Dental Career doubts

[demolitionlvr]

Guys...

I'm having a major doubt about doing dentistry..

My talent is not in the sciences at all.
In fact, I really hate sciences and really regret choosing a BA degree in Biology.
I only chose the degree to make myself more competitive for dental school.

I thought, if I keep trying and trying, I'll get better at it but I keep sucking in science classes. I keep getting
B, B- and Cs. I have 4 C's from science classes that I STUDIED for. And yeah, my DAT score was good,I know going to post bacc would help me
and in the long run it'll be worth it but I'm not sure if it will be worth it.
I mean, if I HATE sciences....isn't dentistry not a good choice since its a SCIENCE related field?

I'm also trying to solidify if this career choice is solely mine or if my parents' influence played a major factor..
Like I thought to myself, if I didn't care about my parents' thoughts and wishes, I would choose a different career that I "actually like"....

That totally hit me like a month ago and I was like.....what..
So I wanted your advice on my career halt right now..

Science is interesting but from afar. I'm definitely more of a liberal arts person but since my parents emphasized to me that
the field is not useful for finding jobs, I ignored my natural passion and interest.

Since dentistry had the aspects of people interaction
and working with your hands, I thought it'd be fine for me but again..it's a science related field..

Although I'm not good at sciences nor like it sciences, do you think I should continue pursuing dentistry?
In your opinion, what are the pros and cons to this profession?
How much science recall does this profession require?
Am I just chickening out now??

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[billythekid]

If you want it enough, you can do it. Its all about determination and hard work. If you want to get better grades, you'll have to change the way you study.

The science in dental doesn't get easier, and the volume increases tremendously.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[Pelikanz]

If you're not a fan of science, it's probably best to get out now. As billythekid said, it will only get harder. It's much better to do something that you enjoy doing and wont regret later in life. The cost of dental school is too much to realize that you regret it later. No shame in switching.

However, if this is what you really want, just try out different strategies. Change the way you're studying. I was in a position similar to you, but reevaluated how i was approaching the coursework. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Saddleshoes]

Guys...

I'm having a major doubt about doing dentistry..

My talent is not in the sciences at all.
In fact, I really hate sciences and really regret choosing a BA degree in Biology.
I only chose the degree to make myself more competitive for dental school.

I thought, if I keep trying and trying, I'll get better at it but I keep sucking in science classes. I keep getting
B, B- and Cs. I have 4 C's from science classes that I STUDIED for. And yeah, my DAT score was good,I know going to post bacc would help me
and in the long run it'll be worth it but I'm not sure if it will be worth it.
I mean, if I HATE sciences....isn't dentistry not a good choice since its a SCIENCE related field?

I'm also trying to solidify if this career choice is solely mine or if my parents' influence played a major factor..
Like I thought to myself, if I didn't care about my parents' thoughts and wishes, I would choose a different career that I "actually like"....

That totally hit me like a month ago and I was like.....what..
So I wanted your advice on my career halt right now..

Science is interesting but from afar. I'm definitely more of a liberal arts person but since my parents emphasized to me that
the field is not useful for finding jobs, I ignored my natural passion and interest.

Since dentistry had the aspects of people interaction
and working with your hands, I thought it'd be fine for me but again..it's a science related field..

Although I'm not good at sciences nor like it sciences, do you think I should continue pursuing dentistry?
In your opinion, what are the pros and cons to this profession?
How much science recall does this profession require?
Am I just chickening out now??

I see Red Flags!

Go find something you love. You have a long working life ahead of you. If you make your life's work something you do not love you will be very unhappy.

I know dentists that went into it to make Mama proud. I know dentist that went into it for the money only. I know dentists that did it for the status of have DR. in front of their name. All of these guys are not happy after 5 years. Many of these guys have deep mental issues and self destructive personality problems after a while.

 

[cmcner]

Spend more time shadowing a dentist. An undergrad classroom isn't representative of the field at all, in all honesty dental school isn't really all that representative of the field either. If you don't like what you see in a few dental offices and think you would hate it do something different with your life. Your major does not lock you into a career. Also you don't have to move straight into dental school, a year off might help you figure things out, don't take the debt on if you're going to hate it.

 

[TJcE]

+1 to cmcner, Do some actual research for the type of jobs that dentist do. Shadowing is a good thing to do because you will see actual work being done. And the employment situation of the dentist. like payment, free time, work environment, overall lifestyle.

Don't think about being bad at sciences and academic stuff, that at the end of the day you can just study hard and master that aspect, think about the actual work itself.

The actual work has.

Some bad things like, Saliva, Blood, People in pain, Responsibility, Biological Risk, Stress.

And the good things like Patient recognition of doing a good job, helping people. Theres is art to it, that you get to enjoy when you are good, a nice payment if you are in a good position, working with cool technology and materials.

So if you can picture yourself doing actual work on people mouths and balance some of the things I mentioned, go for it without thinking about the academic stuff.

 

[SexyMariGal]

I'm not in dental school yet, but from what I've seen job shadowing, dentists don't really make much use of all the science knowledge they learn in school. It's just like the same bull**** that we are learning in undergrad, most all of those facts are useless to us in our day to day lives. I'll be damned when I hear a dentist talk to their patient about crap like the citric acid cycle.

Perhaps some specialties utilize more of the knowledge learned in school, but I highly doubt this also. It's just something you're going to have to put up with, but I don't see how it really shapes what you'll be doing as a dentist, since it is mostly clinical work.

 

[Daurang]

I think you should get out now before you owe too much money and then join the Occupied Wall Street crowd. Dental school is really that much harder than undergrad science. I did well in undergrad but almost flunk out of dental school.

 

[dentalprodigy]

Cant believe the discouraging posts in this thread...dude don't trip. Let me be the first to tell you that organic chemistry has absolutely nothing to do with dentistry. 95% of the crap U learned in college will be forgotten. most of the didactic stuff in dental school Even will be forgotten. What helped me decide was shadowing & working at an dental office.

It helped give me motivation to get through the hoops & get past the filtration system set up. Being bad at science classes is not a sign you will be a great dentist. it willjust make your path to becoming a dentist more bearable.

Don't listen to people yapping about how "U gotta love it..bs".

now stop discouraging yourself by reading this forum & get in a dental office and start watching what the field is about and if its a fit 4 U... you'll soon outweigh the pros from the cons (i.e pia classes at undergrad )

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk

 

[yunowu]

To Op:

I double majored in liberal arts and econ while I was in undergrad..Yes I struggled during the first two years of dental school. But it is still doable..Good luck with your decision.

 

[charlestweed]

OP, if I were you, I would listen to your parents. You will thank them later. Your parents (and mine too) want you to pursue dentistry (or another healthcare profession such as medicine, pharmacy, optometry etc) because they want you to have a long-term stable career. Isn’t it great to have a stable career that you never have to worry about getting laid off (due to poor economy, due to old age, or due to technological changes etc)? There is no point of doing what you like but the job that you like is unstable or is very hard to find. Are you planning to get married and have kids? How are you going to support your family? Rely on your spouse’s salary? People who have a stable job tend to be happier than people who are in constant fear of getting laid off.

There is no such thing as a dream job. Dentistry is definitely NOT my dream job. I am a very shy person. I don’t like talking to other people (especially the PITA patients) on the regular daily basis. As an orthodontist, I don’t just have to deal with the patients but I also have to talk to the referring general dentists as well…..and for me, this is no fun at all. The reason I picked dentistry was I was tired of living in poverty. And I didn’t want to end up like many college grads who struggle to find jobs with their non-science BS degrees.

Dentistry has offered me things that very few other jobs can….such as being my own boss, working 4 hours a day, the kind of lifestyle and income that many wish to have, and I never have to worry about getting fired etc. If you don’t like science (neither do I), specialize in orthodontics. I don’t even have a DEA license because I never have to write the prescriptions for my patients.

 

[Shnurek]

Yes, its all about if a career is a right fit for YOU. Its not about if a career is good or bad. Life will take you where you need to go. Don't worry so much.

 

[SexyMariGal]

OP, if I were you, I would listen to your parents. You will thank them later. Your parents (and mine too) want you to pursue dentistry (or another healthcare profession such as medicine, pharmacy, optometry etc) because they want you to have a long-term stable career. Isn't it great to have a stable career that you never have to worry about getting laid off (due to poor economy, due to old age, or due to technological changes etc)? There is no point of doing what you like but the job that you like is unstable or is very hard to find. Are you planning to get married and have kids? How are you going to support your family? Rely on your spouse's salary? People who have a stable job tend to be happier than people who are in constant fear of getting laid off.

There is no such thing as a dream job. Dentistry is definitely NOT my dream job. I am a very shy person. I don't like talking to other people (especially the PITA patients) on the regular daily basis. As an orthodontist, I don't just have to deal with the patients but I also have to talk to the referring general dentists as well…..and for me, this is no fun at all. The reason I picked dentistry was I was tired of living in poverty. And I didn't want to end up like many college grads who struggle to find jobs with their non-science BS degrees.

Dentistry has offered me things that very few other jobs can….such as being my own boss, working 4 hours a day, the kind of lifestyle and income that many wish to have, and I never have to worry about getting fired etc. If you don't like science (neither do I), specialize in orthodontics. I don't even have a DEA license because I never have to write the prescriptions for my patients.

Now that's real talk right there.

OP, you may not love being a dentist, but you'll probably love the earning potential and the autonomy that comes with dentistry which will allow you to do the things you want, whether that is spending more time with family, going on vacations, whatever. You probably won't be living large right out of school, considering the astronomical price of dental school nowadays, but eventually you'll get there. It's all about long term planning for the future.

 

[marykabrown]

Good luck with your decision.

 

[djeffreyt]

The decision is clearly not one anyone can make for you, but I can tell you my experience and you can use what I say how you like.

Dentistry is not my first career, but then I thought I'd love my first career. I liked parts of it, but on the whole, I didn't love it. The pay was ok and I was able to save since I didn't have much in loans, but it wasn't fulfilling or fun, so I switched and did something I loved. That thing I loved didn't pay the bills and it was a constant struggle. I came to find that even though I enjoyed the work once, it grew old and the fact that I also had to rely on it for a living and wasn't able to make that much doing it, it was wearing on my enthusiasm for it. That's when I grew up and realized most of the world doesn't love the work they do on a day to day basis. Even if there are aspects of a job that are great, there are usually lots of aspects to a job that suck. So I looked at my strengths and what I felt I could do well but maybe not love but tolerate and be ok with and that's how I got into Dentistry.

Yeah, I'm not gonna lie. I don't love teeth. I don't have some lofty goal to change the world one smile at a time. I just know I have the skills to do this job well and enjoy the fact that it affords me a lifestyle that lets me do things I want to do in my free time for fun. Not every day is enjoyable and perfect. Not every patient is wonderful. I don't feel better about my life because I got rid of all the cavities in a patients mouth or because I got a partial back that fits really well. Don't get me wrong, it's cool when a patient says stuff like, thanks doc...that tooth hurt so bad and you took it out without hurting me and I feel way better or when a patient tells me they love their new anterior crowns and white teeth, but does it make my world go round...no.

You don't have to love your job, but you need to be able to be ok with it since you do it everyday and be decently well skilled to do it. Now if you can't handle science, you might not make it through dental school, but that's something you gotta figure out for yourself. Is it that you can't memorize facts and details, cause you'll have to be able to do that. You might not use every detail of dental school each day, but you gotta get through dental school before you can forget it. And honestly, I do use what I learned a lot. No, I don't remember the mitochondrial cycle or all the names of gram negative bacteria, but I do use my basic medical knowledge every day in my job, and a lot of that is just straight memorization. It gets easier each day, but you still got to get to that level and you gotta decide if you can get there.

BTW, it's pretty tough getting into Dental School with a C to B grade average, especially if it reflects on your DAT score too.

 

[Wakaaa]

Forget your parents. Really, in 20 - 30 years they won't be alive. It's your life not your parents. It's true you'll make a good living, but people that are in poverty would do anything to get out of it. So do you want to live rich and hate your job and life or be happy and make it through life with some hard times? I really hate it when people do something for money. No s*** people that are poor dream of a better lifestyle even if they don't like it, but that's because they wish they had something they don't have.

Your parents aren't dentists so they don't know what dentists have to go through or how their day is. All they know is that the money dentists make is more than a person in poverty makes.

Nothing is more dumb than running your life with money. You have to like what you do for a living... Unless, you want to add onto the suicide rates because money > happiness... Poor people aren't happy because they don't have money, so they think money will bring them their happiness. I have a few friends whose parents killed themselves because they hated what they did for a living. Sure they made a couple hundred thousands a year, but there's more to life than money.

Pick what you like, money comes if you're good at what you like.

 

[Wakaaa]

I didnt mean to be rude or anything when I said your parents won't be alive in 20 - 30 years because it goes for everyone. My parents might be dead tomorrow even though their 48. Everyone dies and you don't have to be old or young to die.

Just pointing that out because I don't want any hurt feelings..

 

[bikedoc]

The decision is clearly not one anyone can make for you, but I can tell you my experience and you can use what I say how you like.

Dentistry is not my first career, but then I thought I'd love my first career. I liked parts of it, but on the whole, I didn't love it. The pay was ok and I was able to save since I didn't have much in loans, but it wasn't fulfilling or fun, so I switched and did something I loved. That thing I loved didn't pay the bills and it was a constant struggle. I came to find that even though I enjoyed the work once, it grew old and the fact that I also had to rely on it for a living and wasn't able to make that much doing it, it was wearing on my enthusiasm for it. That's when I grew up and realized most of the world doesn't love the work they do on a day to day basis. Even if there are aspects of a job that are great, there are usually lots of aspects to a job that suck. So I looked at my strengths and what I felt I could do well but maybe not love but tolerate and be ok with and that's how I got into Dentistry.

Yeah, I'm not gonna lie. I don't love teeth. I don't have some lofty goal to change the world one smile at a time. I just know I have the skills to do this job well and enjoy the fact that it affords me a lifestyle that lets me do things I want to do in my free time for fun. Not every day is enjoyable and perfect. Not every patient is wonderful. I don't feel better about my life because I got rid of all the cavities in a patients mouth or because I got a partial back that fits really well. Don't get me wrong, it's cool when a patient says stuff like, thanks doc...that tooth hurt so bad and you took it out without hurting me and I feel way better or when a patient tells me they love their new anterior crowns and white teeth, but does it make my world go round...no.

You don't have to love your job, but you need to be able to be ok with it since you do it everyday and be decently well skilled to do it. Now if you can't handle science, you might not make it through dental school, but that's something you gotta figure out for yourself. Is it that you can't memorize facts and details, cause you'll have to be able to do that. You might not use every detail of dental school each day, but you gotta get through dental school before you can forget it. And honestly, I do use what I learned a lot. No, I don't remember the mitochondrial cycle or all the names of gram negative bacteria, but I do use my basic medical knowledge every day in my job, and a lot of that is just straight memorization. It gets easier each day, but you still got to get to that level and you gotta decide if you can get there.

BTW, it's pretty tough getting into Dental School with a C to B grade average, especially if it reflects on your DAT score too.

This is a fantastic post! Extremely honest and well said.

 

[yappy]

It's sad how everyones so down on science in this thread... How do you expect to grow and evolve as a professional when our understanding of dental therapy changes. Will you be able to read and interperate studies like a real professional? Or be at the whimes of sales reps? Why shouldnt the patient consult the latest "dental-blog" rather than their uninformed dentist? Why dont we make two associate degree tracks for dentistry - one for hygiene and one for dental therapists and eliminate dentists if we hold this attitude?

At the end of the day you're the dentist who holds the drill, DX and Rx abilities (and responsibility). Even if you dont like sciences I think they are a neccesary thing to master prior to practicing dentistry. If the thinking part is too much to handle - go technician rather than professional.

 

[djeffreyt]

It's sad how everyones so down on science in this thread... How do you expect to grow and evolve as a professional when our understanding of dental therapy changes. Will you be able to read and interperate studies like a real professional? Or be at the whimes of sales reps? Why shouldnt the patient consult the latest "dental-blog" rather than their uninformed dentist? Why dont we make two associate degree tracks for dentistry - one for hygiene and one for dental therapists and eliminate dentists if we hold this attitude?

At the end of the day you're the dentist who holds the drill, DX and Rx abilities (and responsibility). Even if you dont like sciences I think they are a neccesary thing to master prior to practicing dentistry. If the thinking part is too much to handle - go technician rather than professional.

Depends on which part of science you are talking about. I'm not down on science, but I'm not so far gone to believe each and every thing we learned is something I must retain in order to understand new dental and medical science. If you read through the studies that are published upon which general clinical dentists base their practice philosophies (or at least some of us read these studies - a lot don't, and many actually let dental "gurus" synthesize this info for them in CE courses) you will find they are not difficult to understand with a basic understanding of clinical dentistry and basic dental science. However, basic dental science is not everything we learned. You are almost never (I won't say never, but I'm talking about a 1 in 1000 chance) going to come across a dental-relevant published article that will require you to understand organic chemistry reactions by name. Yet that is some of the science we had to memorize and learn to get into dental school. I also had to take a physics course as a pre-req in which we studied sound waves, but that doesn't come up very often in those published studies either.

The truth (IMO) is that we learn these things to prove that we can learn. We learn chemistry, biology, physics, and math to show we have that ability to understand these subjects, however, we don't need to retain every detail. Likewise we study microbiology, anatomy, biochemistry, etc. in basic sciences in dental school, but we don't need to retain all the details. We need to prove that we are able to learn these things so that when the time comes in the future that these subjects present themselves in our clinical practice we either have the knowledge or have the ability to look it up and relearn it.

99% of the day in clinical practice is routine. Not that many different drugs I deal with, not that many treatments that are fantastically different. I have the knowledge to get me through this 99% without blinking an eye or having to stop and look something up. But, sometimes, something new presents and somewhere in the back of my head there is a thing that says...wait, you learned this in ________, go look it up and make sure. and I do, and because I've passed my dental school courses and pre-reqs, I have the ability to understand the scientific or medical information I have to read through to figure out this new or different thing before me.

I'm not down on science, I'm realistic about it. I cannot retain all knowledge, that is not within the scope of my mind, nor do I think I need to retain everything I've ever learnt. But I have to have the ability to at least understand it one time, cause if I didn't understand it once, I probably won't understand it later.

 

[SexyMariGal]

Depends on which part of science you are talking about. I'm not down on science, but I'm not so far gone to believe each and every thing we learned is something I must retain in order to understand new dental and medical science. If you read through the studies that are published upon which general clinical dentists base their practice philosophies (or at least some of us read these studies - a lot don't, and many actually let dental "gurus" synthesize this info for them in CE courses) you will find they are not difficult to understand with a basic understanding of clinical dentistry and basic dental science. However, basic dental science is not everything we learned. You are almost never (I won't say never, but I'm talking about a 1 in 1000 chance) going to come across a dental-relevant published article that will require you to understand organic chemistry reactions by name. Yet that is some of the science we had to memorize and learn to get into dental school. I also had to take a physics course as a pre-req in which we studied sound waves, but that doesn't come up very often in those published studies either.

The truth (IMO) is that we learn these things to prove that we can learn. We learn chemistry, biology, physics, and math to show we have that ability to understand these subjects, however, we don't need to retain every detail. Likewise we study microbiology, anatomy, biochemistry, etc. in basic sciences in dental school, but we don't need to retain all the details. We need to prove that we are able to learn these things so that when the time comes in the future that these subjects present themselves in our clinical practice we either have the knowledge or have the ability to look it up and relearn it.

99% of the day in clinical practice is routine. Not that many different drugs I deal with, not that many treatments that are fantastically different. I have the knowledge to get me through this 99% without blinking an eye or having to stop and look something up. But, sometimes, something new presents and somewhere in the back of my head there is a thing that says...wait, you learned this in ________, go look it up and make sure. and I do, and because I've passed my dental school courses and pre-reqs, I have the ability to understand the scientific or medical information I have to read through to figure out this new or different thing before me.

I'm not down on science, I'm realistic about it. I cannot retain all knowledge, that is not within the scope of my mind, nor do I think I need to retain everything I've ever learnt. But I have to have the ability to at least understand it one time, cause if I didn't understand it once, I probably won't understand it later.

Now that's real talk, mad props

 

[mixoma]

I'm going to set the record strait. If you want to learn the truth about dentistry, do not talk to an older dentist or any faculty members (they are way out of touch), and especially pre-dents. The dental market is very different these days and older docs are out of touch with being a new grad. Talk to someone <10yrs out. Every dental market is very saturated and there are more and more schools opening, along with dental chains opening up on every corner. My school just increased its graduation class by 50 students since I have been there, and Im having a real tuff time finding a job at this moment, so I cant imagine when the increased size class is looking for work.
Yes dentists make a good salary, but dental school will cost you 250k @6.8% and increasing every year (went up 20%+ during my 4 years). I would not do it purely for money. Dental school is mentally and socially draining, I made 80k a year and had a good job before dental school, and some times I wonder if I should have just enjoyed my personal time and kept the job I had. I would have been debt free at least. Yes I'm a Dentist come May and will make 100k+, but was it worth it? I think so, but who knows. These are questions one needs to ask.

 

[djeffreyt]

I'm going to set the record strait. If you want to learn the truth about dentistry, do not talk to an older dentist or any faculty members (they are way out of touch), and especially pre-dents. The dental market is very different these days and older docs are out of touch with being a new grad. Talk to someone <10yrs out. Every dental market is very saturated and there are more and more schools opening, along with dental chains opening up on every corner. My school just increased its graduation class by 50 students since I have been there, and Im having a real tuff time finding a job at this moment, so I cant imagine when the increased size class is looking for work.
Yes dentists make a good salary, but dental school will cost you 250k @6.8% and increasing every year (went up 20%+ during my 4 years). I would not do it purely for money. Dental school is mentally and socially draining, I made 80k a year and had a good job before dental school, and some times I wonder if I should have just enjoyed my personal time and kept the job I had. I would have been debt free at least. Yes I'm a Dentist come May and will make 100k+, but was it worth it? I think so, but who knows. These are questions one needs to ask.

Haha, seriously. It is a tough time, but times are cyclic. 10-15 years ago there were more associateships open than there were dentists to fill them, even 5-8 years ago, times were good, but the economy went down, and yup, times are tough. Old dentists forewent retiring and decided to tighten up rather than hire new associates. The only people regularly hiring were the big dental companies looking for new docs to mold into their dental treatment mentality.

I actually just got a resume from a graduating senior with a lovely little letter. I don't feel that special, I'm sure he asked our alumni association for all the names and addresses of grads from our school in my area and sent it to all of us. But, it basically gave his very impressive school credentials and then stated that he would appreciate any help I could give in helping him find a great associateship with a private or small group practice where he can get mentorship on single and multi-implant cases, crown and bridge, aesthetics, and oral surgery. I remember laughing a bit when I read it only because I'm only two years out, but I'm still looking for that same job. Don't get me wrong, I love my job right now and my skills have grown a lot since graduation, but it's not ideal by any means. The one job I had for a couple months that was exactly what he described, I ended up ditching cause it was an hour commute both ways.

times are tough, but there are jobs, just not what you might love...but then those of us without family in the business to give us our first jobs gotta take what we can get and save for the day when we can build our own.

oh, and I really hope you make a lot more than $100,000+ after you graduate with all those loans...hopefully its more like $150,000+ cause taxes suck and loans suck. But yeah, first few years out isn't the time to start buying maseratis and porches, well, I mean unless it makes you happy

 

[peanutb123]

Spend more time shadowing a dentist. An undergrad classroom isn't representative of the field at all, in all honesty dental school isn't really all that representative of the field either. If you don't like what you see in a few dental offices and think you would hate it do something different with your life. Your major does not lock you into a career. Also you don't have to move straight into dental school, a year off might help you figure things out, don't take the debt on if you're going to hate it.

Listen to cmcner, he was one of the people who was very helpful in my decision. what ever he said is absolutely true.

OP, if I were you, I would listen to your parents. You will thank them later. Your parents (and mine too) want you to pursue dentistry (or another healthcare profession such as medicine, pharmacy, optometry etc) because they want you to have a long-term stable career. Isn't it great to have a stable career that you never have to worry about getting laid off (due to poor economy, due to old age, or due to technological changes etc)? There is no point of doing what you like but the job that you like is unstable or is very hard to find. Are you planning to get married and have kids? How are you going to support your family? Rely on your spouse's salary? People who have a stable job tend to be happier than people who are in constant fear of getting laid off.

There is no such thing as a dream job. Dentistry is definitely NOT my dream job. I am a very shy person. I don't like talking to other people (especially the PITA patients) on the regular daily basis. As an orthodontist, I don't just have to deal with the patients but I also have to talk to the referring general dentists as well&#8230;..and for me, this is no fun at all. The reason I picked dentistry was I was tired of living in poverty. And I didn't want to end up like many college grads who struggle to find jobs with their non-science BS degrees.

Dentistry has offered me things that very few other jobs can&#8230;.such as being my own boss, working 4 hours a day, the kind of lifestyle and income that many wish to have, and I never have to worry about getting fired etc. If you don't like science (neither do I), specialize in orthodontics. I don't even have a DEA license because I never have to write the prescriptions for my patients.

Health care is the best field to be in. I have worked outside and learned my lesson the hard way. Anyways i haven taken to many bio classes.

I hate biology and sciences in general and never good at them( i only took like 4 bio undergrad classes). But what I realize in dental school is that You will be learning a lot of irrelevant material and all you have to do is pass those classes and its completely doable. Thats all pass them.

But the most imp. classes are clinic and pharmacology classes. thats about it. And you spend plenty of time(4 years)in those classes to learn procedures, drugs & treatment plans.
upon graduation you will not use 95% of the science that you have learned in classes. Basically if you want stability go with health care profession. other wise its very hard to find stability in corporate.
plus dentistry involves interacting with many different people, helping the people feel good about themselves etc...

and dont listen to people telling you about economy and over saturation. what i have seen from recent grads from my area is atleast $125+. i believe you can pursue dentistry solely for money because of the potential to grow. Where as one of the members was saying about their 80k job. NO matter how many promotions they get. after 10 years later it wont go higher than 110k. But where as in dentistry 10 years later you might go over 160k, if you have your own practice may be even more.

Good luck.

 

[Lethstang]

yes dentistry is a great field. i have a hard time seeing why everyones pushing you towards it if you dont want to do it. Dr's are scientists, if you dont like science then considering it as a career is ridic.

Dude theres much easier ways to make a buck than being a dentist. Go to a top business or law school, youll have the same earning potential. Also b's and c's in your science pre reqs arent going to get you in, not even with a good DAT. You *may* get in, but youd be the exception and not the rule.

if you cant keep up with the science now you wont be able to in school without a sharp paradigm shift. Depending on the school, your first two years of didactic can be grueling. Fml.