Top reasons to go to Dental school instead of Med school

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ZuperZtar

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Being a good Sumeritan and telling all you struggling premeds to go to Dental school!

The advantage of dental schools is that for 4 years of training, you make more money than primary care docs. For 3 more years of training, you make more money than most specialist physicians.

You have no midlevel competition/future encroachment on your turf. You dont have IMG's flooding your residency programs and thus meeting the national demand and lowering future salaries. Dentists dont allow non US grads to get licensed unless they redo Dental school.

Your payment/salaries will be under the radar and not a national debate so you can continue to charge 100 dollars for 5 mins with the patient and nobody questions it. People are so angry at physicians, that society doesnt bother looking at dentists.

You are all fee for service, very little insurance, which makes your business more profitable than half of MD/DO practices.

You also rarely carry pagers and the reality of being "on call" is known to very few dentists, outside of omfs' residents.

Seems to me like it is a much better gig to go the dental route.

Half the board exams MD/Do's need to take.

1/4 of the lawsuits/liability insurance.

They look at teeth, we look at hemorrhoids.

In the end it is all about MONEY and LIFESTYLE!! you make more, you work less when out in practice, you have no call, you are fee for service/no insurance, Obama isnt busting your b**** and people pay you 100 bucks because their tooth hurts and you have a drill in your hand.:laugh:

I really want to marry a dentist. I think female dentists are SOOO HOT!😍 I wish I was a dentist.

-Disillusioned
 
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I'm not really into just looking at teeth all day
 
Being a good Sumeritan and telling all you struggling premeds to go to Dental school!

The advantage of dental schools is that for 4 years of training, you make more money than primary care docs. For 3 more years of training, you make more money than most specialist physicians.

You have no midlevel competition/future encroachment on your turf. You dont have IMG's flooding your residency programs and thus meeting the national demand and lowering future salaries. Dentists dont allow non US grads to get licensed unless they redo Dental school.

Your payment/salaries will be under the radar and not a national debate so you can continue to charge 100 dollars for 5 mins with the patient and nobody questions it. People are so angry at physicians, that society doesnt bother looking at dentists.

You are all fee for service, very little insurance, which makes your business more profitable than half of MD/DO practices.

You also rarely carry pagers and the reality of being "on call" is known to very few dentists, outside of omfs' residents.

Seems to me like it is a much better gig to go the dental route.

Half the board exams MD/Do's need to take.

1/4 of the lawsuits/liability insurance.

In the end it is all about MONEY and LIFESTYLE!! you make more, you work less when out in practice, you have no call, you are fee for service/no insurance, Obama isnt busting your nutsack and people pay you 100 bucks because their tooth hurts and you have a drill in your hand.:laugh:

I really want to marry a dentist. I think female dentists are SOOO HOT!😍 I wish I was a dentist.

-Disillusioned

Not for me.



But I agree that you really are Disillusioned.
 
Who wouldn't want to get paid to put their instrument in people's mouths all day?
 
Being a good Sumeritan and telling all you struggling premeds to go to Dental school!

The advantage of dental schools is that for 4 years of training, you make more money than primary care docs. For 3 more years of training, you make more money than most specialist physicians.

You have no midlevel competition/future encroachment on your turf. You dont have IMG's flooding your residency programs and thus meeting the national demand and lowering future salaries. Dentists dont allow non US grads to get licensed unless they redo Dental school.

Your payment/salaries will be under the radar and not a national debate so you can continue to charge 100 dollars for 5 mins with the patient and nobody questions it. People are so angry at physicians, that society doesnt bother looking at dentists.

You are all fee for service, very little insurance, which makes your business more profitable than half of MD/DO practices.

You also rarely carry pagers and the reality of being "on call" is known to very few dentists, outside of omfs' residents.

Seems to me like it is a much better gig to go the dental route.

Half the board exams MD/Do's need to take.

1/4 of the lawsuits/liability insurance.

In the end it is all about MONEY and LIFESTYLE!! you make more, you work less when out in practice, you have no call, you are fee for service/no insurance, Obama isnt busting your nutsack and people pay you 100 bucks because their tooth hurts and you have a drill in your hand.:laugh:

I really want to marry a dentist. I think female dentists are SOOO HOT!😍 I wish I was a dentist.

-Disillusioned
This is awful advice. The primary reason i want to become a physician is not because of the money, it's a hell of a lot deeper than that.

i have some advice for you too buddy. Stay out of medicine, because you're the kind of physician everyone hates.
 
You are all so innocent, naive and innocent. Best of luck! Dont say I didnt tell you so when you are an intern!:laugh:👍

check out the "you will get sued" thread. lol.

and remember...interest is one thing, lifestyle is another. will you still be interested 3 months into a q3or4 call schedule, 4-5 hrs of sleep a night avg, attendings screaming at you, no time to work out/eat. oh wait, but the prestige will make it all worth it in the END. (when/where was "the End" again...after you get into a neurosurg residency program...but wait, there's 7 years of q3-4 after that...or maybe when you start practicing NS...oh wait, it is still q 3-4 and what about the lawsuits?)

Neurosurgeon: 400-700k/yr ; 80+ hrs a wk, LAWSUITS
Orthodontist (he does your braces): 300-700k a yr. 45 hrs a wk. (wait, that means if you worked 80+ hrs/wk you'd make 1.2 million a yr!)

still "interested"?

oh wait, I forgot the prestige. Grey's Anatomy has a NS in it, but no orthodontist. That'll make it worth it bc if I'm a fat NS I will get more women/men than a healthy Orthodontist and people will respect me during my three weeks of vacation a year when I ski at Vale. PLEASE!!!! lol

(note I use I examples of specialists, bc everyone on here wants to be a Radiologist/specialist. News flash: only 1/3 of you will make it. The rest will make the same/less than a CRNA. Let the Rat Race begin!!!! Knives anyone...who's got their back turned???)
 
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yes dental is the practical choice for those interested in a healthcare profession that allows them to make a lot of money with great lifestyle... but that wont work for most premeds because:

1) prestige. lets face it, many premeds are prestigewh*res. the layman thinks md is more prestigious, tougher to get into and survive (*cough, residency, on call, cough*) and we all know it. md>ddm/dds
2) variety. who wants to settle for mouths when the "world"/body is [potentially] your oyster as a med student?
3)happiness. most think they will lead happier lives doing what they love, and are way more interested in medicine than dentistry.
4)challenge. sure, there is repetition in any field, but the perception is that dentists will be doing the same few procedures their whole life. i imagine most premeds don't want to be bored at work lol. :rolls eyes:
5) everyone hated going to the dentist as a child.

EDIT: i should add that i have nothing against dentists and pre-dents. also, the above statements are not necessarily my own opinions. instead, i think those are the main/most popular reasons premeds don't choose dentistry.
 
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This list sounds more biased than a michael moore documentary
 
If you have a heart attack or a stroke one day, I sure hope your beloved dentist will come rescue you.

Before you start criticizing premeds, remember that doctors do a very great service to humanity. That sacrifice of good working hours and years in school is so that we can help people like you.
 
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I totally agree that dental is the best choice when factoring solely on work hrs and money, etc. like listed above.

But, for the work, I find it too boring and repetitive. I like a variety and when someone screams out in a movie theater, Is there a doctor in the house?

I can say "YES" and try to save them. Not just fill their cavity or clean their teeth.

That is priceless to me. But, to each their own!!
 
I am having trouble believing an orthodontist makes similar money to a neurosurgeon. I sense a pre dent vs pre med war.. Back to the Pre Dental forums with you people!
 
Being a good Sumeritan and telling all you struggling premeds to go to Dental school!

The advantage of dental schools is that for 4 years of training, you make more money than primary care docs. For 3 more years of training, you make more money than most specialist physicians.

You have no midlevel competition/future encroachment on your turf. You dont have IMG's flooding your residency programs and thus meeting the national demand and lowering future salaries. Dentists dont allow non US grads to get licensed unless they redo Dental school.

Your payment/salaries will be under the radar and not a national debate so you can continue to charge 100 dollars for 5 mins with the patient and nobody questions it. People are so angry at physicians, that society doesnt bother looking at dentists.

You are all fee for service, very little insurance, which makes your business more profitable than half of MD/DO practices.

You also rarely carry pagers and the reality of being "on call" is known to very few dentists, outside of omfs' residents.

Seems to me like it is a much better gig to go the dental route.

Half the board exams MD/Do's need to take.

1/4 of the lawsuits/liability insurance.

They look at teeth, we look at hemorrhoids.

In the end it is all about MONEY and LIFESTYLE!! you make more, you work less when out in practice, you have no call, you are fee for service/no insurance, Obama isnt busting your b**** and people pay you 100 bucks because their tooth hurts and you have a drill in your hand.:laugh:

I really want to marry a dentist. I think female dentists are SOOO HOT!😍 I wish I was a dentist.

-Disillusioned

Maybe if enough people emphasize the point that taking care of ones teeth are just as important as caring for every other body component then govt will step in and make them part of the package :meanie:
 

wow...plaz...what's on your mind? Do you have a thing for "anuses"....you know people say you can spot a proctologist a mile away. I wonder if that applies to you :meanie::laugh:

just joshing you...don't get all mad
 
You are all so innocent, naive and innocent. Best of luck! Dont say I didnt tell you so when you are an intern!:laugh:👍

check out the "you will get sued" thread. lol.

and remember...interest is one thing, lifestyle is another. will you still be interested 3 months into a q3or4 call schedule, 4-5 hrs of sleep a night avg, attendings screaming at you, no time to work out/eat. oh wait, but the prestige will make it all worth it in the END. (when/where was "the End" again...after you get into a neurosurg residency program...but wait, there's 7 years of q3-4 after that...or maybe when you start practicing NS...oh wait, it is still q 3-4 and what about the lawsuits?)

Neurosurgeon: 400-700k/yr ; 80+ hrs a wk, LAWSUITS
Orthodontist (he does your braces): 300-700k a yr. 45 hrs a wk. (wait, that means if you worked 80+ hrs/wk you'd make 1.2 million a yr!)

still "interested"?

oh wait, I forgot the prestige. Grey's Anatomy has a NS in it, but no orthodontist. That'll make it worth it bc if I'm a fat NS I will get more women/men than a healthy Orthodontist and people will respect me during my three weeks of vacation a year when I ski at Vale. PLEASE!!!! lol

(note I use I examples of specialists, bc everyone on here wants to be a Radiologist/specialist. News flash: only 1/3 of you will make it. The rest will make the same/less than a CRNA. Let the Rat Race begin!!!! Knives anyone...who's got their back turned???)

this screams of step-sibling syndrome....yes ZuperZtar...people do 😍 you. It will be ok!
 
I mean if you want to look at money and lifestyle there are plenty of other things you could do. I went to a good college, I could be in finance making four times as much for less work. I could be a full time ski patroller for the lifestyle. I could be a lawyer, go to school for three years and make more money than as an MD.

So what? I'd rather be an doctor than live my life as any of those things.
 
Being a good Sumeritan and telling all you struggling premeds to go to Dental school!

The advantage of dental schools is that for 4 years of training, you make more money than primary care docs. For 3 more years of training, you make more money than most specialist physicians.

You have no midlevel competition/future encroachment on your turf. You dont have IMG's flooding your residency programs and thus meeting the national demand and lowering future salaries. Dentists dont allow non US grads to get licensed unless they redo Dental school.

Your payment/salaries will be under the radar and not a national debate so you can continue to charge 100 dollars for 5 mins with the patient and nobody questions it. People are so angry at physicians, that society doesnt bother looking at dentists.

You are all fee for service, very little insurance, which makes your business more profitable than half of MD/DO practices.

You also rarely carry pagers and the reality of being "on call" is known to very few dentists, outside of omfs' residents.

Seems to me like it is a much better gig to go the dental route.

Half the board exams MD/Do's need to take.

1/4 of the lawsuits/liability insurance.

They look at teeth, we look at hemorrhoids.

In the end it is all about MONEY and LIFESTYLE!! you make more, you work less when out in practice, you have no call, you are fee for service/no insurance, Obama isnt busting your b**** and people pay you 100 bucks because their tooth hurts and you have a drill in your hand.:laugh:

I really want to marry a dentist. I think female dentists are SOOO HOT!😍 I wish I was a dentist.

-Disillusioned

All the dentist I know are drunkards.
 
You premeds should be happy...if this guy converts a few people you might have less competition to medical school!

Oh wait, then I might have more competition for dental school...

Medicine is the way to go. Don't go into dentistry guys. 😉
 
I'm a premed but I always find it ridiculous when people bring up the whole is there a doctor in the house thing. Unless your carry a pharmacy or a defibrillator everywhere you go the only thing your going to do when someone is stroking out or having a heart attack is CPR and call 911.
 
dang it...I really really really hate those poses that tell people to give up medical to do something else..do they think we are gonna change our minds because of what they said...
If they think dental is Sooo great, then go for it..kudos to them...what I do with my future is my choice and I am sick of hearing stuff like this...
 
Imo, dental is not intellectually stimulating in any way. I would rather go into an E-ROAD (EM, Rads, Optho, Anesthesiology, Derm) specialty if I wanted money and good lifestyle. I don't think any kid grows up thinking "I want to fix people's teeth when I grow up."
 
dang it...I really really really hate those poses that tell people to give up medical to do something else..do they think we are gonna change our minds because of what they said...
If they think dental is Sooo great, then go for it..kudos to them...what I do with my future is my choice and I am sick of hearing stuff like this...

I like it. Keeps me second-guessing my career choice, which is good.
 
I hate going to the dentist for a cleaning, why would I want to spend my life as one?
 
I have no interest in dentistry, would rather just go into business if money is the goal.
 
Someone answer this please.

I was thinking today that the actual reason I want to avoid medicine is because my dad is pushing me into it. Since the guy is a real ******* (randomly gets pissed off and stuff)

Could this be a reason why I'm avoiding it so much? I just don't want to make HIM happy.
 
Someone answer this please.

I was thinking today that the actual reason I want to avoid medicine is because my dad is pushing me into it. Since the guy is a real ******* (randomly gets pissed off and stuff)

Could this be a reason why I'm avoiding it so much? I just don't want to make HIM happy.
wow...I can see you are really twisted...LOL...
it's just like me..at first I wanted to be a medical examiner..my mom totally blasted me for that (she said she would disown me if I do..)..because of that..I became increasingly interested in medical examiner career...until I found MEDICINE...LOL..jk..
 
lol! I would probably die of boredom 🙁 ...... mouth hole all day long.
 
Imo, dental is not intellectually stimulating in any way. I would rather go into an E-ROAD (EM, Rads, Optho, Anesthesiology, Derm) specialty if I wanted money and good lifestyle. I don't think any kid grows up thinking "I want to fix people's teeth when I grow up."

why is it called E-ROAD? i thought it was ROADS. EM has a good lifestyle and money? i dont get it.
 
I am having trouble believing an orthodontist makes similar money to a neurosurgeon. I sense a pre dent vs pre med war.. Back to the Pre Dental forums with you people!
I could see it happening right now. Here's what I hear. Its pretty epic.

Dentist Messenger: Choose your next words carefully, Doctor. They may be your last as king.
Doctor: [to himself: thinking] "Earth and water"?
[Leonidas unsheathes and points his sword at the Messenger's throat]
Dentist: Madman! You're a madman!
Doctor: Earth and water? You'll find plenty of both down there.
Dentist: No man, Dentist or Doctor, no man threatens a messenger!
Doctor: You bring the crowns and heads of conquered doctors to my hospital steps. You insult my queen. You threaten my nurses with slavery and death! Oh, I've chosen my words carefully, Persian. Perhaps you should have done the same!
Messenger: This is blasphemy! This is madness!
Doctor: Madness...?
[shouting]
Doctor: This is [insert hospital name here]!


Queen Gorgo: Doctor!
King Leonidas: Yes, my lady?
Queen Gorgo: Come back with your scrubs, or on it.
King Leonidas: Yes, my lady.


Daxos: I see I was wrong to expect the MD's commitment to at least match our own.
King Leonidas: Doesn't it?
[points to Homeopathic Soldiers behind Daxos]
King Leonidas: You there, what is your profession?
Free Homeopathic: I am a homeopathic pharmacist... sir.
King Leonidas: [points to another doctor] And you, what is your profession?
Free Homeopathic: homeopathic therapist, sir.
King Leonidas: therapist.
[turns to a third soldier]
King Leonidas: You?
Free Homeopathic: homeopathic masseuse.
King Leonidas: [turns back shouting] MDs! What is your profession?
MDs: HA-OOH! HA-OOH! HA-OOH!
King Leonidas: [turning to Daxos] You see, old friend? I brought more doctors than you did."



"Our ancestors built this wall using ancient stones from the bosom of the med-school herself. And with a little pre-med help, your pre-dental scouts supplied the mortar."

"DOCTORS! GIVE THEM NOTHING, BUT TAKE FROM THEM...EVERYTHING!! CAUSE THIS IS WHERE WE FIGHT, AND THIS IS WHERE THEY DIE! "

(We should replace King Leonidas with Avicenna)
 
To the OP:

Clearly you are in internal medicine, which is known to be brutal, but what if you had chosen psych or one of the road specialties or even path where the brutality isn't as bad as internal medicine? Do you feel that you would still be professing dentistry as a career? While I agree with your posts, I just can't seem to agree that there isn't somewhere in medicine that would fit someone who needs something less demanding as IM.
 
Neurosurgeon: 400-700k/yr ; 80+ hrs a wk, LAWSUITS
Orthodontist (he does your braces): 300-700k a yr. 45 hrs a wk. (wait, that means if you worked 80+ hrs/wk you'd make 1.2 million a yr!)

Woah, woah. Since when do orthodontists make 300-700K. Last I heard the national average (according to the labor bureau) was 180K.

Also, keep in mind procedures done by dentists and orthodontists (ESPECIALLY the latter) are all elective. As soon the economy gets bad, guess which one isn't a priority anymore, how white and straight your teeth are, or that urge to satisfy your curiosity about that puss that's coming out with your stool.
 
Woah, woah. Since when do orthodontists make 300-700K. Last I heard the national average (according to the labor bureau) was 180K.

Also, keep in mind procedures done by dentists and orthodontists (ESPECIALLY the latter) are all elective. As soon the economy gets bad, guess which one isn't a priority anymore, how white and straight your teeth are, or that urge to satisfy your curiosity about that puss that's coming out with your stool.

Those are salaried ortho's, not private practice ones.
 
Those are salaried ortho's, not private practice ones.

Well the labor department doesn't distinguish between them, so I'm assuming since the average salary has been dragged so low MOST orthodontists are salaried?

My orthodontists (yeah I wear braces 🙁 ) does have a nice huge office though...and he's like 30. But then again he did go to Harvard :laugh:

That being said, if I WAS pursuing a career for money making purposes, dental would probably be high on the list. 180k is still really high for a 45 hr wk, self employed position.
 
no one mentioned that in the next 25-50 years the body is going to change. What we call "medicine" today will be a joke in years to come where were able to hook brains up to a computer and completely redefine what consciousness is. A dentist may have trouble grasping hte implications.
 
I totally agree that dental is the best choice when factoring solely on work hrs and money, etc. like listed above.

But, for the work, I find it too boring and repetitive. I like a variety and when someone screams out in a movie theater, Is there a doctor in the house?

I can say "YES" and try to save them. Not just fill their cavity or clean their teeth.

That is priceless to me. But, to each their own!!

hahahaha
I can imagine that too

"STEP BACK EVERYONE! I'M A DENTIST" *takes out drill*

Like the dentist from Hangover :laugh:
"you're not a real doctor!"
 
...

yes dental is the practical choice for those interested in a healthcare profession that allows them to make a lot of money with great lifestyle... but that wont work for most premeds because:

1) prestige. lets face it, many premeds are prestigewh*res. the layman thinks md is more prestigious, tougher to get into and survive (*cough, residency, on call, cough*) and we all know it. md>ddm/dds If people want the prestige, more power to them. I would rather relax and not worry about what people thought about me and my profession.

2) variety. who wants to settle for mouths when the "world"/body is [potentially] your oyster as a med student? The main difference between medical students and dental students is that we choose our 'specialty of medicine' before we get into our doctorate program. We choose to work in the oral cavity and all associated head and neck structures before we enter the program. If I wanted to be a urologist, cardiologist, neurosurgeon, etc., then I would have goe to medical school. People, including pre-meds and medical students make the claim that they wouldn't wat to work in someone's mouth all the time. Personally, I'd rather work in a mouth. There are specialties in medicine where it is far nastier. Gastroenterology and OB/GYN are the first two that immediately pop into mind.


3)happiness. most think they will lead happier lives doing what they love, and are way more interested in medicine than dentistry. To each is his/her own. I actually love working with my hands and love being able to create smiles! I don't care what anyone else feels is more interesting. I loke dentistry. Who cares what the public perceives. (again, I agree with the prestigewh*res comment here😀)


4)challenge. sure, there is repetition in any field, but the perception is that dentists will be doing the same few procedures their whole life. i imagine most premeds don't want to be bored at work lol. :rolls eyes:
Perception is the key word here. Most (not all) physicians, med students, pre-meds don't know much about dentistry. There is a lot more to it than you know. I am not going to try to get into any residency program because it limits what you can do just like medicine. I like it all. Therefore, I don't see myself getting bored.

5) everyone hated going to the dentist as a child. Not everyone. Again, a perception. There are a lot of kids who don't have a problem. The kids that are bad are the ones who have parents that are scared. And one of my goals is to help reduce this fear early on in a child's life.

EDIT: i should add that i have nothing against dentists and pre-dents. also, the above statements are not necessarily my own opinions. instead, i think those are the main/most popular reasons premeds don't choose dentistry. And I have nothing against physicians, med students and pre-meds. I was one once before I saw the light. Then I realized that I wanted what a career in dentistry could offer me and what most specialties in medicine couldn't - a family life without being on call all the time.
 
All the dentist I know are drunkards.

Really? Maybe I'd fit in better in dentistry then.

Half-jokes aside, I sometimes consider dentistry as an alternative, but I really don't think I'd be happy at it. Maybe I would; I don't really know how I could find out without doing it for a while. Maybe I'd even hate medicine once I've been in it for a couple years, but from the experiences I've had with both, I can see myself doing any of several medical specialties for the rest of my life and loving it. I can't see liking dentistry.

Clearly, for some people, it's the other way around. Wonderful. Without them, we wouldn't have dentists.

Everybody just keep on keepin' on.
 
All the dentist I know are drunkards.

It's not that we are drunkards. We just have plenty of time on our hands (because of the career we chose to pursue) and we know how to have a good time! 😀 Seriously, I could say the say aboutthat a lot of physicians, lawyers, firemen, cops, etc that I know are drunkards. But to say, all dentists you know are drunkards, I think that is being a little stereotypical.
 
It's not that we are drunkards. We just have plenty of time on our hands (because of the career we chose to pursue) and we know how to have a good time! 😀 Seriously, I could say the say aboutthat a lot of physicians, lawyers, firemen, cops, etc that I know are drunkards. But to say, all dentists you know are drunkards, I think that is being a little stereotypical.


I thought that was the point of this thread.
 
This is awful advice. The primary reason i want to become a physician is not because of the money, it's a hell of a lot deeper than that.

i have some advice for you too buddy. Stay out of medicine, because you're the kind of physician everyone hates.

lol, I am 100% positive if Doctors got paid 50k max I wouldnt find you within 400 miles of an MD School.
 
lol, I am 100% positive if Doctors got paid 50k max I wouldnt find you within 400 miles of an MD School.

No one who was smart would. High paid professions necessarily attract the best and the brightest. Who would you rather have treating you -- the supergenius who went into medicine because he was passionate about it, and felt that he would be compensated well for his talents, or Bob who has trisomy-21 but wanted to devote his life to philanthropy in the guise of a 50k/year salary?
 
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