bonus percentages for this structure — quote your own numbers.
Trade-off: More income predictability for the associate than a pure percentage structure, in exchange for a lower production share.
Use it when predictability is what you need the offer to compete on.
When to use: When a salaried-style offer is what wins the candidate — for example against group-practice postings in your market.
Directional only.
BLS has no pediatric-dentistry occupation code — it groups pediatric dentists with endodontists and periodontists under "Dentists, all other specialists" (SOC 29-1029), median $224,990 (BLS OEWS, May 2025), a figure that covers the whole group and cannot be split by specialty.
The general-dentist median (SOC 29-1021, $170,950, same release) is the floor beneath it.
Treat this as a band, not a pediatric-specific benchmark, and check current local listings.
The Pediatric Dentist Hiring Market Right Now
The pediatric dentist openings you are competing with, from the 75 active listings on DentistryHires as of November 13, 2026.
Employers with the most openings
Where the openings are
Pay employers post
- 44% of pediatric dentist listings state any pay at all, so posting a range helps yours stand out.
Benefits listings name
- Health insurancenamed in 81%
- Dental or vision coveragenamed in 76%
- Malpractice insurancenamed in 67%
- 401(k) plannamed in 40%
- Paid or provided CEnamed in 27%
- Employee discounts or free dental carenamed in 20%
- Flexible schedulingnamed in 16%
- Paid time offnamed in 11%
Source: active pediatric dentist listings on DentistryHires, updated daily. Pay figures use only listings that state pay (midpoint of each posted range) and are hidden when one employer posted most of them. Benefits count listings that name the benefit; a listing that doesn’t mention one may still offer it.
See the listings →Questions employers ask
What is the average pediatric dentist salary?
There's no BLS wage figure specific to pediatric dentistry.
It's grouped with endodontics and periodontics under "Dentists, all other specialists" (SOC 29-1029), a median of $224,990 (BLS OEWS, May 2025), against a $170,950 general-dentist median in the same release.
Treat that spread as a directional band — an associate's real pay depends on the comp structure, and an owner's blends clinical pay with practice profit.
Why isn't there a BLS figure specific to pediatric dentists?
The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks dentistry by occupational code, and pediatric dentistry, along with endodontics and periodontics, doesn't have its own — all three fall under the grouped "Dentists, all other specialists" code (SOC 29-1029).
There is no federal pediatric-specific figure, so any pediatric-specific estimate you see elsewhere has no federal number behind it to check it against.
Should I benchmark against group-practice offers?
Worth doing for an early-career hire.
ADA HPI's 2024 data put 26.5% of dentists up to 10 years out of dental school in DSO-affiliated practice, against 9.1% of dentists more than 25 years out — the early-career pool an associate hire comes from.
Look at how group practices in your market structure pay before you finalize your own offer.
Should I pay an associate pediatric dentist a percentage or a daily rate?
A daily-rate guarantee holds the associate's pay steady while a new schedule fills, and a percentage of production or collections scales pay with the associate's own output once volume is predictable.
You can also start on one and move to the other — see the comp-structure breakdown above for the trade-offs.
Post the role
Put your listing in front of pediatric dentists who are actively looking.