30 yrs old pre-dental student?

[Ali Raja]

Hello,

I started my career off as a Certified Phlebotomist, then went to school to become a Certified CMA. That wasn't satisfying so I went to school for Diagnostic Medical Sonography which was another 3 years and passed their Board exams to become a Licensed Sonographer. I come to find out the field was so female saturated that it was really tough for a male tech to find a job. I couldn't wait around any longer than 2 yrs for a job. So I decided at the age of 27 to pursue my degree in IT. After achieving that I followed the Cisco certification path and now I'm a Certified Cisco Network Professional making about a 100k with only 10k in school loans left.

My parents were never big on schooling and they just wanted me to have a job so I never had a proper direction in life after high school. But I had this inner drive to force myself to get through school, being mentored by random people and so on so forth.

IT is ever changing and I feel tomorrow a new Technology comes along which is cost efficient for these corporations. I might be taken out of my job and I don't want to put a cap on my salary at $120-130 where I will be making that for the rest of my life.

Why Dentistry? I always wanted to work in people's mouth, pull cavities and implant root canals etc.

Lately, I been looking into forums and reading about people who are going to Dental schools at the age of 35 and not sure if I will be able to start all from scratch. Become a Dentist give or take by the age of 38 including pre-dental school etc. Then most likely I want to go into Surgery so 3 more years makes it 41.

I have no wife or kids that I have to come home to so what if I take a huge loan out and just disappear away and become a Dentist? How much do dentists start off with so I'm able to pay my school loans back? Is there anyone around my age who will pretty much start from scratch that I can ping stuff back and forth with and share thoughts with? Someone who is in a similar situation as I that is willing to do the same thing I am?

You can also find me on LinkedIn!

Any thoughts will be helpful!!!

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[Illfavor]

Salary info is widely available, but you should really really REALLY make sure you're making a career change for the right reasons.

 

[goffdent]

Assuming you still need 2 years of predental courses plus 4 years for dental school that's 6 years. You could become a periodontist (3 yr program), or you could become a oral surgeon, 4-6 year program. It's a large financial and time commitment. You may not have a family now, but will you/ or will you want to in a few years? You're looking at a minimum of 6 years just to finish dentistry it sounds like. It can be done, but you have to want it.

Your income potential might be higher as a dentist, but it's also including hundreds of thousands in student loans that will eat-up your income for a minimum of 10 years. The income of a new dentist isn't guaranteed to be much more than 120-125,000/year on average.

Additionally, this may be judgemental, but from only reading what you wrote, you seem to be unable to make up your mind and be satisfied with sticking with one thing. How many careers did you pursue so far in such a short amount of time? Pursuing dentistry can not be another one of your "fads," it needs to be something to generally want to do for the long-haul.

 

[Ali Raja]

I do have a girlfriend but not looking to settle down anytime soon. Well my career of choice was either Medicine or Dentistry. Dentistry, I think would be shorter in course. Secondly, the money factor.
If a new Dentist makes 125k yearly on avg. I wonder what a Dentist with 10 years makes who owns no practice? I don't want to google Dentist salaries because they all vary in numbers.
This all makes me think. So when you see a Dentist driving an Aston Martin who owns a nice house. Is it possible he was able to afford all that only making 120-125k yearly? Do people really go to become a Dentist for the passion of fixing teeth? because making 125k is not convincing enough for me to pursue that career.

 

[Silent Cool]

What country are you from.

 

[Gaucho4Life]

I do have a girlfriend but not looking to settle down anytime soon. Well my career of choice was either Medicine or Dentistry. Dentistry, I think would be shorter in course. Secondly, the money factor.
If a new Dentist makes 125k yearly on avg. I wonder what a Dentist with 10 years makes who owns no practice? I don't want to google Dentist salaries because they all vary in numbers.
This all makes me think. So when you see a Dentist driving an Aston Martin who owns a nice house. Is it possible he was able to afford all that only making 120-125k yearly? Do people really go to become a Dentist for the passion of fixing teeth? because making 125k is not convincing enough for me to pursue that career.

Here in bold lies your answer to your question. You're definitely considering dentistry for the wrong reasons. Keep in mind that Dental school is at least a 4 year commitment of no income that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, with a repayment plan of about 10 years.

 

[Ali Raja]

I was born and raised in New York. so USA?

 

[Ali Raja]

Gauch thanks for pointing that out. And its more than 4 years for me because I will have to take the science pre-reqs which will add another 2 yrs on top of that.

 

[LaughingGas]

Cost of attendance changed a lot even just comparing few years back. Loan changing from subsidized to unsubsized increased the interest amount, the "rich" dentists came when education was cheaper and there wasn't much of saturation. So yes, unless students have rich parents to cover the tuition and already a place to work after graduation with decent pay, some of us are doing it for the passion in dentistry regardless of knowing what we are getting into with all these debt.

 

[wb1]

.

 

[Ali Raja]

Really appreciate all the feedback and support.

 

[lwen5]

I don't think you truly like dentistry and I think you are just looking for a stable job. I would recommend Nurse Practitioner or Physician's Assistant.

 

[DentalElle]

Your age isn't the problem at all here...it's your attitude about dentistry and about those who actually WANT to be a dentist that may cause you some problems...

 

[TheWeeIceMan]

If you make 100k now, you need to seriously consider the opportunity cost of losing 10 years of income plus the additional 150k-400k of loans to become a dentist at 40. Yeah, you'll probably make more than 100k as a dentist, but you'll probably need to own your own practice to come out ahead long term, which comes with it's own additional debt. This isn't to say that you shouldn't become a dentist, but you need to seriously evaluate your motivations.

 

[Benjamin West]

Before reading your post I was seriously considering becoming a sonographer, but being a guy from my understanding is going to be really tough to find a job if the market is dominated by women. You've certainly got a broad range of skills and seem determined to become a dentist so go for it, regardless of the debt your going to rack up.

 

[Msmouth]

Hello,

I started my career off as a Certified Phlebotomist, then went to school to become a Certified CMA. That wasn't satisfying so I went to school for Diagnostic Medical Sonography which was another 3 years and passed their Board exams to become a Licensed Sonographer. I come to find out the field was so female saturated that it was really tough for a male tech to find a job. I couldn't wait around any longer than 2 yrs for a job. So I decided at the age of 27 to pursue my degree in IT. After achieving that I followed the Cisco certification path and now I'm a Certified Cisco Network Professional making about a 100k with only 10k in school loans left.

My parents were never big on schooling and they just wanted me to have a job so I never had a proper direction in life after high school. But I had this inner drive to force myself to get through school, being mentored by random people and so on so forth.

IT is ever changing and I feel tomorrow a new Technology comes along which is cost efficient for these corporations. I might be taken out of my job and I don't want to put a cap on my salary at $120-130 where I will be making that for the rest of my life.

Why Dentistry? I always wanted to work in people's mouth, pull cavities and implant root canals etc.

Lately, I been looking into forums and reading about people who are going to Dental schools at the age of 35 and not sure if I will be able to start all from scratch. Become a Dentist give or take by the age of 38 including pre-dental school etc. Then most likely I want to go into Surgery so 3 more years makes it 41.

I have no wife or kids that I have to come home to so what if I take a huge loan out and just disappear away and become a Dentist? How much do dentists start off with so I'm able to pay my school loans back? Is there anyone around my age who will pretty much start from scratch that I can ping stuff back and forth with and share thoughts with? Someone who is in a similar situation as I that is willing to do the same thing I am?

You can also find me on LinkedIn!

Any thoughts will be helpful!!!

If you really want it, do it. The time passes by anyway. I will be 45 when I graduate (in my first year of dental school now and barely have time to write this to you)

 

[Mary1984]

Hello guys. I have almost the same situation as Ali's situation. I am making my mind to change my career. I have my Master's degree in electrical engineering and thinking about changing my career to dentistry. Like Ali I have to take prerequisite courses which takes at least 2 years to me and then 4 years in dental school. I am making 90K now. But I think the minimum income of a dentist is higher than the maximum income of an engineer. Can anybody tell me how much should I pay yearly for the loan after graduation? Any thoughts will be helpful. I am 29 years old.

 

[lwen5]

Hello guys. I have almost the same situation as Ali's situation. I am making my mind to change my career. I have my Master's degree in electrical engineering and thinking about changing my career to dentistry. Like Ali I have to take prerequisite courses which takes at least 2 years to me and then 4 years in dental school. I am making 90K now. But I think the minimum income of a dentist is higher than the maximum income of an engineer. Can anybody tell me how much should I pay yearly for the loan after graduation? Any thoughts will be helpful. I am 29 years old.

If you are strictly looking for something that gives you more pay, I recommend you look at Physician Assistant. You can make at least 100k as a Physician Assistant. The school is only 2 years long and the prereqs could probably be completed in one year. With all this healthcare reform, more power will be given to Physician Assistants and their salary will increase. Mental Health PAs make around 120k on average.

 

[TheWeeIceMan]

Hello guys. I have almost the same situation as Ali's situation. I am making my mind to change my career. I have my Master's degree in electrical engineering and thinking about changing my career to dentistry. Like Ali I have to take prerequisite courses which takes at least 2 years to me and then 4 years in dental school. I am making 90K now. But I think the minimum income of a dentist is higher than the maximum income of an engineer. Can anybody tell me how much should I pay yearly for the loan after graduation? Any thoughts will be helpful. I am 29 years old.

If you are looking at dentistry because you believe you will enjoy it more than engineering, that's totally understandable. However, if income is your main reason, I would take caution. I posted something similar in regards to the OP's situation, but I'll say it again for you. You will likely come out of dental school at around 36 or 37 with 200k-400k+ of debt (and miss 7 or 8 years of 90k). You will have to really haul ass and if you want to come out ahead at a reasonable age. In fact, you probably won't ever come out ahead if you don't own, which not everyone wants or has the skill to do. Associates don't make that much more than your current salary.

Again, if you don't like engineering, this is a different conversatioin and dentistry might be the pefect career for you, but to make the switch based on finances is probably not smart.

Lastly, you'll probably make a very similar salary to a PA if you stay at your current job, so I wouldn't jump to that if you want more money.

 

[lwen5]

Lastly, you'll probably make a very similar salary to a PA if you stay at your current job, so I wouldn't jump to that if you want more money.

Not true. PA salaries are on the rise and the job security is also much better. Healthcare reform has given more powers to mid-level providers. PA salaries are around 30 to 40k higher than an engineer salary and have a lot better job security. If a PA goes into a rural area, they could even make more.

 

[Mary1984]

Thanks for your responses. I won't quit my job while I am taking the prerequisites at school. So I will have no salary for 4 years. But I heard that going to the dental school through the US military is a good option. You don't need to pay the tuition and you will get paid while you are a student. I know that I have to work for them until I pay off my loan. But I will get experiences throughout those years and I can work in the market after that. What are your thoughts about it?

 

[Mary1984]

And one more thing is that I love engineering as well as dentistry.

 

[TheWeeIceMan]

Not true. PA salaries are on the rise and the job security is also much better. Healthcare reform has given more powers to mid-level providers. PA salaries are around 30 to 40k higher than an engineer salary and have a lot better job security. If a PA goes into a rural area, they could even make more.

Well, I don't see PA salaries rising past inflation regardless of whether they are given more responsibilities or not. Her salary is 90k and will likely rise to 100k or so in the next few years. The average PA salary isn't over 100k so chances are, given the debt required for pre-reqs/PA school and the loss of income in those years, she won't come out ahead. I will, however, agree that job security/flexibility is probably better as a PA.

 

[akw921]

Hello,

I started my career off as a Certified Phlebotomist, then went to school to become a Certified CMA. That wasn't satisfying so I went to school for Diagnostic Medical Sonography which was another 3 years and passed their Board exams to become a Licensed Sonographer. I come to find out the field was so female saturated that it was really tough for a male tech to find a job. I couldn't wait around any longer than 2 yrs for a job. So I decided at the age of 27 to pursue my degree in IT. After achieving that I followed the Cisco certification path and now I'm a Certified Cisco Network Professional making about a 100k with only 10k in school loans left.

My parents were never big on schooling and they just wanted me to have a job so I never had a proper direction in life after high school. But I had this inner drive to force myself to get through school, being mentored by random people and so on so forth.

IT is ever changing and I feel tomorrow a new Technology comes along which is cost efficient for these corporations. I might be taken out of my job and I don't want to put a cap on my salary at $120-130 where I will be making that for the rest of my life.

Why Dentistry? I always wanted to work in people's mouth, pull cavities and implant root canals etc.

Lately, I been looking into forums and reading about people who are going to Dental schools at the age of 35 and not sure if I will be able to start all from scratch. Become a Dentist give or take by the age of 38 including pre-dental school etc. Then most likely I want to go into Surgery so 3 more years makes it 41.

I have no wife or kids that I have to come home to so what if I take a huge loan out and just disappear away and become a Dentist? How much do dentists start off with so I'm able to pay my school loans back? Is there anyone around my age who will pretty much start from scratch that I can ping stuff back and forth with and share thoughts with? Someone who is in a similar situation as I that is willing to do the same thing I am?

You can also find me on LinkedIn!

Any thoughts will be helpful!!!

I interviewed recently and there were several older people. It is not uncommon to see nontraditional students in dental, med, programs. There are programs that pay your student loans if you agree to work for them for a certain period of time. As for salary it is up to you how much you make. If you work in corporate expect 95000. If you go into private practice salary depends entirely on you. If you pick the right practice model, area, and do everything right the sky is the limit. I think you are going to have a big problem when you apply. When the admissions committee sees how many career changes you made they will wonder if dentistry is something you will actually stick with. The best way to show your commitment is to start doing as much dental related activities as possible. Also know that getting into a residency program is not guaranteed they are highly competitive. If i'm reading correctly you currently make 120k. Don't expect to make more than that in dentistry unless you are business savvy, have the skills necessary to run a efficient practice, and are capable of building large patient base with discretionary income.

 

[akw921]

I do have a girlfriend but not looking to settle down anytime soon. Well my career of choice was either Medicine or Dentistry. Dentistry, I think would be shorter in course. Secondly, the money factor.
If a new Dentist makes 125k yearly on avg. I wonder what a Dentist with 10 years makes who owns no practice? I don't want to google Dentist salaries because they all vary in numbers.
This all makes me think. So when you see a Dentist driving an Aston Martin who owns a nice house. Is it possible he was able to afford all that only making 120-125k yearly? Do people really go to become a Dentist for the passion of fixing teeth? because making 125k is not convincing enough for me to pursue that career.

The dentist driving an aston martin has patients who are willing to spend tens of thousands on cosmetic procedures. To get patients like that takes hard work and networking. Expect to make 120k unless you have the ability to develop a high end client base. Also a dentist with a nice house or car more than likely has another source of income. I wouldn't go into dentistry with the sole goal of getting rich. Dentistry should be something you are passionate about and you would choose that career no matter the compensation.