Would it be a bad idea to go to dental school knowing you would NOT be happy as a general dentist?

[SterlingMaloryArcher]

OMFS is the only option.....................

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[Cold Front]

I’m assuming this is a “Money” related happiness and not necessarily “General Dentistry” itself. If so. One must appreciate GD well to purse OMFS. If not, Medicine is the route.

I had a friend who specialized in Endo to be more happy. He wasn’t happy with general dentistry because of the income. I think most people who want to be “Happy” in something truly don’t understand what Happiness is. Happiness is more of everything else that happens in LIFE.

Money Problems v Life Problems:

Money Problems
- Housing
- Food
- Transportation
- Healthcare
- Clothing
- Education

Life Problems
- “Happiness”
- Love
- Fulfillment
- Purpose
- Moments (Little Things)

 

[ab117]

I did exactly this and lots of people who post a lot about OMFS or people I now know on school did too, but for me and others I’ve talked to about this, a big part of making that decision was being fairly confident that I would much rather be a general dentist if it didn’t work out than be most less-competitive medical specialties or be in FM if I couldn't get into my top-choice residency if I went to med school. Shooting for the top (any specialty) is great if you know for sure you’re interested and think you can make it happen, but not being prepared for the possibility it doesn’t work out is distinctly not a great idea. Less than 10% become OMFS, but significantly more than that say they’re interested.

It’s also not like OMFS doesn’t involve anything from general dentistry that you learn in dental school either, even though it overlaps a lot with medicine. You may not do any more class IIs when you become a resident but you still need to know occlusion and ortho to do orthognathics, you need to know prosth to do implants or prepare patients for other restorations, perio for diagnosis and evaluation, and follow up, etc. It’s still a dental specialty.

 

[Likkriue]

Depends how much debt you are accruing.

 

[LeFort_IV]

There are more practicing oral surgeons than 151, it is somewhere around 9,000 actually. The 1% chance is also not true because it discounts all of the people genuinely interested in general dentistry, and the other specialties. Look at Match data from previous years if you are interested. Last year there were 400-something applications for the 200-something OMFS residency spots. The data is available online for your review. @predntl

 

[Life of Pablo]

The reason I would say yes is because there were only 151 oral surgeons in the entire country last year and there are 199,486 dentists. If you do the math, you’re looking at a less than 1% chance of specializing in OMFS.

Pretty sure there are more than 3 omfs per state....

 

[SterlingMaloryArcher]

The reason I would say yes is because there were only 151 oral surgeons in the entire country last year and there are 199,486 dentists. If you do the math, you’re looking at a less than 1% chance of specializing in OMFS.

hpw could that even be true when most cities have a few

 

[FanOfCostco]

I bet LA or SF has more than 151 by itself. Where you getting these numbers??

 

[Life of Pablo]

My apologies there are 151 dentists specializing in OMFS Radiology.

Supply & Profile of Dentists – ADA Health Policy Institute Data Center

Data tables on number of U.S. dentists and dentist demographic data, including dentist age, race/ethnicity, Medicaid participation, and dental practice type.

www.ada.org

That's because only 151 dentists want to specialize in omfs radiology.

 

[Cold Front]

My apologies there are 151 dentists specializing in OMFS Radiology. There are 7,509 OMFS specialists in total. Still holds that less than 1% of dentists specialize in that field, which must mean its difficult to get into.

Supply & Profile of Dentists – ADA Health Policy Institute Data Center

Data tables on number of U.S. dentists and dentist demographic data, including dentist age, race/ethnicity, Medicaid participation, and dental practice type.

www.ada.org

There are a lot of jobs that are as lucrative as OMFS and don’t require 12-14 years of school. If I was doing it for the money, OMFS would be the wrong route. If for passion, then it would be worth it.

 

[321931]

OMFS is the only option.....................

You have no idea how you will rank, if you even rank- if you will get in, and if you can even compete with other gunners in your class. If you can’t keep up, you are stuck as a GP.

So if OMFS is the only way you want to go... and general dentistry is just not for you... it’s quite a gamble.

 

[FanOfCostco]

So if OMFS is the only way you want to go... and general dentistry is just not for you... it’s quite a gamble.

400k+ gamble.

 

[FanOfCostco]

But guysssssss we are all forgetting!! Once he gets into Harvard he’s all set.

 

[SterlingMaloryArcher]

But guysssssss we are all forgetting!! Once he gets into Harvard he’s all set.

I am def not getting in there lol. It would be interesting to see where their graduates go (more into OMFS than most?)

Anyway Isee what most people are saying about the risk of not matching.

 

[deleted903013]

Imagine going and realizing you don't like oral surgery.

 

[FanOfCostco]

I am def not getting in there lol. It would be interesting to see where their graduates go (more into OMFS than most?)

Anyway Isee what most people are saying about the risk of not matching.

What about penn or columbia

 

[_Potassium]

There seems to be a misconception that people who don't match competitive medical specialties must end up matching FM.

There are plenty of medical students who did not match into their primary specialty for whatever reason and end up matching specialties such as Gas, EM, Gen Surg, IM-> eventual fellowship.

Furthermore, there are many medical students who find their calling in FM, who certainly did not consider it their backup choice.

My point is this: go do dental school if you will be OK with becoming a general dentist.

 

[ab117]

There seems to be a misconception that people who don't match competitive medical specialties must end up matching FM.

There are plenty of medical students who did not match into their primary specialty for whatever reason and end up matching specialties such as Gas, EM, Gen Surg, IM-> eventual fellowship.

Not to disparage FM, as there are many medical students who find their calling in that specialty.

My point is this: go do dental school if you will be OK with becoming a general dentist.

Good point, lots of people would much rather be general dentists or FM than any type of specialist, certainly don't mean to be disparaging.

To rephrase, I'd say I felt more confident that I could do well enough on the CBSE to have a good chance at matching than I did that I could score high enough on Step 1 to have a good chance at my top choice of specialty, in addition to other reasons I was hesitant about medicine. I didn't want to "end up" in something that wasn't my top choice, I wanted to be able to decide what I wanted and make it happen, and I felt like I'd be better able to do that in dental school. Of course, there's no way to actually know any of this in advance either so I'd say the major factor is having a realistic idea of how motivated you are to make what you want happen whether you go to medical school or dental school or anything else.

 

[_Potassium]

@ab11 Agree 100% with what you've said. I wasn't trying to correct you btw, just simply covering my own ass but poorly wording it in the process.

 

[SterlingMaloryArcher]

Imagine going and realizing you don't like oral surgery.

Better than what I've been doing

 

[SterlingMaloryArcher]

What about penn or columbia

Probably not.

 

[TanMan]

Are you 100% sure you want to go into OMFS? Do you think you can outcompete your future classmates in ranking and test taking?

I think it's a horrible idea. You have to put a ton of effort into getting in an OMFS program and there's always a chance you might not get in. If you don't get in, would you be miserable for that gap year? What if you didn't get in for 3-4 years in a row? Will you hate your life so much and off yourself? If you hate GP that much, I wouldn't go into dental school with only one specialty in mind. What if you hate OMFS in dental school? Then you're in a field that you absolutely dread with a ton of debt and forced into a position that you wouldn't want to be in the first place. There's quite a bit of people have been in your position (dentists who hate what they do), couldn't get into a specialty program and/or hate GP, and end up OD'ing on drugs.

Don't be that guy.

 

[setdoc7]

Not sure how anyone decides prior to D school that they want a specialty. OMFS is more than what a pre dent shadowing can grasp. And they have no clue that dental school, unlike their college classes, is full of high achievers who are all super competitive.

 

[2TH MVR]

Simple answer. Go for the OMFS. If you fail ..... prepare to be a GP or consider another dental specialty. If you can't come to grips with these options .... then skip OMFS and consider medicine with more surgical specialties. Pretty black and white.