A dentist's office, which wants to serve the maximum number of patients given a fixed payroll, currently has two dentists and four dental hygienists. Dentists earn $60,000 a year and hygienists earn $15,000 a year. If the office is hiring the optimal combination of dentists and hygienists, and the last dentist hired served 120 additional patients, how many patients will the last hygienist hired add?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The optimal combination implies that the marginal cost per patient is equal for both dentists and hygienists. The cost per additional patient for a dentist is $60,000/120 = $500. For the hygienist, it should also be $500, so $15,000/x = $500, solving for x gives 30 patients.

A Dentist's Office, Which Wants to Serve the Maximum Number