A survey of dental practice in Lebanon

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the income of Lebanese dentists and analyze factors that could influence it. Materials and Methods: Collected information was based on a questionnaire distributed to the participants of two main dental meetings in Lebanon. The number of participants was 365 dentists and their ages varied between 22 and 70 years. T-Test, One Way Anova, and Chi-Square were performed to analyze the data. The software used was SPSS virgin 20. Results: For the majority of participants, monthly income varied between 1,000usd and 5,000usd. Statistical analysis showed a positive relationship between dentists’ average income and several variables such as gender, specialty, location of practice, academic position, origin of basic dental degree, and years of experience. Conclusion: Incomes of Lebanese dentists are considered to be low, compared to the high cost of living in Lebanon, especially in the capital. Several factors including low access to dental care, absence of dental insurance and unstable economic and political situations, can have a negative impact on financial situation of dentists. Moreover, the oversupply of dentists will surely be a factor that will decrease their income, as well.