I would emphasize the most unique aspect of dentistry that separates it from any medical specialty. Dentists take care of patient's oral health and craft functional and aesthetically appealing smiles that improve patients' self esteem by using a myriad of hand tools as well as a team of assistants. We cut both hard and soft tissue. Dentistry is the most personable of all the medical professions. We are face-to-face with our patient's faces all day long. We build relationships with our patients who are conditioned to visit us for at least twice a year. Usually an entire family shares one dentist. We get to know an entire family. You have to be gregarious to thrive in Dentistry. Unlike in some specialties in Medicine which do not require from you as much patient contact, in Dentistry, great communication skills are a must.
Choose Dentistry for quick results and tangible gratification. Choose Medicine for long-term results and generally less clear but more challenging answers which can be more rewarding than Dentistry. This just depends on your preference. Dentistry is more technically challenging than it is intellectually challenging than Medicine. This is true of most surgical specialties.
Dentistry is less likely to be affected by politics so you have a relatively stable and less dynamic field than Medicine. If you want the latest in technology, the intellectual challenge, and responsibilities of a Physician, then you should pursue medicine. You sacrifice more but for some people, that sacrifice adds more significance to their lives. As a dentist you should be happy with developing trusting relationships with your community and working with your hands and actually seeing clear results (beautiful smiles) by the end of the day.
There are many elective procedures in Dentistry giving it both a healthy amount of income that is unaffected by insurance and lots of room for business freedom.
In Dentistry you are the master of your own universe but that also means that within the office chain of command, you are at the top so any problem or complaint your patients have must ultimately be resolved by you. You are not tied to any continuous obligations to a hospital and you generally have more freedom in terms of work hours than compared to most medical specialties. But that is not to say that dentists do not answer to emergency calls because they actually do. Some even save lives by preventing dental abscesses from infecting the rest of your body, which is lethal.
If family is important to you, by choosing Dentistry you are automatically in a life style specialty. In medicine, you'd have to be at the near top of your class with high Step 1 scores to get into any of the few lifestyle specialties in Medicine (ROAD).
What are the stereotypes of a classic dentist?
"Dentists have a sense of duty to help others and do it with genuine kindness. They like working with their hands and fixing problems. They are precise, thoughtful, and do not mind hard work."
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