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A mandatory dental retirement age was recently in the spotlight when the European Court of Justice ruled in favor of Germany’s law mandating retirement for dentists and firefighters past a certain age, finding it does not constitute age discrimination. [Read more]

Here are some thoughts from dentists:

• “Dental continuing education should be required. Patients know when a practitioner’s abilities are diminishing, as do dentists themselves. Liability concern should prevent dentists from procedures for which they no longer have the skills.” (Mississippi dentist)
• “In Germany and in Europe, there is a mandatory retirement age for workers/employee, so why not for dentists? I do not think it has to do with competence, but rather with social economy and spot for young dentists to practice.” (California orthodontist)
• “I am approaching my 76th birthday and 48th year in practice. I still am able to deliver superb dentistry including full-mouth and cosmetic dentistry cases, but I just see patients three days a week. To me, retirement is a nasty word.” (California prosthodontist)
• “I am about to turn 70 this year, and I feel my skills are better than they have ever been. I take lots of continuing dental education and feel I know so much more about dentistry than most younger recent grads.” (New York dentist)
• “A simple evaluation of current work is very easy to do today. Just have a dentist present pictures and radiographs of current work as a competency report.” (New York prosthodontist)
• “There maybe should be some additional testing in those dentists over 75-80. We have one in our city that I believe is 88… His patients are not getting proper periodontal care and I’m concerned about the dentistry provided.” (California dentist)
• “The doctor should know when it is time to hang it up.” (Texas pediatric dentist)
• “If you can be US president in your 70′s, why not a dentist?”
• “Not only do people’s skills vary, different aspects of dentistry demand different levels of skills. In addition to orthodontics, I practice dental sleep medicine (oral appliances for snoring and obstructive sleep apnea). I could practice the latter until they take me out on a stretcher." (Oregon braces dentist)
• “We all know dentists that should have ‘retired’ at the age of 30! Some of us can go to 70 with no problems. It depends on the individual.” (Nevada dentist)
• “Dumb idea. Who would make that decision — some governmental bureaucrat? Should there be a mandatory retirement from life itself, too?” (California dentist)
• “The wealth of knowledge and experience an older dentist has would be a loss to our profession if he/she could not mentor a new associate in a clinical environment.” (Pennsylvania dentist)
• “Specialties vary. People vary. It’s insane to consider seriously.” (Colorado orthodontist)

Read more: Dentist Retirement: Dentists Say 'No' to Mandatory Retirement Age

Said one dentist, "I wonder if I’ll ever be able to retire and maintain my lifestyle, which is NOT extravagant."

• 62% say they plan to work longer.
• 25% say their retirement plans are still holding steady.
• 11% say “Retirement plans?!? What retirement plans?”
• 2% say they’ll retire early and be done with the whole mess.

Unexpectedly, the younger dentists in our survey were more likely to say they anticipate working longer — four out of five dentists under 50 said that, while only 3 out of 5 doctors over 50 did.

Here are some more thoughts from dentists on the subject of retirement:

• “I love dentistry, but this sucks!” (New York dentist, 62)
• “I'm beginning to wonder if full retirement is really a worthwhile goal anyway… All I do now is work, and I love my profession!” (Georgia orthodontist, 54)
• "Plan ahead, it works!” (Florida dentist and investment advisor, 64, retiring early)
• “I feel as though I may have to work forever!!!!” (California dentist, 65)
• “”I am not interested in retiring. I do want to change my practice to do more implants, dentures and ortho.” (Utah dentist, 63)
• “I still have 10+ years until I retire. As for now, I am refinancing everything I can to the lowest rates I can so that in 10 years I will be in an even better position to retire than I would have been… assuming we recover at least most of our losses from the past year.” (Missouri dentist, 51)
• “Even though I started saving very early, with today’s uncertain times, we can only hope the economy will turn around so we do not have to work longer.” (Florida dentist, 42)
• "I’ve been working 3 days a week for 10 years without loss of production, so retiring in place is working for me… Although the stress of dealing with a more unappreciative public is difficult at times.” (Louisiana dentist, 61)
• “Put 'em in jail…no Bailouts!” (Florida dentist, 52)

Read more: Slumping Economy Means Some Dentists Can’t Afford To Retire

Read more: Dental Associate Retirement Strategy Sometimes Fails

Well, Hy Smith thinks they might. He’s a managing partner of ADS Florida, a group that helps dentists manage their dental practices and develop exit strategies.

“Post election, there is a distinct possibility that the capital gains rate will increase, which could create a significant increase in the seller’s tax burden,” said Smith. “That would be a reason to sell this year over next.”

Smith acknowledges a slowdown in sales of dental practices. “While we can certainly understand why the current climate is less appealing than selling five years ago, things may not be as bad as they seem,” he said. “It’s a good time to be prepared to sell, even if it’s not for another year or so. As factors change, practice owners want to be able to make a move expeditiously.”

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In a recent survey, The Wealthy Dentist asked dentists about their retirement plans. Two-thirds of our dentist respondents say that they expect to choose keep working part-time to keep themselves busy. Only 13% replied that they’re on track financially and will retire completely once their financial goals are fully met. One in five dentists would like to retire, but aren’t sure they will be financially able to afford it.

We also asked dentists about their target retirement age. And aren’t the specialists lucky! They’re planning to retire an average of six years before their colleagues practicing general dentistry.

Check out the complete dental retirement survey results

At age 64, Greensboro dentist John Chandler was ready to retire. But what to do with his dental practice? So he donated it to his country’s low-income dental clinics. Yes, that’s right, he donated his entire dental practice – the building, the equipment, the computers, the chairs, every bit of it.

Chandler estimates the value of the gift at $1.4 million. Chandler (who also owns another business, Chandler Foods) decided to skip the profit and the headache of selling his practice. He’s financially comfortable and ready to move on. Said the dentist, set to retire in May, “I’m just walking out.”

Needless to say, North Carolina’s Guilford County is delighted with the gift to its cash-strapped dental clinic program. Unfortunately, the clinics do not receive enough funding to support a full-time dentist at the new office, but officials are hopeful that grant money will allow them to do so in the future. The clinics are currently open only three nights a week, and may be further cut back to two weeks a month. Of the county’s estimate 54,000 uninsured, 3,000 are already on the waiting list for the clinics, which charge only $10 per visit.

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