Ask an Air Force Dentist

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
I would like any info about the military and mortgage loans, practice payments (for example - if one were to be deployed during IRR), etc. Are there any programs that deal with these scenarios?

Or...what, if any, types of loans are available thru the military for home mortgage loans and whether or not they appear to be competitive based on your findings.

I've asked this before and someone told me that there were no programs where the AF helped in selling your house, practice, etc but my recruiter has told me differently.

Also, what about moving from apartments? In my situation, my wife lives a few hours away from me and is attending medical school. As such, we have personal belongings in two separate areas. Does the military help pay for moving expenses depending on where I may begin my active duty?

Thanks!
Members don't see this ad.
 
The military will pay to move your household goods. They will also move them from more than one location to your new assignment.

There are no programs to sell your home. If you own a home, its on your own to sell, rent, or whatever you want to do with it. AF bases do have housing offices to help you find a home or apartment or condo to buy or rent when you get to your base. Also, no loans through the military. Many will use USAA to find a realtor.

I don't know anything about the IRR question. I've never heard of anyone being called up while on IRR.
 
Herme said:
Dr Dentist

Thanks for the info. Good tips to think about so I have some good answers, although most of those questions I've had to think about long and hard in order to make the decision to go with the AF, so I don't foresee any problems giving answers. I'm pretty pumped about all of this. I'm getting so tired of waiting for everything though! AF and dental schools-it's driving me crazy.
Click to expand...

Welcome. I remember feeling that anxiety. I trust all will go well. :D Wish you the best.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
This may have been asked already, but here goes....Do you have the option of doing a civilian residency program in lieu of a military residency. For example could you do a 6 year OMFS residency at a civilian institution. If not normally, could you agree to an extended commitment of military service or make some kind of arrangement in order to do a civilian residency? Thanks for all of the great information!
 
shipwreck,
possibly. It is dependent on the year and the needs of the AF. If we have filled all our military slots and still need more specialists in that area, we do send some out to civilian training. Also, when needed some are allowed to defer coming on active duty to go to a specialty program. This usually happens when we have a large shortfall of a particular specialty. However, you need permission to do this. We also have some specialties, pedo in particular, that all training is completed in a civilian program and others that some of the training is completed in a civilian program.

Let me explain this a little. All services have a cap on the number of people that can be in training at one time. It's in the National Defense Authorization Act. Once that number has been selected, we're not allowed by law to send anyone else to training.

Let me take this chance to put in a plug for military training programs. I know I'm biased since I'm a program director, but I think you'd be hard pressed to find programs better than those in the military. Also, if you are competitive, you are more likely to be selected in a military program than a civilian program. You're competing against less people for those training slots.
 
I will be repeating my first year dental school. I've been wanting to do the military route for while but couldn't because I didn't have my US citizenship.

If I apply for the AF, I will probably get the 3 year scholarship, since the first year classes have already begun. I will have had 2 years of student loans that need to be paid off, plus my previous GPA will still remain on my transcript. I still have a respectable 3.10 CGPA overall. My question is, has repeating the year ruined my options to join the AF and hopefully specialize someday? Could I get loan repayment assistance? And what about applying for residencies? Any thoughts and comments?
 
Soswank,
Discuss this with your recruiter. They can tell you more about the competitiveness of the scholarship program.

Don't get so caught up in 4 years from now that you forget about right now. Concentrate on doing well now. Let the chips fall where they may later.
 
I heard mention of "OCONUS" locations where if you get stationed there, you will most likely be stationed there for a minimum of 3 years.

This is just based on memory (one place being elmendorf AFB in Anchorage, AK).

At any rate, are there any other bases you know of where you could get stationed for this 3-year timeframe?

Thanks.
 
KOM,
Germany, Japan, Alaska, England, and Italy are all 3-year tours. When you go OCONUS, you get a DEROS (Date Expected to Return from OverSeas). For the above areas with dependents the default is 3 years. Some are 3-years without dependents. Korea and Turkey are the short tour OCONUS locaitons.

If you are specifically talking about AEGD programs. Elmendorf is the only OCONUS AEGD in the AF.
 
AFDDS said:
Don't get so caught up in 4 years from now that you forget about right now. Concentrate on doing well now. Let the chips fall where they may later.
Click to expand...

Thank you. That is a very good piece of advice. I will keep you posted what the recruiter tells me.
 
AFDDS said:
Ask away. I'll do my best to answer. My background:

9 years enlisted in Army National Guard
2-years Private Practice as an Associate
Goodfellow AFB, TX
AEGD-2 year
USAF Academy - Deputy Director, AEGD
Bolling AFB - Surgeon General's Office - Working on Federal Dental Service issues as well as AF Education
Elmendorf AFB, AK - AEGD Residency Director

10 years total in the AF
Click to expand...
I am looking into signing up for the guard, but I would like to know what are the downsides to the program, so far I have only heard the good. It's one weekend a month, 2 wks a year. I will be 90 days on the ground a min of every 18 months. How long is this 90 days on the ground in total with the pre work ect..How much advanced notice is there before I would leave for the 90 days. Also after dental school when I would like to transfer back home, is this hard to accomplish, are there a certain number of spots in each place and if there are where do you go then? How much is the sign on bonus after school and how much $ for tuition payback? Can the Army overide the 4 years after dental school and enlist you full time. I guess I will start with these questions. Thank you
 
How much do extracurriculars play in your selection in the AEGD location of your choice? My class rank is still pretty good..but not "awesome"..still top 25% and I would say I have a really high GPA (our class is super intelligent..it's unreal)...but I also have a TON of outside activities. Will these be looked at or is it just about rank, boards, etc.?
 
thekibumjohnso,
I think the only downside is being away from your practice if you deploy. I don't know any specifics about the Guard bonuses. Your best place to get info on that is from the NG recruiter. The Guard is owned by the Governor of each state. In order for the Army to call you up, you either have to volunteer or your whole unit gets activated.

Shamrock2006,
Your extra activities will be looked at. The board is a "whole person" concept. Hopefully, you highlighted some of what you have done in your interview.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
AFDDS,

I am an AF HPSP dental student and have recently become interested in OMFS. When it comes time to apply to residency programs next year, do I need to apply to the military programs simultaneously with civilian programs? How does the AF specialty application process run? Should I inform someone now that I am considering applying to OMFS? Any information on the matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

BNDUCD
 
bnducd,
You definitely need to talk to someone before you apply. Each service only has so many slots, you could spend the time and money applying to civilian programs only to find out that no training slot is available because no one know you were applying. Contact AFPC and talk to the education officer about your options.

.
 
I am doing Air Force HPSP for dental school and I am interested in OMFS, however I only made an 84 on my boards. Should I retake them?
 
nailz,
Not sure what the best advice is on that. Contact AFPC and talk to the Education Officer. We have our residency selection board in 2 weeks.
 
AFDDS said:
Soswank,
Discuss this with your recruiter. They can tell you more about the competitiveness of the scholarship program.

Don't get so caught up in 4 years from now that you forget about right now. Concentrate on doing well now. Let the chips fall where they may later.
Click to expand...

I went on the AF website and filled out the "contact us", is the HPSP application available online somewhere? I could start filling it out and have it ready for the recruiter when he calls.

Would it still be possible to somehow get the 4 year scholarship? I have already begun my first semester.
 
I think it's too late for the 4-year. I believe all of them have been given out. I'm not sure if the app is online or not.
 
AFDDS

I just started my first year of dental school and am considering the 3 year HSPS; I am wondering how health insurance works out during that the time you are in school- i have a wife and 2 kids and right now we are on medicaid. With the stipend I will no longer qualify for medicaid and would have to purchase insurance through the school, which runs about 5k/yr for me and my dependents; would the scholarship cover this as part of school expenses? oh- insurance is mandatory at my school.
 
OctaviustheFish said:
AFDDS

I just started my first year of dental school and am considering the 3 year HSPS; I am wondering how health insurance works out during that the time you are in school- i have a wife and 2 kids and right now we are on medicaid. With the stipend I will no longer qualify for medicaid and would have to purchase insurance through the school, which runs about 5k/yr for me and my dependents; would the scholarship cover this as part of school expenses? oh- insurance is mandatory at my school.
Click to expand...

If your school requires that students have health insurance, then the AF HPSP program will pay for your school health insurance. They will not, however, pay for or cover your family's health insurance. I'm in the same boat as you....wife and 2 kids. However, both my kids are qualified for medicaid. My wife didn't, though, so we pay for private insurance for her.

Hope this helps, and talk to your case worker about your qualification/disqualification. It's difficult to believe that $1900/month would disqualify a household of 4, assuming your family has no other income. If your wife is working, then it's worth comparing the cost of insuring her and/or your kids with her income vs. state insurance with no other income.
 
What are the chances of getting stationed at Travis AFB after graduating dental school? Is that a hard place to get?
 
Here's a little bit about my situation.

I am in the process of applying to residencies now and plan to go to a VA hospital if accepted which I think I have a pretty good shot.

I've always thought about the military I almost joined before going into college but my asthma was the issue (I heard it doesn't matter for a dentist??)

I am 28 yrs old and a single female not currently dating anyone but concerned that joining the military may hinder my chances of finding my husband (because of location and possible deployments).

I will have a total of $150k of debt from dental school and undergrad and know that I can make at least 100k after graduation where I live because my classmates have done so.

As a dentist who has already done a residency what are you chances of getting your top location choice and do you have any benefits that scholarship recipients do not? Financially is it as beneficial to me to do it than someone else who had the scholarship? (I hate having debt and really want to get out of it) For me most of the decision is solely financial. Is there a way to work for the AF as a civilian at a base?

Much appreciated.
 
AFDDS,
I am interested mainly in being stationed there. What residency do they have there? Is it like the Army's AEGD? Anyway, thanks for your help.
 
if you did ROTC and owe four years from that then do a OMFS residency do those residency years add to the commitment length? Thanks so much in advance for clearing this up for me
 
Dental QT,
Asthma can be a disqualifier, even for a Dentist. Only way to know for sure is to let the recruiter know and have your entrance physical.

I have known several single Dentists, physicians, nurses, etc... that met their soul mate while in the military. Deployments, and assignments probably won't be a big factor for you in this area.

I graduated with $104K in debt and made $175K my first year out and still struggled to pay my student loan bills. Remember, student loans won't be your only bill. If you join before they are all gone, you can get a $60K signing bonus and then take part in a loan repayment program that will pay back 72% of your dental school loans. If you have completed a residency that is ADA accredited, you can start a preceptorship in the AF that will allow you to upgrade your AFSC and become eligible for a multi-year retention bonus. (amount just went up, but I'm not sure of the exact amount.)

Some bases do have contract spots, but not many and most are filled.

ajaxkid,
Travis hosts a 1-year AEGD and an Oral & Maxillofacial surgery residency. Getting stationed there and not being part of the AEGD will be solely dependent on whether or not they have any openings. Best idea is to talk to your recruiter about where the openings are. We have several other bases in Cali if you really want Cali.

AFWIFE2010,
I'm not exactly sure. I know it does add to the time for an USAF Academy grad. You will owe 4 years extra for the residency, but I'm not sure if you will be paying off ROTC time while in the Residency. I'm going to San Antonio this week, I'll check on this and let you know.
 
Excellent thread--I have a question for you:

I am a first year AF HPSP and I just wanted to get input on how competitive the AEGDs are to get. What sort of grades, gpas, extracurriculars I should be trying to do. Any advice is greatly appreciated!! :D
 
DentaLizzy,
The competition varies from year to year. The AF has made a commitment to offer training opportunities to as many new graduates as possible. We have added almost 20 training positions in the last 2 years. We now have 80 AEGD training opportunities. The best advice I can give you, or anyone else early in their dental school career, is to do as good as you possibly can. Some will start out thinking they don't want to specialize, but if you are in the first couple of years of dental school, you haven't been exposed to all aspects of dentistry yet and you may change your mind.

When we look at AEGD applicants we look at GPA, Class Standing, extracurriculars, and letters of recommendation. It's a whole person concept.
 
I was speaking with one of our ortho residents the other day who had just recently separated from the AF....he actually told me getting into some of the AEGDs is a lot more competitive than others...that certain bases only have a handful of spots and others have about 12 or so. Is there a lot of variation in spots between bases? Also, he told me that, as far as he knows, every AF base is equipped w/ a CERAC machine...is that true too?
 
shamrock2006 said:
I was speaking with one of our ortho residents the other day who had just recently separated from the AF....he actually told me getting into some of the AEGDs is a lot more competitive than others...that certain bases only have a handful of spots and others have about 12 or so. Is there a lot of variation in spots between bases? Also, he told me that, as far as he knows, every AF base is equipped w/ a CERAC machine...is that true too?
Click to expand...

Just out of curiosity, what is a CERAC machine?
 
shamrock2006,
Some bases do have more slots than others. We only have 4 slots and some bases have up to 10 slots. The training programs are very similar in their curriculum, etc. About the only difference is whether or not they have a pediatric dentist on staff.

All Air Force AEGD training sites have CEREC chairside scanning units and in-lab milling scanning and milling units. All other bases have the chairside scanning units and some have purchased the milling units.

DR Dentist 09,
CEREC is the trade name for Sirona's in lab and chairside milling units. The AF Dental Service made the decision to buy them 2 years ago. They are pretty sharp. We use ours for all porcelain inlays and onlays and we use CAD wax (milled wax patterns for cast metal crowns). It's fun to use and all residents should get pretty efficient at using the machines.
 
AFDDS,
Does the HPLRP pay off 72% of your student loans or is it a set amount. I went to a more expensive school, and I always thought the LRP was about $35K per year for 3 years maximum which proves to be inadequate in my case (I think the rules recently changed that allows you to do another round of HPLRP). The LRP seems to be based upon the national average indebtedness for a dental school grad, not helpful enough for someone like me (sometimes it makes me wish I had done HPSP).
 
koobpheej,
It will pay back up to 72% of your loans. It is supposed to increase to about $40K per year for a 2 year commitment (it just went up again). You would need to owe more than approx $111K to receive the full $80K. I think you are correct and you can take more than one increment (if you are a HPSP recipient, you'll need to check, since they have different eligibility rules). Bottom line is, you can't receive more than 72% of your dental school debt, no matter how many increments you take.

$80K is a good chunk of money for 2 years commitment. I took it the first year is was offered and received less than that for a 4 year commitment.
 
AFDDS said:
koobpheej,
It will pay back up to 72% of your loans. It is supposed to increase to about $40K per year for a 2 year commitment (it just went up again). You would need to owe more than approx $111K to receive the full $80K. I think you are correct and you can take more than one increment (if you are a HPSP recipient, you'll need to check, since they have different eligibility rules). Bottom line is, you can't receive more than 72% of your dental school debt, no matter how many increments you take.

$80K is a good chunk of money for 2 years commitment. I took it the first year is was offered and received less than that for a 4 year commitment.
Click to expand...

I assume that if you are getting the HPLRP that you can't also get a multi year retention bonus if elgible, correct?
 
Yes, but the ADO will run consecutively instead of concurrently.

For those of you that haven't heard these terms before.

Consecutive - ADO's paid back one after the other
Concurrent - ADO's paid back at the same time.
 
I need some clarification on something... hopefully this question will make sense. From reading this entire thread it seems that I have one of two options; 1) Take the 3 yr HPSP now and be committed on the front end with the rest of my school and everything paid for or 2) sign once I graduate from dental school and take the $60,000 sign-on bonus plus enroll in the LRP program and get 72% of my loans repaid over my 3 yr committment. Is this correct? Sorry if it is confusing.. but I'm seriously considering joining the AF and I just want to make sure I know all my options so I can make an informed decision. Thanks!
 
so I talked to a local recruiter today and was told the following and wanted to see if someone could either verify or falsify the info:

1. the time in school counts towards the 5 yr IR commitment. So for the 3 yr program I would only have 2 yrs IR after my Active Duty. I believe he said that time in AEGD also counts but i am not sure.

2. the time in school goes towards years in service when starting active duty; ie. for a 3 year scholarship I would begin Active Duty as a captain w/ 3 years service; therefore the pay would be greater. (my recruiter said that the time in school did not count for retirement years though.)

Again, if anyone has more info or knows with certainty if any of the above are true or not, it would be greatly appreciated.
 
OctaviustheFish: I'm looking into the 3 yr HPSP scholarship and I don't think either one of those things your recruiter told you are true. I'm pretty sure you time in school counts toward nothing on the HPSP... for a 3yr scholarship you would have 3 years of Active Duty payback and 5 years of IR payback. This is just what I think... I'm sure AFDDS could help you more with this.

PS... could anyone answer my question please.. or just shed some light on it! thanks
 
OctaviustheFish said:
so I talked to a local recruiter today and was told the following and wanted to see if someone could either verify or falsify the info:

1. the time in school counts towards the 5 yr IR commitment. So for the 3 yr program I would only have 2 yrs IR after my Active Duty. I believe he said that time in AEGD also counts but i am not sure.

2. the time in school goes towards years in service when starting active duty; ie. for a 3 year scholarship I would begin Active Duty as a captain w/ 3 years service; therefore the pay would be greater. (my recruiter said that the time in school did not count for retirement years though.)

Again, if anyone has more info or knows with certainty if any of the above are true or not, it would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

What you were told is not true. I graduated in May and was on HPSP, I am currently in my AEGD. Even though you are getting paid by the military while you are in dental school (with the rank of a 2nd Lt.) this time will NOT count as IRR years served.

Another thing, when you start active duty you will start with ZERO years of service and therefor will be paid accordingly. With certain 2 year contracts in the past the AEGD did count as a year of payback. But I believe that all of the new 3 and 4 year contracts have the AEGD as a neutral year. Meaning it does NOT count as a year of payback, but it also doesn't add to your committment for a free year of education.

Even though you may not have been told the whole truth, the HPSP is still a great program. And don't worry about the 5 IRR years, no dentists get called back anyways.
 
Last edited:
denttiger,
Go for the HPSP. It's a better deal. You have to be on active duty for 6 months apply for the HPLRP and there are only about 11-12 per year. You could be #13 to apply for one and miss out.

Omahahahaha has it right. The IRR is really irrelevant. The AF is 94% manned with dentists. I've never heard of anyone being called back to active duty, even when we were 85% manned. You will be a Captain with 0 years of service when you enter Active Duty
 
I am currently in the process of signing up for the 3 year HSPS with the AF. I was just wondering after I complete my active duty, if I decide to not continue working with the air force is it really that hard to find a job? One of my class mates tried to tell me that she heard that people don't like to hire dentists that have were in the military. I didn't understand what she was talking about because it seemed really unreasonable (but I didn't want to argue with her because it would have been a waste of my time) but I figured I would ask someone who actually might know. Sorry if this is a really dumb question.
 
CaliGirl15
That's just not true. Everyone I've been stationed with that left the military had multiple good offers in practices. One was undecided where she wanted to go and had offers in multiple states. You'll be a dentist with experience, and that will be a good thing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
After reading through all this I might have missed it, but what is the pay during the 1 year AEGD?
 
I don't have the exact numbers here at home, but it's captain's pay with less than 2 years service + VSP ($3000)+ ASP ($10,000) + BAH
 
AFDDS said:
I don't have the exact numbers here at home, but it's captain's pay with less than 2 years service + VSP ($3000)+ ASP ($10,000) + BAH
Click to expand...

0-3 pay with < 2years is $3407/month on the 2008 paychart.

So for clarification the pays you get are:
Base Pay:$3407/month = $40,884/yr
BAS: $202/month = $2424/yr (Basic Allowance for Subsistence)
BAH: ~$1375/month (CONUS average) this can be as high as $2000+/month depending on your duty zip code. Also note that this pay is non-taxed dollars and can be more if your married. = ~$16,500 to $24,000 depnding on zip code. (Basic Allowance for Housing)
VSP: $3,000/yr (Variable Special Pay)
ASP: $10,000/yr (Additional Special Pay)

So your gross income range will be between ~$72,808 and $80,308 depending on your duty station zip code.
 
Last edited:
eric275 said:
0-3 pay with < 2years is $3407/month on the 2008 paychart.

So for clarification the pays you get are:
Base Pay:$3407/month = $40,884/yr
BAS: $202/month = $2424/yr (Basic Allowance for Subsistence)
BAH: ~$1375/month (CONUS average) this can be as high as $2000+/month depending on your duty zip code. Also note that this pay is non-taxed dollars and can be more if your married. = ~$16,500 to $24,000 depnding on zip code. (Basic Allowance for Housing)
VSP: $10,000/yr (Variable Special Pay)
ASP: $4000/yr (Additional Special Pay)

So your gross income range will be between ~$73,808 and $81,308 depending on your duty station zip code.
Click to expand...

What if your zip code is in the sandbox? How does that affect pay?
 
thanks guys, that's good to know i will be able to decently support my family during an aegd if accepted.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

S
Navy HPSP and Air Force HPSP
Replies
15
Views
809
Big Time Hoosier
Big Time Hoosier
dentengr
Information on Reserves (Air Force, Army, Navy, and USPHS)
Replies
8
Views
860
Big Time Hoosier
Big Time Hoosier
The Kube of Kubes
Air Force Air Force AEGD question
Replies
2
Views
1K
BluntForceTrauma
BluntForceTrauma
G
Air Force Residency
Replies
3
Views
1K
customx
customx
G
Military Pediatric Dentistry
Replies
5
Views
1K
chlrbwls
C
Top