Dental Employee Cost Calculator

What goes into the true cost of a practice hire

Base pay is the part everyone sees. The fully loaded cost adds everything the practice spends to keep that person employed for a year. For most small employers, dental practices included, it lands between 1.25 and 1.4 times pay. Here is what this calculator counts.

Cash pay

Base salary or hourly wages, plus any bonus. Variable pay is taxable wages too, so it also drives the payroll taxes below.

Employer payroll taxes

On top of an employee's own withholding, the practice pays a matching 7.65% in Social Security and Medicare, plus federal unemployment (FUTA) and your state's unemployment tax (SUTA). FUTA and SUTA apply only to the first slice of wages each year.

Benefits

Employer-paid health insurance is usually the largest add-on after pay. Dental, vision, life, and disability coverage and a retirement match stack on top. Small practices that do not offer health coverage can set that input to zero and watch the multiple drop.

Workers' comp, admin, and overhead

Workers' compensation for dental offices is usually a low rate class, but it is still a percentage of every payroll dollar. Payroll or PEO fees, software, uniforms, CE allowances, and equipment tied to the role round out the ongoing cost.

Ongoing versus first year

The headline number is the ongoing annual cost. The optional first-year view adds one-time recruiting, onboarding, and equipment setup, which only hit in year one. For clinical roles where searches run long, recruiting can be a real line, not a rounding error.

How much does a dental hygienist really cost a practice?

More than the wage. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median hygienist pay at 94,260 dollars per year as of May 2024, and once you add employer payroll taxes, benefits, workers' comp, paid time off, and admin, the fully loaded figure for most practices lands around 1.25 to 1.4 times pay. Local markets vary widely, so run the calculator with the wage you actually pay.

Are these numbers exact?

They are planning estimates. Federal payroll tax figures use 2026 rates. State unemployment, workers' comp class rates, and benefit costs vary by practice, so adjust the inputs to match your payroll reports.

Why does paid time off change the hourly cost?

Paid time off is paid but not worked, so the same annual cost spread over fewer worked hours raises the cost of each hour at the chair or the front desk.

How should I weigh this cost against production?

Pull the production each clinical role generates from your practice management software and set it next to the fully loaded cost from this calculator. Production per hour varies so much between practices that no benchmark replaces your own reports. A hygienist who looks expensive on payroll is usually inexpensive next to the hygiene production an empty column gives up.