Making ends meet as a denstist, amid reimbursement cuts and high costs

While roughly three-quarters of Americans have dental insurance, about 57% of U.S. adults report that they have delayed dental treatment to take care of other expenses.

The cost of dental work is not limited to the patient's end. Dr. Katherine Sislow is a dentist and the owner of Sislow Family Dental in Greenwood Village, Colorado, and she says that she had no idea how expensive being a dentist would be when she chose the profession.

“When you look at what just the physical cost of materials is for something as simple as a filling, and then you throw in all the other overhead with it,” Sislow said, “you look back and you're like, ‘Wow, you're barely making above minimum wage if that filling takes you more than an hour.’”

Listen in the player above to hear more about the cost of modern dentistry.