Using my Chemistry knowledge in dentistry?

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htdt

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I will soon graduate with a BS in Chemistry. Chemistry is indeed my passion, I just love the way molecules and reactions work. I even considering between dental school and grad school in Chemistry, but the fact that it takes 5-6 years of doing research for the PhD degree + a few years of post-doc before I can get a job that pays decently does not sound very attractive to me. So I decided to choose dentistry for a more stable career. Don't get me wrong, I do want to go into dentistry for a wide variety of reasons, but the fact that I have learned so much about Chemistry and not being able to use it at all in my future career actually makes me sad. I am wondering if there is any way for me to use my Chemistry knowledge as a dentist? I would be willing to take any career path that would allow me to use both my background in dentistry and Chemistry, even if that means I don't pursue the traditional route of practicing dentistry (i.e. I'm thinking of maybe working for companies like Dentsply?). Again, I'm not interested in pursuing a PhD at all so please do not suggest a DDS/PhD dual degree (and even that is not very plausible since most DDS/PhD don't do research in Chemistry anyway). Thanks in advance!

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Answer to your question of using both background in dentistry and chemistry effectively:

1. practice dentistry full time in the day and cook meth part time in the evening (note to self: crystal meth is actually very hard to cook so you need very extensive chemistry laboratory knowledge as well as superb synthesis knowledge)
2. there is no number 2
 
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Why don't you go into pharmacy or pharmaceutical compounding then...?
No, I specifically want to be a healthcare professional, and among the health careers I specifically prefer dentistry for many reasons. Also, pharmacy =/= chemistry. Pharmaceutical, maybe. Can I go into the pharmaceutical industry with an emphasis in dental products?
 
you could always do research on dental materials
 
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I was a biochemistry major that did chemical engineering research. From my experience so far, the only chemistry you will encounter is pharmacology and dental materials. However, dental materials is a huge field and may give you what you really need!
 
Sounds like you're going into the wrong field.
 
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