Survey study demonstrates consistent profitability alongside legal and financial hurdles in private dental practices, indicating a need for formal business education.
The study examined the entrepreneurial activities of 30 private dental practitioners in the Western Cape province of South Africa from a supply perspective, with the aid of a self-administered questionnaire. The findings showed that these businesses had 23.6 years of tenure and 7.2 staff members on average, and operated their businesses almost 9 hours per day, 5 days per week. Over 90% of these businesses made a profit for 5 consecutive years in 2020-2024, with most of the profit being spent on purchasing new dental equipment and upgrading the business premises. Also, these businesses needed professional advice primarily in the areas of accounting, finance and legal matters. Lastly, about half of the survey participants indicated that legal matters is the most difficult area to manage. The study concluded by recommending the dental higher education curriculum be amended by including courses relating to dental economics and entrepreneurship.
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Majiet et al. (2026) studied this question.
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