Dental specialist question!

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MightyHerro

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For those who went into dental specialties (especially OMFS, orthodontics) how did you guys make this decision? What is it during dental school that helps you guys decide to specialize rather than be a general dentist? Moreover, how much do you guys consider income when deciding to go for a certain specialty?

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Income had nothing to do with it. After 2 years of dental school .... I realized that I wanted to do something different. I spoke to the different specialty students and discovered that I was really interested in growth and development (ortho). No regrets whatsoever.

Do what you like 1st. The income will follow.
 
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Income had nothing to do with it. After 2 years of dental school .... I realized that I wanted to do something different. I spoke to the different specialty students and discovered that I was really interested in growth and development (ortho). No regrets whatsoever.

Do what you like 1st. The income will follow.

Is that even for the current situation? Where certain specialties seem to be getting saturated?
 
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Is that even for the current situation? Where certain specialties seem to be getting saturated?

Like 2TH MVR stated, do what you enjoy. Trust me. You will be doing this career for decades.

You have heard it from many many many people time and time again. Do not pick your job because of X income. You have heard it from your mom and dad...posters on internet forum...random people from all walks and life. It doesn't make sense to you now, but money is just money. After a certain income 75,000 or even 125,000 as researched by some groups, having more money does not equate to more happiness. There is diminishing returns for happiness.

You should really pursue the field if you really enjoy it. I'm not saying you have to "love it" but there should be some genuine interest in it.
 
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Like 2TH MVR stated, do what you enjoy. Trust me. You will be doing this career for decades.

You have heard it from many many many people time and time again. Do not pick your job because of X income. You have heard it from your mom and dad...posters on internet forum...random people from all walks and life. It doesn't make sense to you now, but money is just money. After a certain income 75,000 or even 125,000 as researched by some groups, having more money does not equate to more happiness. There is diminishing returns for happiness.

You should really pursue the field if you really enjoy it. I'm not saying you have to "love it" but there should be some genuine interest in it.

I completely understand where you are coming from. I've shadowed an oral surgeon and definitely would love doing it for 30 + years. However, I also want to work at a hospital setting, possibly ER. Can an OMFS surgeon work at a hospital?

With that said, i disagree, and do think you have to focus on income a bit. Especially since dental school costs near 400 k for some individuals. This loan amount is even crazier when considering that all indications point at dentists making less in the future and the field shifting to corporate levels. There will be loans that will need to be paid for and kids that will need food on the table and help with college payed for. Just thinking into the future.
 
I completely understand where you are coming from. I've shadowed an oral surgeon and definitely would love doing it for 30 + years. However, I also want to work at a hospital setting, possibly ER. Can an OMFS surgeon work at a hospital?

With that said, i disagree, and do think you have to focus on income a bit. Especially since dental school costs near 400 k for some individuals. This loan amount is even crazier when considering that all indications point at dentists making less in the future and the field shifting to corporate levels. There will be loans that will need to be paid for and kids that will need food on the table and help with college payed for. Just thinking into the future.

To answer your first question, all of oral surgeons I shadowed and talked to have worked in a hospital part time and work at multiple offices as associates. They work on more complicated cases in the hospital and mainly do extractions and implants elsewhere.

Yes, student loans and other liabilities down the road will impact your decisions in determining your potential income. I wouldn't consider income as your first priority, because dentistry has so much to offer. As a general dentist, you have the potential to earn as much as specialists. Remember as a general dentist you can always refer intolerable patients to specialists. The journey to become a specialist in dental school is more stressful. I've seen many dental students change their minds in specializing due to many reasons. Give yourself some time in dental school to consider; who knows if you change your mind this year or the next.
 
I thought 8 years after high school was already way too long; therefore, I didn’t have any intention to specialize. I just tried to pass all my classes (it’s a P/F school) and didn’t care much about honor passes nor the class rank. I changed my mind toward the end of my second year when I took the first part of the national board exam and realized that my score was high enough to specialize.

I chose ortho because many students at my school kept saying it’s the best specialty…clean, no blood, no pain, no needle, assistants do most of the work etc. Who wouldn’t want to have an easy job for the rest of one’s life? I didn’t really know anything about ortho.…salary, job availability, saturation etc. I went ahead and applied anyway because I felt it’d be a waste not to specialize with a good enough board score. I figured I could always go back to practicing general dentistry if I didn’t do well in ortho. Back then, it wasn’t a huge risk to make that decision because I owed very little in student loan (I went to a state dental school) and the tuitions for ortho residency weren’t too bad (even at USC and NYU) either. It’s a huge risk now because the tuitions at most dental schools and specialty programs are 3-4 times more expensive. It’s a tough decision to take out an additional 2-300k for a dental residency, when you don’t really know if you will have the right clinical skills and business skills that are necessary to run a successful practice.

I didn’t think my practice would be successful when I first set it up because I didn’t think I had the right skills to run it. That’s why I spent very little and tried to keep the overhead as low as possible. In case it failed, I’d just walk away with minimal loss.

After I did ok with the first office, I still didn’t feel confident in myself. When I started a second office, I also spent as little as possible…..by renting an office space from a GP.
 
I completely understand where you are coming from. I've shadowed an oral surgeon and definitely would love doing it for 30 + years. However, I also want to work at a hospital setting, possibly ER. Can an OMFS surgeon work at a hospital?

With that said, i disagree, and do think you have to focus on income a bit. Especially since dental school costs near 400 k for some individuals. This loan amount is even crazier when considering that all indications point at dentists making less in the future and the field shifting to corporate levels. There will be loans that will need to be paid for and kids that will need food on the table and help with college payed for. Just thinking into the future.

Alright here we go, I'll just keep it simple.

The interesting and great thing about America and Dentistry is that it offers the ability to start/acquire a business.

As a GP, or specialist or whatever, your income is dependent on your business.

I know GPs that make the same or more then a specialist and it’s because they are good at what they do and own their own business.

So it’s great that you think about income and loans but your thinking is extremely basic and doesn’t take into account the basic understanding of the dental business side. Business, which is the end goal of most dentists, completely levels the playing field. Now if you want to work for someone else and associate, then by all means specialty is more lucrative.

Now you see why I alluded to saying "do what you enjoy?" because in the end, you will be most likely running/owning your own business. In my opinion, there are MORE opportunities OUT THE GATE/EARLIER as a GP compared to specialist. Look up Dental Business where you live. There will be most likely quite a few GP practices for sale...but maybe 1 or no specialty practices for sale. It is what it is.
 
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An OS friend of mine, who does most of the orthognathic surgeries for my patients, left his private office to get a full time job at Kaiser Permamente. At Kaiser, he does nothing (no wisdom teeth, no implants etc) but orthonagthic surgeries. I love his work so much that I convince all my patients, who need orthognathic surgery, to switch their health insurance to Kaiser so they can go see him.
 
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