Dentists aren't real doctors

i think med school is longer and stupider. LOL juss kidding its cool whatever floats ur boat. and pS SCREW what other people think. just dont forget to wave while u drive by in ur benz and theyre waiting for the bus.... or waiting another 4 years to work in a crazy smelly hospital LOLLLL

I must admit that when I switched from pre-med to pre-dent some of my friends and family were not very understanding. My grandma was like, "Well think about it (switching to dentistry), because you've already taken all of those difficulty chemistry and biology classes and you just don't want all of that hard work to go to waste." Meaning, she really didn't thing dentists needed any chemistry or biology. It's a common perception from what I've experienced.

The way I look at it is dentists need to give MD's the respect they deserve. Sometimes pre-dents try to tear down MD's to sort of lift up their own profession (I'm guilty of this at times). But really if you have experienced what MD's do on a daily basis, they earned their way into med school, survived residency, and now they have to be human machines that crank out medical care for 60 hours a week.

The truth is that there are many things that make dentistry "easier" in my opinion: fewer hours, no weekends or holidays, more autonomy, no life-and-death...I could go on. Just because dentistry is not considered to be the "most prestigious" or "most challenging" or "highest paying" profession in the world doesn't matter to me. On the other hand...if you are the type of person that really thrives on public opinion, perhaps one should consider a career in politics. Nothing is a greater guage of your public approval than elections.

I'm not so concerned with public opinion. I've got my little dream of owning my own practice, providing great care, relieving pain, creating friendships, and having the free time and income to enjoy life away from work. Nowhere in my future goals in life to I need to be known as the smartest in the class, the highest paid, nor the most overworked professional.

thats basically what i meant in a nutshell

It really sucks that dentists have this stigma attached to it. So many people have the wrong idea about dentistry. It's a great profession with a lot of upsides and not too many downsides. Who cares what people think, as dentists we will get to enjoy it. I really hate that there is this pseudo competition with pre meds and pre dent. I'm getting sick of it all, like either has to be better than the other. Why can't everyone just do what they want and respect what other people want to do?

you should never care what others think. it wont matter one way or another.

They are finding out more and more the link between poor oral care and overall health. Links to diabetes, heart disease, and to my surprise, low-weight babies are a few examples. Solving these problems through prevention can help the nation save millions of dollars. I think as people become more aware of these consequences, dentists will be seen as more than just tooth pullers or cavity fillers who erradicates pain, but as a necessary health care professionals for overall good health.

A dentist is a physician who specialize in oral health and it's effects on the body as a whole. Period.

Personally I don't care what people think- I tell my premed friends that they are just jealous of the fact that I'll have days off.

Whats your definition of a doctor?
Last time I checked even someone with a PhD is considered a doctor.

This is a little old.

Do you really need someone else to boost your self-asteem?
If you are looking at dentistry for prestige, then well..... don't.

The average person defines a "doctor" as an MD. I have friends who are DO's who have people tell them that they aren't "real" docs.

We all know all MD's are DMD wannabe's. They couldnt go all the way so they had to settle for the MD in DMD.

cowsgomoo said:

We all know all MD's are DMD wannabe's. They couldnt go all the way so they had to settle for the MD in DMD.

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lol

cowsgomoo said:

We all know all MD's are DMD wannabe's. They couldnt go all the way so they had to settle for the MD in DMD.

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..... maybe because they didnt get enough D's to qualify for the degree. j/k

DMD's and MD's are pretty much the same in my opinon. There are some that are ridiculously smart and there are some that just get by. Yes you have to take the same classes, but no you don't have to remember any of it. But you have to admit, the pressure is off for us DMD's. People don't expect us to cure their cancers; they just want a cleaning. DMD's are doctors who want the lifestyle and MD's are doctors who want the prestige.

shopaholic said:

People don't expect us to cure their cancers; they just want a cleaning. DMD's are doctors who want the lifestyle and MD's are doctors who want the prestige.

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... not sure if i agree with all of that. While dentists are not expected to cure cancers, they are however expected to detect oral cancer. the major difference is that MD's and DMD's are doctors who are trained to look at different things. This is very important since an MD never checks your mouth for sings of oral cancer (not that i'd ever let an MD to stick his/her hand into my mouth... who knows where its been.... ).

and finally, everyone who has taken the effort to go through college has done it for a better lifestyle and prestige. People look at me differently when i tell them i am getting a masters in molecular biology!! (love it)

damn that prestige! we humans are stupid ! look at animals do they care about prestige?

I think it's funny that the people who are talking about this topic aren't in dental school, yet. Once you get in, you wouln't care at all...it's no big deal.

rocknightmare said:

damn that prestige! we humans are stupid ! look at animals do they care about prestige?

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Yes. Animals have strict hierarchies (ie-Alpha Male).

Today, someone asked me if I was in HIGH SCHOOL.

Told him I was graduating on 5/22 from college.

Then asked me what my plans were after graduation.

Told him I was starting dental school in August.

Three questions after I uttered "dental school":

1) Don't dentists retire earlier than many other professions? (He had this condescending look on his face. I'm sure he meant to convey how hard dentists' work was and that I would regret evergoing into dentistry. By the way, we all know why dentists retire early.)

2) Don't dentists have the highest suicide rates? (Some high school girl decided to join our conversation. She wanted to make sure she sounded all smart.)

3) What made you want to go into dentisty?

Answered #3 and left the table. I had better things to do.

By the way, I didn't catch what the man did for living.

PERFECT3435 said:

you should never care what others think. it wont matter one way or another.

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This statement applies except when dealing with your boss. Other than him/her, screw everybody else, ultimately you will have to answer only to yourself.

Dentalhopeful said:

I am tired of hearing this from a lot of people..

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You shouldn't be. Who the hell cares?

If you ever hear that from someone, you can come back with: "At least we're smart enough and have enough initiative to prevent managed care from ruining the entire profession."

Just kidding. But honestly, anyone who says that is simply jealous, or doesn't know what they're talking about, and in either case, the person you're hearing it from isn't worth listening to.

Is This Discussion Still Going On. Come On People.

I don't care. I was in med-school for 2 years and I dont' like it.

But I love to become a dentist.

Who cares!

This is ******ed. I could care less if I'm considered a doctor or not... and well adjusted normal people shouldn't either.

Given the crap that physicians have to go through these days, I count my lucky stars that I'm not in medical school right now.

I don't care what people think, it simply doesn't matter. People can go elsewhere to get treatment that physicians provide (in many instances). In other words, many services that physicans provide are overlapped by other professionals in auxillary healthcare positions.

Dentists are the only ones that can do what we do. Period. I'm fine with that.

mvs04 said:

This is ******ed. I could care less if I'm considered a doctor or not... and well adjusted normal people shouldn't either.

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Agreed. It simply doesn't matter. The bottom line, in my mind at least, is that people simpy don't respect "doctors" like they used to. People self-medicate now, are largely non-compliant, and are used to paying a $5 co-pay for physician services. They don't *care* about "doctors" like they used to.

The days of "doctors" raking in huge salaries are partially gone, which is unfair and saddening, but also true.

ItsGavinC said:

The bottom line, in my mind at least, is that people simpy don't respect "doctors" like they used to. People self-medicate now, are largely non-compliant, and are used to paying a $5 co-pay for physician services. They don't *care* about "doctors" like they used to.

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I must say that I completely agree with this and that I am a total match for that stereotype. Every physican's office I've been to in the past couple years has kept me waiting in some cramped room for up to 2 hours and always at least 30 minutes with nothing to do.

A better focus for our profession would be to keep all of the negatives as far away from our offices as possible. The prestige associates with doctors is fading as more and more people are paying high medical bills to doctors with poor manners and terrible scheduling. The medical profession has huge problems that we, as dentists, can take advantage of to make our profession all the more appealing. This will improve our image in society, although I can't say that dentistry has a poor reputation.