why dentists don't choose to become Endodontics

[UOP123321]

i don't know why new graduate dentists or dentist in usual don't choose Endodontics as a speciality, most of dentist choose pediatrics dentistry or orthodontics as a speciality

can someone explain to me why dentist dislike endodontics or choose different speciality?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[UOP123321]

i don't know why new graduate dentists or dentist in usual don't choose Endodontics as a speciality, most of dentist choose pediatrics dentistry or orthodontics as a speciality

can someone explain to me why dentist dislike endodontics or choose different speciality

 

[Blistex000]

Sure they do, who's told you otherwise?

Remember, specializing usually requires you to be in the top of your graduating class, so not everyone in dentistry can become a specialist.

I'm not an expert or anything, but maybe endodontists have higher exposure to risky procedures than other specialists (obviously not oral surgeons though)?
Other than that, endodontists, in my opinion, make a lot of money for the relatively low amount of hours they work compared to other specialists, so I don't see any other reasons to give you an answer as to why you think not many would want to specialize in endodontics.

 

[CraigHack]

One of the dentists I shadowed with would go on and on about how great endodontists have it. Low overhead, high profit margins, etc. The other dentist I shadowed said he could never do it because he'd get bored doing all those root canals. You can make a case for any of the specialities/GP; it's just a matter of deciding what's important to you. I think until you get to experience dentistry first-hand, it's difficult to assess what direction you want to go.

 

[tooth knockn]

i don't know why new graduate dentists or dentist in usual don't choose Endodontics as a speciality, most of dentist choose pediatrics dentistry or orthodontics as a speciality

can someone explain to me why dentist dislike endodontics or choose different speciality

With endo.... You will lose your thumb in a few months..... And start talking to the wall while the assistant is sleeping tired of suctioning your annoying irrigating habits.....

 

[jwan14]

Monotonous job. More and more GP doing root canals in their offices. Maybe that's why

 

[UOP123321]

what do you mean by "GP" ? general practice ?

 

[vellnueve]

How many root canals have you done?

I'd sooner get out of dentistry than do that all day.

 

[irishmom]

I have always said that if I were to specialize it would be Endo....love me some RCT.

 

[MolarBear11]

From what I have observed as a pre-dent, it is the most boring speciality I have ever shadowed. Ever. It was extremely repetitive and you don't really establish a relationship with your patients, they are all one time referrals.

 

[Soleus715]

With endo.... You will lose your thumb in a few months..... And start talking to the wall while the assistant is sleeping tired of suctioning your annoying irrigating habits.....

HAHA this is very true.. my coworkers always fall asleep when they assist root canals. you don't really get to see anything going on during the whole procedure....

From what I have observed as a pre-dent, it is the most boring speciality I have ever shadowed. Ever. It was extremely repetitive and you don't really establish a relationship with your patients, they are all one time referrals.

That sounds unbearable... all first time referrals..

 

[toothdriller2k17]

i've only done a handful of endo cases and i'm already bored with it.

 

[Bifenthrin]

i've only done a handful of endo cases and i'm already bored with it.

Give me your next endo case, I'm dying to do one. I got SOCLOSE to a pulpotomy the other day but then they gave it to a D4 cause session was ending and I couldn't stay for off session to do it.

 

[RoseEndo]

I was scanning this forum for my sister who plans to enter dental school. I just saw this post, and I thought I could be helpful giving you some feedback since I have been practicing Endo since 2009. The reason you don't see many Endo folks posting on this forum is because most Endo applicants are general dentists who practice dentistry for several years before going back to residency. They are not very familiar with SDN forum and they do not post very often like OMFS or other applicants right out of dental school. I went back to Endo residency after three years of practicing as general dentist, and did not follow this forum either. My husband is OMFS and he mentioned he obtained a great deal of information from SDN and he also pointed out that OMFS applicants are more active since they mostly apply right out of dental school.
-Rose

 

[Confused1617]

My gen dentist does RCT...

 

[PocketRocket]

My gen dentist does RCT...

Most gen dentists do RCT. Some patients , however, have to be referred to a specialist for it and are compensated significantly better for the procedure than do general dentists.

 

[MRZ8]

Sure they do, who's told you otherwise?

Remember, specializing usually requires you to be in the top of your graduating class, so not everyone in dentistry can become a specialist.

I'm not an expert or anything, but maybe endodontists have higher exposure to risky procedures than other specialists (obviously not oral surgeons though)?
Other than that, endodontists, in my opinion, make a lot of money for the relatively low amount of hours they work compared to other specialists, so I don't see any other reasons to give you an answer as to why you think not many would want to specialize in endodontics.

Do you know what [top] percentage of a typical dental class enters a specialty?

 

[Bernie Sanders]

I was scanning this forum for my sister who plans to enter dental school. I just saw this post, and I thought I could be helpful giving you some feedback since I have been practicing Endo since 2009. The reason you don't see many Endo folks posting on this forum is because most Endo applicants are general dentists who practice dentistry for several years before going back to residency. They are not very familiar with SDN forum and they do not post very often like OMFS or other applicants right out of dental school. I went back to Endo residency after three years of practicing as general dentist, and did not follow this forum either. My husband is OMFS and he mentioned he obtained a great deal of information from SDN and he also pointed out that OMFS applicants are more active since they mostly apply right out of dental school.

I have been practicing Endo for six years and I love everyday of practice. When I graduated I expected to see all re-treatment cases everyday, but I was wrong. I was referred 3-4 cases of straight forward molar Endo's that referring doctors did not want to do them. They are a lot of practices that they do not want to spend 2+ hours working on molar Endo when Endodontist can finish the case in an hour under microscope. As an Endodontist you get the mix of easy and hard cases, but after doing 300 cases in your residency everything will be routine after a while. The last thing you want to do is going to specialty for financial reasons. Both myself and my husband did not go to extra 3 or 6 years of residency for financial reasons. We were doing this job even if we were getting paid like new grad general dentist. My husband's net last year was 500,000+ and mine was near 365,000 and we both had a great year. However, we both enjoy our specialty work regardless of how much we get paid. As a specialist the key is communicating with your general dentists and help them out anytime they need your help. Many times I encourage my referrals to try the case and refer to me if they could not negotiate the canal. They were times that I saw the patient on the same day with broken file, and finished the case on the same day. A lot of my referring doctors have thriving practices now, and they rather focus on restorative dentistry. The nice thing about Endo or OMFS specialty is having very low over head and not being worry about open margin of crown, etc. It all goes back to what you like and that's the key. I have a lot of GP friends who are very happy with their practices and they made a right choice by staying in general dentistry, and I have specialist colleagues who also enjoy their daily work despite all the challenges that they face during the day. I am hoping to provide some feedback with this specialty and good luck to you on your career decisions.

-Rose

Do endodontists have to be sort of "on call" to manage emergencies that their referring GP might want them to treat?

Are you guys concerned that the advent of new tech allowing GPs to do more endo will make a serious dent in your referrals?

Since most endo applicants work as GPs for a few years, how well did you have to do academically in D-school?

 

[andreadds]

i don't know why new graduate dentists or dentist in usual don't choose Endodontics as a speciality, most of dentist choose pediatrics dentistry or orthodontics as a speciality

can someone explain to me why dentist dislike endodontics or choose different speciality

The three are very different. Pedo and Ortho you have to work a lot with parents and in some cases that is difficult. For both of these you have to like the age group. The nice thing about ortho is that your patients want to be there while in pedo and endo that may not be the case for the most part. If you are going into pedo you should want to deal with autism, adhd, medically compromised children and want to spend a few days a month in the OR. For pedo and ortho you have to be ready to see 3+ columns of patients each day while in endo it would less. The big thing with endo is that for the most part you see the patient 1-2x and then you wont see them ever again or until their next RCT. Like Ortho you see them for their tx 6 month-5 years or in stages and then you wont see them regularly after retainer checks. IDK if these are things you knew or have thought about.. hopefully I was of some help.

Dr. A

 

[RoseEndo]

Are you guys concerned that the advent of new tech allowing GPs to do more endo will make a serious dent in your referrals?

Yes, we are concerned but it also depends on your relationships with referring GP's. Established Endodontists are doing fine, but new grads will have a very hard time in current market.

 

[MRZ8]

The three are very different. Pedo and Ortho you have to work a lot with parents and in some cases that is difficult. For both of these you have to like the age group. The nice thing about ortho is that your patients want to be there while in pedo and endo that may not be the case for the most part. For pedo 20% of the kids are good but the rest will have to be sedated. If you are going into pedo you should want to deal with autism, adhd, medically compromised children and want to spend a few days a month in the OR. For pedo and ortho you have to be ready to see 3+ columns of patients each day while in endo it would less. The big thing with endo is that for the most part you see the patient 1-2x and then you wont see them ever again or until their next RCT. Like Ortho you see them for their tx 6 month-5 years or in stages and then you wont see them regularly after retainer checks. IDK if these are things you knew or have thought about.. hopefully I was of some help.

Dr. A

Why do PEDs spend a few days a month in the OR? Could you explain that please?

 

[arlmay]

Why do PEDs spend a few days a month in the OR? Could you explain that please?

Many pedo dentists have their more difficult patients or special needs patients sedated in the hospital to complete procedures. Usually in moderate to large cases needing several restorations. Much easier to work on when they're not awake to resist

 

[johnho771]

How is it as a new endodontist out of residency? It seems like a great career once established, but does it take a while to generate referrals and a decent amount of business?

 

[Endo16]

How is it as a new endodontist out of residency? It seems like a great career once established, but does it take a while to generate referrals and a decent amount of business?

Most of new graduates work part-time at private practice and part-time at corporate offices. The market is getting very tough and it is not easy to get referrals these days. You either join corporate or work for someone else in current market. It depends on location too, but endo specialty is hurting because of higher number of dental graduates and their idea of tackling every case at all cost.

 

[BWG]

How many teeth (presumably mostly molars?) will an endodontist treat/day?

Rose, since you shared you're $365, how many days/week do you work? I understand $$ shouldn't make decisions, but it's nice to hear feedback from practitioners willing to share, since so many aren't.

Also, how many more years does it take to fill the schedule in endo vs GP?

I understand each of these questions have a ton of variables associated with them, so just asking for general estimates.

 

[RoseEndo]

I see on average 4-5 patients per day

 

[Pedodel]

Why do PEDs spend a few days a month in the OR? Could you explain that please?

The three are very different. Pedo and Ortho you have to work a lot with parents and in some cases that is difficult. For both of these you have to like the age group. The nice thing about ortho is that your patients want to be there while in pedo and endo that may not be the case for the most part. For pedo 20% of the kids are good but the rest will have to be sedated. If you are going into pedo you should want to deal with autism, adhd, medically compromised children and want to spend a few days a month in the OR. For pedo and ortho you have to be ready to see 3+ columns of patients each day while in endo it would less. The big thing with endo is that for the most part you see the patient 1-2x and then you wont see them ever again or until their next RCT. Like Ortho you see them for their tx 6 month-5 years or in stages and then you wont see them regularly after retainer checks. IDK if these are things you knew or have thought about.. hopefully I was of some help.

Dr. A

As a pediatric dentist , I would say that 97 percent of my restorative patients are treated in office with just nitrous ( not 20%). Saying that , about 30 percent of my "referred patients". need to be treated in the OR (general anesthesia) due to very traumatic previous dental experiences with GP's or just having so much decay at such a young age ( think a 3 or 4 year old with deep decay on almost every tooth). You would not believe how common this is.

I do get a lot of referrals ( although most new patients I get are from word of mouth versus referrals), but I would be fine if I had Zero referrals . I am 12 years into private practice though. In the beginning this was not the case.

I do spend 2-4 days of the month in the OR ( usually Friday's). I do 4 full mouth cases , and am usually done by 3pm.

That's pedo . As to original question about endo. I believe it is still difficult to get into residency. Endo's are doing very well around my area. Not my thing though. I hate endo,,,,, as well as dentures, most crown and bridge stuff, and dislike working on most adults in general. Kids are way easier ( for me). And what it comes down to is what works for you and what you enjoy more , or dislike less.