If I'm not 100% gun ho/excited about the tasks in dentistry, should I reconsider

Stacker · Jun 2, 2011

If I'm not 100% gung ho and excited about tasks involved in dentistry, should I reconsider my career choice?

For the longest time my reasons for choosing the dentistry path was superficial reasons.
1) Science and manual craftsmanship are melded into a single field

After hearing that milk makes your teeth strong and loosing one of my baby teeth, I placed the tooth into a container with milk believing that the tooth would grow larger and turn whiter. Two days later I opened the container and was overwhelmed by the stench produced by the tooth. This would be my sparking interest in teeth and science in general, not necessarily dentistry.
In middle school I began to consider career choices and I aspired to become a video game designer because like many children at that time I loved playing video games and played it constantly. From middle school to high school I really enjoyed "shop" class where we would build mechanical projects. I only enjoyed the task of being able to be independently design an object and follow through with creation. I was motivated by the feeling of accomplishment from seeing a completed project. In high school I took more science classes grew an interest. I defaulted to choose the health care route and found the daily surgical aspect of dentistry appealing as well as the subject in general.

Now in college, I've been on the predental route because of secondary benefits you all know of: 1) owning your own business, 2) pay, 3) work hours.
But I need much better reasons than this to stay on the predental route and I feel like I don't have enough intrinsic motivations. So far the following reasons are why I stay on the predental route: 1) I have an interest in the science of oral health but only to the extent of oral disease and healthy tooth growth, 2) I think I would enjoy sculpting aspect and aesthetics, 3) building relationships with people while promoting their health.

But I have never, never, experienced or felt anything that would serve as a "calling" towards dentistry.
As a result I am not absolute towards building a career in this field. I'm probably 80% sure. The other 20% arise from not being emotional connected to this career.

How do you guys feel about your decision and the experiences that led you to make that decision?

Double Bonded · Jun 2, 2011

Stacker said:
If I'm not 100% gun ho and excited about tasks involved in dentistry, should I reconsider my career choice?

For the longest time my reasons for choosing the dentistry path was superficial reasons.
1) Science and manual craftsmanship are melded into a single field

After hearing that milk makes your teeth strong and loosing one of my baby teeth, I placed the tooth into a container with milk believing that the tooth would grow larger and turn whiter. Two days later I opened the container and was overwhelmed by the stench produced by the tooth. This would be my sparking interest in teeth and science in general, not necessarily dentistry.

In middle school I began to consider career choices and I aspired to become a video game designer because like many children at that time I loved playing video games and played it constantly. From middle school to high school I really enjoyed "shop" class where we would build mechanical projects. I only enjoyed the task of being able to be independently design an object and follow through with creation. I was motivated by the feeling of accomplishment from seeing a completed project.

Now in college, I've been on the predental route because of secondary benefits you all know of: 1) owning your own business, 2) pay, 3) work hours.
But I need much better reasons than this to stay on the predental route and I feel like I don't have enough intrinsic motivations. So far the following reasons are why I stay on the predental route: 1) I have an interest in the science of oral health but only to the extent of oral disease and healthy tooth growth, 2) I think I would enjoy sculpting aspect and aesthetics, 3) building relationships with people while promoting their health.

But I have never, never, experienced or felt anything that would serve as a "calling" towards dentistry.
As a result I am not absolute towards building a career in this field. I'm probably 80% sure. The other 20% arise from not being emotional connected to this career.

How do you guys feel about your decision and the experiences that led you to make that decision?

You seems like you're being rational and reasonable about your career decision, figuring out if you want stability or novelty/excitement.

I would suggest you go out and shadow other professions, it's the best way to find out what would be the best fit for you. I shadowed about 5 or 6 different physicians before I realized that the reality of medicine is starkly different from my expectations.

Shadow and explore your options.

dentalWorks · Jun 2, 2011

Stacker said:
If I'm not 100% gun ho and excited about tasks involved in dentistry, should I reconsider my career choice?

For the longest time my reasons for choosing the dentistry path was superficial reasons.
1) Science and manual craftsmanship are melded into a single field

After hearing that milk makes your teeth strong and loosing one of my baby teeth, I placed the tooth into a container with milk believing that the tooth would grow larger and turn whiter. Two days later I opened the container and was overwhelmed by the stench produced by the tooth. This would be my sparking interest in teeth and science in general, not necessarily dentistry.

In middle school I began to consider career choices and I aspired to become a video game designer because like many children at that time I loved playing video games and played it constantly. From middle school to high school I really enjoyed "shop" class where we would build mechanical projects. I only enjoyed the task of being able to be independently design an object and follow through with creation. I was motivated by the feeling of accomplishment from seeing a completed project. In high school I took more science classes grew an interest. I defaulted to choose the health care route and found the daily surgical aspect of dentistry appealing as well as the subject in general.

Now in college, I've been on the predental route because of secondary benefits you all know of: 1) owning your own business, 2) pay, 3) work hours.
But I need much better reasons than this to stay on the predental route and I feel like I don't have enough intrinsic motivations. So far the following reasons are why I stay on the predental route: 1) I have an interest in the science of oral health but only to the extent of oral disease and healthy tooth growth, 2) I think I would enjoy sculpting aspect and aesthetics, 3) building relationships with people while promoting their health.

But I have never, never, experienced or felt anything that would serve as a "calling" towards dentistry.
As a result I am not absolute towards building a career in this field. I'm probably 80% sure. The other 20% arise from not being emotional connected to this career.

How do you guys feel about your decision and the experiences that led you to make that decision?

You can always shape your career however way you like. You can be a dentist who owns his own business, or you can be an associate for others. You can specialize and focus on only 1 aspect of dentistry or, go general practice and do a variety of things. You can go into academics/research or be a clinician. You can move into a big city or move to more undeserved / rural areas. You can do so many things with this degree, based on what you desire..... However

You can never shape how you naturally feel about things. If you hate interacting with people, you might hate dentistry. If you are a klutz and hate working with ur hands, you might hate dentistry. If you wanna be a millionaire, you might hate dentistry (or most other fields for that matter). etc etc.

The point is, we can't exactly tell you if your right or wrong because ultimately, ur the only one who can answer those questions.

7 Iron · Jun 2, 2011

Stacker said:
If I'm not 100% gun ho and excited about tasks involved in dentistry, should I reconsider my career choice?

For the longest time my reasons for choosing the dentistry path was superficial reasons.

1) Science and manual craftsmanship are melded into a single field

After hearing that milk makes your teeth strong and loosing one of my baby teeth, I placed the tooth into a container with milk believing that the tooth would grow larger and turn whiter. Two days later I opened the container and was overwhelmed by the stench produced by the tooth. This would be my sparking interest in teeth and science in general, not necessarily dentistry.

In middle school I began to consider career choices and I aspired to become a video game designer because like many children at that time I loved playing video games and played it constantly. From middle school to high school I really enjoyed "shop" class where we would build mechanical projects. I only enjoyed the task of being able to be independently design an object and follow through with creation. I was motivated by the feeling of accomplishment from seeing a completed project. In high school I took more science classes grew an interest. I defaulted to choose the health care route and found the daily surgical aspect of dentistry appealing as well as the subject in general.

Now in college, I've been on the predental route because of secondary benefits you all know of: 1) owning your own business, 2) pay, 3) work hours.
But I need much better reasons than this to stay on the predental route and I feel like I don't have enough intrinsic motivations. So far the following reasons are why I stay on the predental route: 1) I have an interest in the science of oral health but only to the extent of oral disease and healthy tooth growth, 2) I think I would enjoy sculpting aspect and aesthetics, 3) building relationships with people while promoting their health.

But I have never, never, experienced or felt anything that would serve as a "calling" towards dentistry.
As a result I am not absolute towards building a career in this field. I'm probably 80% sure. The other 20% arise from not being emotional connected to this career.

How do you guys feel about your decision and the experiences that led you to make that decision?

I think you have good reasons for pursuing dentistry. Especially this one: Science and manual craftsmanship are melded into a single field. Where else can you get this?

As the previous poster said, if you haven't considered other health professions you might want to shadow in other areas. I think you might be a bit apprehensive of taking the next steps and applying/starting dental school. There are very few people who feel a "calling" to become a dentist. After all, dentistry is just a job like every other job. It just has a lot of advantages, too.

Stacker · Jun 4, 2011

If you had my personal feelings about this, would you still pursue?
Just because I don't have any burning feeling towards this field, doesn't mean that I should abandon it, does it? I just can't seem to find any better choice and I feel as if I chose dentistry out of compromise with the only negative being that I don't have a burning passion for this field.
Sure public service does provide me with the stimulus of fulfillment and contribution but...I don't know.

JustwantDDS · Jun 4, 2011

Stacker said:
If you had my personal feelings about this, would you still pursue?
Just because I don't have any burning feeling towards this field, doesn't mean that I should abandon it, does it? I just can't seem to find any better choice and I feel as if I chose dentistry out of compromise with the only negative being that I don't have a burning passion for this field.
Sure public service does provide me with the stimulus of fulfillment and contribution but...I don't know.

i dont think you should give up just because u dont feel 100% AMAZED or called to dentistry, i dont think we all have this inner voice that we just know we must be a dentist.
does everybody here truly LOVE TEETH ??? um, probably not.
everyone has their reasons but you sound like you have some good solid reasons for why you want to be a dentist and if you feel like the lifestyle fits go for it.

dentalWorks · Jun 4, 2011

Stacker said:
If you had my personal feelings about this, would you still pursue?
Just because I don't have any burning feeling towards this field, doesn't mean that I should abandon it, does it? I just can't seem to find any better choice and I feel as if I chose dentistry out of compromise with the only negative being that I don't have a burning passion for this field.
Sure public service does provide me with the stimulus of fulfillment and contribution but...I don't know.

well... I doubt anyone can have that kinda desire especially since none of us really know. We've never worked as dentists before.

For the young undergrad starter, you either (instinctively) enjoy going into a field or you don't. I could see myself doing alot of things (denstiry, engineering, etc) but there are certain things I would NEVER attempt to do (pharmacy school, Nursing, Law school, etc) I have zero interest in these areas.

If I had your feelings, I would still pursue dentistry

youknowthedrill · Jun 4, 2011

If you had said that you were exploring dentistry as a career because your parents told you to do this, then I would say you need to do something else. But that's not the case and you shouldn't give it up unless something else starts pulling at you (or you decide you hate dentistry). It seems like you have evaluated the things you like to do and found a reasonable fit in dentistry. Have you shadowed any dentists yet? I think you would enjoy the profession. It sounds like you'd be a good fit as a general dentist or oral surgeon. You might also like becoming a physician and pursuing one of the surgical specialties. Good luck on your quest!

amalgamgrillz · Jun 4, 2011

Do you have a GPA over 3.2 or an AA over 22? If so, then yes, switch career options. Less competition for us.

JustwantDDS · Jun 4, 2011

amalgamgrillz said:
Do you have a GPA over 3.2 or an AA over 22? If so, then yes, switch career options. Less competition for us.

If I'm not 100% gun ho/excited about the tasks in dentistry, should I reconsider

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