What influenced your desire to be a dentist the most?

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What influenced your desire to be a dentist the most?

  • My dentist I went to growing up was awesome!

    Votes: 9 7.8%

  • One of my parents is a dentist.

    Votes: 8 7.0%

  • I have a relative who is a dentist (non-parent).

    Votes: 6 5.2%

  • I am crazy about teeth!

    Votes: 8 7.0%

  • Dentistry just happened to match my talents.

    Votes: 34 29.6%

  • Money!

    Votes: 19 16.5%

  • Starting my own business has appeal to me.

    Votes: 21 18.3%

  • Other: Elaborate and explain below.

    Votes: 10 8.7%
  • Total voters
    115
good question... my pops was a dentist but had little influence on my decision to make this my profession... it was more that my skills/talents and desires for the future were in line with what dentistry has to offer
 
I went with "other"....Lifestyle is key for me.

Not necessarily the money, but rather, the hours of a dentist will allow me to spend more time with family and friends, while still being able to partake in activities that I enjoy.
 
career change.
 
I'll be honest, it's the money and the flexible hours.
 
Rezdawg said:
I went with "other"....Lifestyle is key for me.

Not necessarily the money, but rather, the hours of a dentist will allow me to spend more time with family and friends, while still being able to partake in activities that I enjoy.
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I'm with you, Rez! I wanted to work in the health field, but doing something that actually let me see my family when we're both awake. 👍 👍
 
For me it was the patient/doctor relationship and the immediate satisfaction of delivering care for someone. Somebody comes into your office with a frown and a horrible tooth ache, and you're able to help them and send them home with a smile!
 
I initially wanted to go to med school, I have a lot of physicans in my family, and I felt this enormous pressure to go to med school. However, when I spoke to med students, residents, they seemed miserable at how little time they had for anything else. Personally, I want a family someday, and I want to be home with them when they are.

I still wanted to have a health care profession, so I started looking into other ones such as, Optometry, Speech Pathology, nursing, xray technician, etc... and then I found Dentistry. I realized what a cool field it actually was, you combined so many different skills, I was impressed. Thus, it became my new quest 😉
 
burton117 said:
What influenced your desire to be a dentist the most? 😀
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Many reasons, actually. My boyfriends dad is a dentist and many times a year he goes down to different parts of Latin & South America (actually he is in Quito, Ecuador) for missions trips. He and his family go down and pull teeth for free for extremely underpriviliged people. All they must do to receive the service is to watch a 30 minute skit about Christ. I know you can do missions without being a health professional but I know that bringing a service as well as a message speaks volumes to people.

Aside from that it is a great profession that brings a great lifestyle.
 
Lets not kid ourselves with "my dad was this, my want for freedom that". Those factors may have played a slight role BUT...

We are ALL ex-premeds who didn't cut it and did the next best thing. Which much to our delight seems like a better choice now anyway.
 
NEVER did I consider med school, so not all of us are in the same boat.
 
Never ever wanted to be pre-med. Sorry, you're wrong. Leave your generalities elsewhere. 😡

Actually, my grades are better than most of the "pre-meds" I know. Maybe you just didn't study hard enough... :idea:
 
Actually, applying to med school never crossed my head; 😴
I find dentistry more exciting for its "artistic side". I love sculpture! Plus, who wants a lawyer up thier a$$ 24-7?
 
paolorossifan said:
Lets not kid ourselves with "my dad was this, my want for freedom that". Those factors may have played a slight role BUT...

We are ALL ex-premeds who didn't cut it and did the next best thing. Which much to our delight seems like a better choice now anyway.
Click to expand...

Although dental school is often a fall back for ex-premeds, not all dental students are ex-premeds.

Me, I'm a surgeon and I do have time to see my family. My training was long and difficult, but in the end, it has paid of substantially...both financially and job satisfaction.

In the end, all we do what we do to be happy...if teeth is your thing...thing go for it!
 
i am bored.

i will say that i am an ex-premed that applied to med school last year and got wait listed. i will also say that was one of the best things that has happened to me - not getting accepted. As I realized that I was always pushing myself to go to medicine for no other reason than it was what I always thought was best for me. Stepping back gave me a reason to look at I wanted to do later and from this I realized that the hours spent becoming a doctor could be placed somewhere more worth while.

In the end what is the purpose of life?
 
paolorossifan said:
Lets not kid ourselves with "my dad was this, my want for freedom that". Those factors may have played a slight role BUT...

We are ALL ex-premeds who didn't cut it and did the next best thing. Which much to our delight seems like a better choice now anyway.
Click to expand...

Umm... I didnt apply to medical... and I could have gotten in if I wanted to, maybe not to the school of my choice, but Ive seen people with really bad stats get in, you have to be motivated and creative but it is possible. So if you can get into dental, you can probably get into medical, it will just take more time and effort
 
Of course many will still deny "med school never crossed their mind". Ah well, doesn't really matter now.
 
pink-rose57 said:
Never ever wanted to be pre-med. Sorry, you're wrong. Leave your generalities elsewhere. 😡

Actually, my grades are better than most of the "pre-meds" I know. Maybe you just didn't study hard enough... :idea:
Click to expand...

I suppose I didn't study hard enough, but hey I didn't too bad now did I?
 
paolorossifan said:
Lets not kid ourselves with "my dad was this, my want for freedom that". Those factors may have played a slight role BUT...

We are ALL ex-premeds who didn't cut it and did the next best thing. Which much to our delight seems like a better choice now anyway.
Click to expand...

Lot's of people get into med school with my similar stats and experience. With my EMT certification and 5 years of hospital experience I had one of my interviewers for dental school ask me why I wasn't applying for medical school when I had a great background for it. So, I don't really think that I "couldn't cut it."

I chose dentistry because when I compared dentistry to all the other possible occupations, I liked it best.
 
I lost all my teeth to Ecstacy in my early 20's. By attending dental school, I would get a free set of full denture and 70% discount for a second set . :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
 
msf41 said:
Lot's of people get into med school with my similar stats and experience. With my EMT certification and 5 years of hospital experience I had one of my interviewers for dental school ask me why I wasn't applying for medical school when I had a great background for it. So, I don't really think that I "couldn't cut it."

I chose dentistry because when I compared dentistry to all the other possible occupations, I liked it best.
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Sure.
 
paolorossifan said:
Of course many will still deny "med school never crossed their mind". Ah well, doesn't really matter now.
Click to expand...

It actually did cross my mind, as a backup - if I didn't get into to any of my top choice d-schools, I was considering applying to med school. But then I realised that that was a tad backwards (much as was my initial plan to apply to Harvard - I figured it would be a backup, as I'd only go if I got in nowhere else. And then I realised that the whole thing was a bit ridiculous - who wants to be bothered to fly to Boston for an interview? - so I gave it up.) So yes, I did think about med school, but only as a backup for the precise reasons I ennumerated above - my work is NOT my life, and I intend that it never will be.

Sorry for the long annoying post, but that's another one of my pet peeves - like don't assume I attend a CUNY just because I'm too dumb to go to an ivy league. Everyone has his own reasons for the decisions he makes, and just because some people go to d-school because they can't cut med school - just because some people go to city colleges becuase they couldn't get into an ivy league - does not mean that is true for all people, or even most. I had a prof who made that assumtion and I had a niggling urge the whole semester to take my orgo book and whap him over the head with it 😡 .
 
HuyetKiem said:
I lost all my teeth to Ecstacy in my early 20's. By attending dental school, I would get a free set of full denture and 70% discount for a second set . :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
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Sounds good to me :laugh:. I was thinking that once in d-school, I might as well get my wisdom teeth extracted - it'll be good practise for my fellow students, right?? 😀
 
For me, it's a mix of everything... a sense of fulfillment through helping the patients gain confidence about themselves, helping them alleviate their pains, doing hands-on procedures, opportunities to give back to community, autonomy, financial security, being able to enjoy my hobbies and spend time w/ family and friends.

"I like helping people but not on the weekends" 😉
 
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