Episode summary
Two Cents 8/8 - Earnings Season; Do You Pay More in Taxes or Necessities?; Dentists' Confidence 2026
The Dentist Money Show
· · 48 min · Hosts: Matt, Rabih
Summary
The host and a guest argued that the latest earnings season looks broadly healthy: GDP tracking came in a bit softer than expected at 1.5%, but consumer spending still appears to be carrying growth, and earnings and revenue beats have pushed stocks higher without making valuations more expensive. The guest said the forward P/E for the U.S. stayed around 20 even after a roughly 5% market move, which he took as evidence that prices are being supported by stronger profits rather than speculation.
They also unpacked a viral claim that Americans now pay more in taxes than on food, clothing, and housing. The host noted the headline is directionally true at the national level, but the guest emphasized that the comparison is distorted by a progressive tax system and by the fact that high earners, including many dentists, pay most income taxes. They added that the claim changes materially if healthcare and transportation are included among necessities.
The final section reviewed ADA and Health Policy Institute data on dentistry. Dentist confidence is improving, practice demand remains solid, and spending is still rising, but reimbursement pressure, staffing shortages, and higher practice costs continue to squeeze margins. The guest said the pattern is consistent with a dental economy that is stable but under cost pressure, with AI adoption concentrated in imaging and administrative tasks rather than clinical judgment.
Key takeaways
- The guest said earnings have been strong enough that U.S. stocks rose while the forward P/E stayed near 20, suggesting profits—not froth—are driving the rally.
- The host and the guest said the taxes-vs-necessities claim is misleading unless you account for healthcare, transportation, and the progressive tax burden on high earners.
- Dentist confidence is improving, but the ADA/HPI data still show reimbursement pressure, rising costs, and hiring difficulty as the main pain points.
- The guest said about 12% of dentists remain too busy to treat all requesting patients, while the share saying they are not busy enough has fallen.
- AI use in dentistry is strongest in imaging diagnostics and administrative work, not treatment recommendations, where most dentists still say they will not use it.
Notable quotes
“forward PE for the US was 20 20 price to earning ratio for based on next 12 months earnings”
“We have a progressive taxation system, which means the more money you make, the more taxes you pay”
“the top 20% of of earners, which again is a lot of our clients, is a lot of dentists, they are paying the vast majority of taxes”
“what this tells us that most dentists have made like kind of made it and they're kind of paying for the others to make it”
“The lower the consumer confidence, the higher the 5-year return on, uh, stocks usually”
How the episode opens
On today's show, three questions. Number one, how are the earnings? Number two, are you paying more in taxes than necessities? And number three, what's the state of the dental economy? — Consult an adviser or conduct your own due diligence when making financial decisions. General principles discussed during this program do not constitute personal advice. This program is furnished by dentist advisers, a registered investment adviser. Welcome to Dennis Money's Two Cents, where we help Dennis navigate all the noise. I'm Matt.
And I'm Robbie. — Yeah, you are. And Robbie, we're just going to call it out right now. We're going casual Friday today. — It is casual Friday. — We're just casual Friday. We try not to wear hats or be too casual on the show, but uh today we're making an exception. You're just trying to make me feel better. Uh I came in from working on my the new house. I just closed on a house which is awesome.
Congratulations. — Thank you. Very excited. Although nowadays, is it like congratulations or is it condolences? Cuz it's — I'm sorry for your mortgage rates.
Yes, it's uh it's tough. It is. I I've got to basically just like look away and not cuz not only mortgage rates and how expensive I I forget how expensive it is to buy a house.
um not even just the rate and the house itself and how expensive obviously how high prices are now which they are and it's incredible what you have to pay to get what you get now um and it's extra hard to do that when you do it in a place you've lived your whole life so I have the reference point of knowing what this house would have cost me even just 7 years ago but more than that buying the house I'm just like things like closing costs it's just a it's it's insane And I'm such a middle-aged dad where I just, you know, you just the right of passage of just complaining about like traffic and compl, you know, I I can't go anywhere in this city without something being under construction.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- earnings season
- market valuations
- tax burden vs necessities
- dentist confidence 2026
- dental staffing and reimbursement
Companies and tickers mentioned
- Dentist Advisors
- Aquire Wealth Advisors
- American Dental Association
- Health Policy Institute
Watch the episode
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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The Dentist Money Show, this episode and its artwork belong to Dentist Advisors - Financial Planning and Investment Management. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
