How pay splits and lab fees work for dental associates

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As an associate, what you take home from a day depends on how each part of it is paid. A percentage of fees, a rate per UDA, an hourly rate and the lab bill all work differently, so your share rarely matches a simple sum of the day's fees.

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A percentage of fees

Most private work pays a share of what the patient was charged. The practice keeps the rest for the surgery, nurse, equipment and admin. Practices call this the split, or your percentage.

Example A day with £1,200 of private fees at 50% gives you £600.

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NHS work and UDAs

In England, NHS courses of treatment are counted in UDAs (Units of Dental Activity) rather than fees. Band 1 is 1 UDA, Band 2 is 3, 5 or 7 depending on the treatment, and Band 3 is 12. You're paid an agreed rate per UDA, which your agreement sets, not a share of what the NHS pays the practice.

Example Two Band 1s and one Band 2a is 5 UDAs. At an agreed £15 per UDA, that's £75.

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Hourly and day rates

Hygienists, therapists and some dentists are paid by the hour or the session instead. Then your pay doesn't depend on fees at all, so on a quiet day it can be more than your percentage would have given.

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Lab fees

Crowns, dentures and other lab work come with a bill from the dental lab. Most agreements share that bill between you and the practice, often in the same proportion as the fees, and take your part off your pay. Some practices pay it all, and some ask the associate to. It's one of the most common reasons a statement looks lower than expected.

Example A £900 crown at 50% earns you £450. If the £200 lab bill is split 50/50, £100 comes off, so you're paid £350.

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Why your share can look smaller

• Your part of lab bills has been taken off.
• Other agreed costs, such as some materials, have been taken off.
• A patient hasn't paid yet, or was refunded, so the fee isn't counted until later.

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Why it can look bigger

• NHS UDAs are paid on top, but they aren't fees, so they don't appear in the fee total.
• An hourly or day rate paid more than your percentage would have.
• Some extras, such as referral fees, are paid at a rate of their own.

If you can't see why a figure is what it is, ask the practice for the breakdown: fees, percentage, UDAs, and each deduction.

UDA bands from the NHS Business Services Authority. The figures in the examples are made up to show how the sums work.