If you could go back, would you choose medicine over dentistry?

[NP545]

Namely considering the primary care type physicians vs dentistry (assume general dentistry)

I am currently a premed who recently has contemplated switching to dentistry.
My priorities are mainly having a good lifestyle in my career, low stress, and some sense of satisfaction. Are these three common to achieve in dentistry, from your experiences?

If I went the medicine route, I would be looking at primary care most likely and wanted to know whether dentistry would suit my planned future priorities than medicine would.

Some concerns about switching to pre-dental I have is whether dentistry is really self-satisfying and is subjectively "better" than suffering through medical school + residency only to end up making the same amount of money as a dentist and potentially regretting my decision.

Any thoughts?

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[cacajuate]

No, not a chance.

 

[rendal]

No

 

[SM555]

If a few million people also went back and chose not to vote for Obama, then yeah maybe. But probably not

 

[irishmom]

Dentistry and Medicine are like apples and oranges. Less school for dental and in my opinion less hassle with the insurance debacle. Definately dentistry can enable you to have a low stress high income career. Less stress than medicine. I have been a hygienist for 10 years...so I know some of the ins and outs of dentistry. I'm very grateful that I got into my chosen dental school and will continue on my dental career.

 

[ramseszerg]

Do it. Dentistry is amazing. I am absolutely fulfilled professionally.

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2014/12/confessions-burnt-physician.html

Everything that is said to be negative in medicine in this article, in dentistry, it is the exact opposite.

 

[arkenstone]

My dad's a surgeon, and--though he would never admit it to me--my mom tells me that over the years he always said to her, perhaps jokingly, that he was a dummy for not going into dentistry.

 

[beingaunicorn]

I had an ophthalmologist appointment recently. Wen he found out that I was a D1 in dental school, he said really enthusiastically, "OH, I wish I had become a dentist!" So, pretty much all you need to know is right there

 

[ashyyyjayyy]

maybe post this in the medicine forums as well, answers may be a bit biased in a dental forum

 

[Weakfart]

I saw my primary one time I was sick and said I wanted to go to dental school. He just said that there's a lot of money in it.

 

[arkenstone]

I saw my primary one time I was sick and said I wanted to go to dental school. He just said that there's a lot of money in it.

I just saw my primary care and mentioned dental school when he asked what I was up to---he didn't express any regret at all, but he just said "yeah: dentistry, orthodontics, oral surgery---all those are great ideas payoff wise but also scheduling wise"

 

[Weakfart]

I just saw my primary care and mentioned dental school when he asked what I was up to---he didn't express any regret at all, but he just said "yeah: dentistry, orthodontics, oral surgery---all those are great ideas payoff wise but also scheduling wise"

I heard this a few times when I shadowed physicians. I think it's becoming a trend and I don't regret my decision of switching to pre-dental (even though that switch was really just switching the MCAT to the DAT).

 

[Blake1e]

Helllllllll no.

 

[Ivybloom]

No sentiments.If I could go back, I'll still choose Dentistry over Medicine over & over again. Truth is, the stress through medical & dental school is comparatively the same so your passion should be your driving force but if you're more concerned about a high income but less stress as a practitioner then u shud b thinkin Dentistry. U can post it in the medical forum to get a broader view provided you dont get yourself the more confused in the end.

 

[gobblergiant]

It really depends on your taste and knack for things. I'm an applicant this year so I do not have first hand experience in treating patients. However, from the experiences I have had so far, I would change from medicine to dentistry over and over again because dentistry is very hands-on while medicine starts hands-on really late in the cirriculum. Also, there is a lot of independence when you are deciding on how to pursue dentistry as a career (e.g. industry vs. academia vs. private and etc) while medicine is harder to be independent.

 

[NP545]

No sentiments.If I could go back, I'll still choose Dentistry over Medicine over & over again. Truth is, the stress through medical & dental school is comparatively the same so your passion should be your driving force but if you're more concerned about a high income but less stress as a practitioner then u shud b thinkin Dentistry. U can post it in the medical forum to get a broader view provided you dont get yourself the more confused in the end.

I am at a peak of confusion right now. I have no idea which to choose and even shadowing isn't clearing it up.

I just want to be happy and I am at indecision between the two.

Maybe job market will expand the discussion,

Are dentists over saturated? Will there be enough jobs for dental grads in 5-7 years from now

 

[jdinners92]

I am at a peak of confusion right now. I have no idea which to choose and even shadowing isn't clearing it up.

I just want to be happy and I am at indecision between the two.

Maybe job market will expand the discussion,

Are dentists over saturated? Will there be enough jobs for dental grads in 5-7 years from now

You think dentists are over saturated? Ha thats laughable. To answer your questions on if there will be enough jobs, I've already been offered jobs, and I haven't even started Dental School. If anything there is a huge shortage of Dentists in most of America.

 

[jdinners92]

Out of curiostiy what do you like/dislike about medicine and dentistry? What do you want out of a career?

 

[NP545]

Out of curiostiy what do you like/dislike about medicine and dentistry? What do you want out of a career?

I want to be happy and feel satisfied. Are dentists for the most part satisfied? I always see 47% of doctors would not choose medicine again statistics but what about dentists? Some of my priorities are living decently (no need for 300K and above; as long as I can support my family and live a decent life paying my kids through college then I will be satisfied)

Does the ACA affect dentistry negatively as well? Doctors always complain about it but what about dentists?

 

[jdinners92]

I want to be happy and feel satisfied. Are dentists for the most part satisfied? I always see 47% of doctors would not choose medicine again statistics but what about dentists? Some of my priorities are living decently (no need for 300K and above; as long as I can support my family and live a decent life paying my kids through college then I will be satisfied)

Does the ACA affect dentistry negatively as well? Doctors always complain about it but what about dentists?

Well if you're a dentist you're basically guaranteed to make 200k a year within a couple of years of graduating. While your med friends are going to be working 80 hours a week making 60k a year during residency you're going to be starting a family or partying it up (whatever floats your boat).

If you are more family orientated (like I am), dentistry has more flexible hours and you start your life sooner. Its a lot easier to focus on your family as a dentist than as an MD. Just look up the stats on divorce rate and see for yourself.

ACA hasn't affected dentistry yet. Doesn't mean they're not going to try, but first they gotta fight their way through the MDs and DOs.

 

[herkulis]

A primary care physician can be independent and have a good lifestyle with decent income ($200's K) if those are what you like. I suggest that you do more research before reaching a conclusion that affects your career plan.

 

[jdinners92]

I was in the same boat a few months ago. After I took my DATs, I started thinking more about medicine. I talked to my aunt about it. And she gave me the best advice: Go around to all the clubs and shadow as many doctors and dentists as possible. And when you've done that choose the field where you clicked most with the people. At the end of the day work is work, but its the people around you that can make it enjoyable or miserable. Careers for some reason tend to attract similar personalities and values.

I felt that when I was with dentists or pre-dents, that we really clicked and had more in common. I found that most of the pre-dents were people who were just as passionate about helping the community in the health field as the pre-meds, but were more relaxed. (Don't get me wrong, I have plenty of pre-med friends, but I find them on the whole kind of uptight).

I didn't really completely decide on dentistry until my interviews. At my interview I tried to get to know all the other applicants, and I realized that we all basically had similar goals, values, and wants. I thought to myself that I could really have a great time spending the next 4 years in school with them and that overall I'd be much happier working with other dentists, hygienists, and DA for the rest of my life over nurses, doctors, and PAs.

 

[NP545]

A primary care physician can be independent and have a good lifestyle with decent income ($200's K) if those are what you like. I suggest that you do more research before reaching a conclusion that affects your career plan.

Did. But would going through residency and medical school for primary care be worth it when I can just do dental school in 4 and live similarly.

Equal interest in both. Torn between the 2.

 

[herkulis]

Did. But would going through residency and medical school for primary care be worth it when I can just do dental school in 4 and live similarly.

Equal interest in both. Torn between the 2.

Not similarly until one got the trades down as a dentist (mostly speed and hand skill). Many dental schools, unfortunately, do not teach the students the same kind of skills that are being used by practicing dentists. Therefore, the grads tend to relearn those before they feel competent. That's probably the main reason most practicing dentists look for grads with at least GPR/AEGD experiences to be their associates.

 

[cacajuate]

You think dentists are over saturated? Ha thats laughable. To answer your questions on if there will be enough jobs, I've already been offered jobs, and I haven't even started Dental School. If anything there is a huge shortage of Dentists in most of America.

I'm sure your dads friend think you are so capable.

 

[NP545]

You think dentists are over saturated? Ha thats laughable. To answer your questions on if there will be enough jobs, I've already been offered jobs, and I haven't even started Dental School. If anything there is a huge shortage of Dentists in most of America.

Everywhere I read the opposite of this... unless you're referring to rural areas

 

[ashyyyjayyy]

You think dentists are over saturated? Ha thats laughable. To answer your questions on if there will be enough jobs, I've already been offered jobs, and I haven't even started Dental School. If anything there is a huge shortage of Dentists in most of America.

I know north america as a whole is going towards a greater degree of saturation for dentists, especially in Canada though, in Toronto you see dentists in every plaza, it will be an issue eventually. Not sure where you got your info for under saturation from...

 

[CaliforniaDMD]

Regarding saturation and pay, you can hear first-hand accounts from current dentists. Just take a trip to DentalTown and read some posts there. Saturation depends on the state/city, and pay is facing a bunch of its own issues. Each field has its own complications so you should pick the one you feel more connected to, which will hopefully become clearer as you shadow/experience more.

 

[DentalDoge]

I have a friend who is an M3 who just finished a semester of rotations. Said he if he knew then what he knows now and he can do it again, he would go dentistry.

 

[Daneosaurus]

You think dentists are over saturated? Ha thats laughable. To answer your questions on if there will be enough jobs, I've already been offered jobs, and I haven't even started Dental School. If anything there is a huge shortage of Dentists in most of America.

Fo' real???? How does that even happen?

 

[DentalDoge]

Fo' real???? How does that even happen?

I know it's probably a joke. But my OMS surgeon said that by the time I finish my residency, he's probabl ready to retire and is more than willing to sign me on as an associate.

 

[tortelliniboy]

Hey, I think I've made like one other topic on SDN ever, but forgive me if my story has been heard. I'm currently an MD (anesthesia resident) and want to go back to pursue dentistry. Ironically my interest piqued when we had a bunch of OMFS guys rotate through our service and I got to know them and ask questions about their lives prior to dentistry...

 

[Crookster]

The grass is always greener... Everyone likes to complain about there job, not making enough money, don't have enough free time dot dot dot. Humans as a species love to complain for some reason it's what we do. At the end of the day you just have to do some soul searching and find out what you really want in life. You'll be better off if you can whole heartedly commit to one profession than to be on the fence about it end up choosing one over the other and then thinking what if, whenever things get hard. Best of luck to you!

 

[HDDS]

I've been a dentist for only a year but I absolutely love it! Dentistry is very interesting, fun, stressful but rewarding, and flexible.

A lot of my friends are in their last year of med school or in residency now and they have a long way to go before they can have a "real job". It's great to have a good career and good pay at this age. With medicine you're almost too old by the time you're done with school to enjoy life. My friends and other doctors always tell me I made the right choice. With dentistry you can always specialize if you decide you want to do more school or offer more specialized services.

I am a Canadian dentist and since most doctors are paid by the government while dentistry is privatized might influence the two professions.

Namely considering the primary care type physicians vs dentistry (assume general dentistry)

I am currently a premed who recently has contemplated switching to dentistry.
My priorities are mainly having a good lifestyle in my career, low stress, and some sense of satisfaction. Are these three common to achieve in dentistry, from your experiences?

If I went the medicine route, I would be looking at primary care most likely and wanted to know whether dentistry would suit my planned future priorities than medicine would.

Some concerns about switching to pre-dental I have is whether dentistry is really self-satisfying and is subjectively "better" than suffering through medical school + residency only to end up making the same amount of money as a dentist and potentially regretting my decision.

Any thoughts?

 

[deleted659902]

Dentistry is the way to go.

 

[RuffDay]

If anyone is confused whether to choose medicine or dentistry, then you should check this page out from the pre-med forums.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/would-you-rather-be-pre-dental.1153517/page-2#post-16761431

 

[allantois]

If anyone is confused whether to choose medicine or dentistry, then you should check this page out from the pre-med forums.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/would-you-rather-be-pre-dental.1153517/page-2#post-16761431

Funny thing; I've actually be lurking around this forum to get more pre-dent perspective

 

[Studoc28]

If anyone is confused whether to choose medicine or dentistry, then you should check this page out from the pre-med forums.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/would-you-rather-be-pre-dental.1153517/page-2#post-16761431

If anyone is confused whether to choose medicine or dentistry, then you should check this page out from the pre-med forums.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/would-you-rather-be-pre-dental.1153517/page-2#post-16761431

I started this forum, it only reassured me that dental is the way to go.

 

[Confused1617]

The grass is always greener... Everyone likes to complain about there job, not making enough money, don't have enough free time dot dot dot. Humans as a species love to complain for some reason it's what we do. At the end of the day you just have to do some soul searching and find out what you really want in life. You'll be better off if you can whole heartedly commit to one profession than to be on the fence about it end up choosing one over the other and then thinking what if, whenever things get hard. Best of luck to you!

This is it.