Coal miners could probably &quot;learn to dent&quot; too, but dentists have set it up so dental school is expensive, exclusive, and requires a four-year degree to gain admission. That&#x27;s why the cost of dental care is soaring and the median salary for dentists in the US is now $140-150k[1] a year. By contrast, the wages of software engineers (sorry, coders) have been flat for decades, despite a supposedly dire &quot;skills gap&quot; that tech companies cite as justification for expanding the H-1B visa program and making &quot;coding&quot; part of public school curricula.<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;money.usnews.com&#x2F;careers&#x2F;best-jobs&#x2F;dentist&#x2F;salary" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;money.usnews.com&#x2F;careers&#x2F;best-jobs&#x2F;dentist&#x2F;salary</a>