Dental vs. Medicine

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DrReo

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Although some of these two fields overlap, I am wondering why you are choosing dentistry over medicine? I cannot decide and I really need to soon. Nevertheless, I just wanted to hear some of your opinions.

Thank you,
DrReo

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I think that the reasons for choosing dentistry over medicine are the same in many cases. For me personally, I love working with my hands, working in a small group, and having the ability to own my own business. In addition, I despise the hospital setting where people who don't know medicine (just money and capital) tell you what you can and cannot prescribe to patients and insurance is king.

I love science, but both dentists and doctors usually do. Although it is defnitely not the main reason, simply a plus, dentists make good money. I didn't choose dentistry over medicine for that reason, but I can't say that it wasn't a factor. In addition you're not on call, and you set your hours of practice. So I can be on the school board and coach a local little league team if I want to. I will be able to spend time with my family and friends when I want to, not when the hospital says I can.

Overall, dentistry is still much more of a "hometown" type of medicine. you really get to interact with your patients and get to know them well over the years (or at least I will in my small town). I much prefer that. Plus, my experiences with dentistry have been very good; people are usually not in a terrible mood when they see the dentist, sometimes, but not usually. If they are, then we can cheer them up!

Another factor is school. Dentists can practice right out of school, doctors still have an internship and residency (where I've heard conditions aren't so great and neither is the atmosphere).

I respect doctors and what they do greatly, but for me personally, dentistry is the best field to go into.
 
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I think that the reasons for choosing dentistry over medicine are the same in many cases. For me personally, I love working with my hands, working in a small group, and having the ability to own my own business. In addition, I despise the hospital setting where people who don't know medicine (just money and capital) tell you what you can and cannot prescribe to patients and insurance is king.

I love science, but both dentists and doctors usually do. Although it is defnitely not the main reason, simply a plus, dentists make good money. I didn't choose dentistry over medicine for that reason, but I can't say that it wasn't a factor. In addition you're not on call, and you set your hours of practice. So I can be on the school board and coach a local little league team if I want to. I will be able to spend time with my family and friends when I want to, not when the hospital says I can.

Overall, dentistry is still much more of a "hometown" type of medicine. you really get to interact with your patients and get to know them well over the years (or at least I will in my small town). I much prefer that. Plus, my experiences with dentistry have been very good; people are usually not in a terrible mood when they see the dentist, sometimes, but not usually. If they are, then we can cheer them up!

Another factor is school. Dentists can practice right out of school, doctors still have an internship and residency (where I've heard conditions aren't so great and neither is the atmosphere).

I respect doctors and what they do greatly, but for me personally, dentistry is the best field to go into.

I agree with almost everything you've said...well put! :thumbup: I would just add that for me, I can honestly say that I was not born on this planet to BE A DENTIST! I was born on this planet to BE ME. For that reason, I, like many other people I know going into dentistry, have MANY passions, dentistry being one of them.

More then anything, dentistry takes care of my passion for science, people, service, as well as providing me with an opportunity to provide for the rest of my life. I have other passions though such as running, exploring, music, outdoors, and traveling. Dentistry suits my life because it grants me the TIME needed to pursue these other passions...not replace them. I just feel that had I chosen medicine I would have had to forfeit my other passions for my primary passions of science, people, service, and the ability to provide. That said, I would not have been happy going the medical route. My advice to you would be to just go into whatever makes you the happiest. Cliche? Yes, but it is so true.
 
I agree with almost everything you've said...well put! :thumbup: I would just add that for me, I can honestly say that I was not born on this planet to BE A DENTIST! I was born on this planet to BE ME. For that reason, I, like many other people I know going into dentistry, have MANY passions, dentistry being one of them.

More then anything, dentistry takes care of my passion for science, people, service, as well as providing me with an opportunity to provide for the rest of my life. I have other passions though such as running, exploring, music, outdoors, and traveling. Dentistry suits my life because it grants me the TIME needed to pursue these other passions...not replace them. I just feel that had I chosen medicine I would have had to forfeit my other passions for my primary passions of science, people, service, and the ability to provide. That said, I would not have been happy going the medical route. My advice to you would be to just go into whatever makes you the happiest. Cliche? Yes, but it is so true.

Awesome. I agree completely. I am in the same boat at the moment and trying to decided between medicine or dentistry. For me, I love the science of both areas, but I feel medicine would be more interesting/intense. And along with that, the residency and time after school is hell until your early 30's. Dentistry offers more flexibility for being able to do more things you want to do in my opinion.
 
Dentistry is a important element of overall health.
I love working with my hands.
I like working with tools and gadgets.
The personal relations with patients.
Intellectually stimulating
Always new things to learn
 
There is a search option on this site. If you use it and type in medicine vs dentistry you will probably find about 1,000,000,000,000,000,000+ threads with this exact title. Probably you would have some luck there. Ultimately, medicine is NOT dentistry and dentistry is NOT medicine (of course there is a bit of overlap). THAT should be your deciding factor. Which do you like?
 
I think that the reasons for choosing dentistry over medicine are the same in many cases. For me personally, I love working with my hands, working in a small group, and having the ability to own my own business. In addition, I despise the hospital setting where people who don't know medicine (just money and capital) tell you what you can and cannot prescribe to patients and insurance is king.

I love science, but both dentists and doctors usually do. Although it is defnitely not the main reason, simply a plus, dentists make good money. I didn't choose dentistry over medicine for that reason, but I can't say that it wasn't a factor. In addition you're not on call, and you set your hours of practice. So I can be on the school board and coach a local little league team if I want to. I will be able to spend time with my family and friends when I want to, not when the hospital says I can.

Overall, dentistry is still much more of a "hometown" type of medicine. you really get to interact with your patients and get to know them well over the years (or at least I will in my small town). I much prefer that. Plus, my experiences with dentistry have been very good; people are usually not in a terrible mood when they see the dentist, sometimes, but not usually. If they are, then we can cheer them up!

Another factor is school. Dentists can practice right out of school, doctors still have an internship and residency (where I've heard conditions aren't so great and neither is the atmosphere).

I respect doctors and what they do greatly, but for me personally, dentistry is the best field to go into.

:thumbup: Yeah, this pretty much sums it up !

jb!:)
 
All responses are impressive.:thumbup:
 
Dentistry :thumbup:

- 35-40 hr work week
- Three day weekend
- Ultimate flexibility
- Nicer setting (small practice as opposed to large hospital or impersonal practice setting)
- Money (apparently Dentists are making just as much if not more than some MDer's because of the extremely high overhead of just being a Physician)

Pretty much summed up everywhere above.
 
Medical school is generally much harder to get into, so those who realize they won't make it as a doctor will apply to dental school.

and a lot of you guys talk about flexible hours, there are plenty of specialties in medicine where you will have tons of free time.
 
Medical school is generally much harder to get into, so those who realize they won't make it as a doctor will apply to dental school.

and a lot of you guys talk about flexible hours, there are plenty of specialties in medicine where you will have tons of free time.
Umm yeah just wanted to update you, most pre-meds are switching and trying to get into dental. In addition most of those specialties you talk about do work less then surgeons and radiologists, they don't have dentist hours. Bottom line is people who go into dental are not people who couldn't get into medicine. I never had any desire to go into medicine. Medicine is more then a full time job, it owns you. Do some research Troll!!
 
my answer is always this:

one chooses dentistry over medicine for the same reason a tradesman chooses carpentry over plumbing: you don't want to get s*** all over you.
 
Sure, there are plenty of specialties in medicine that allows flexible hours (emergency medicine, dermatology, etc). However, to become a specialist in that field will take 3 years of residency + 3-4 years of additional residency = 6-7 more years of training than a dentist.

Let's see...do you want to spend 4 years in medical school, plus 7 years in residency just to specialize in something that gives you "flexible" hours similar to a dentist? Or do you want to spend 4 years in dental school and have flexible hours right away after graduation, WHILE making more money hourly than a doctor?

hmm, it's an easy decision for me.
 
Umm yeah just wanted to update you, most pre-meds are switching and trying to get into dental. In addition most of those specialties you talk about do work less then surgeons and radiologists, they don't have dentist hours. Bottom line is people who go into dental are not people who couldn't get into medicine. I never had any desire to go into medicine. Medicine is more then a full time job, it owns you. Do some research Troll!!
I would guess almost every accepted dental applicant on this site would have been able to get into medical school sooner or later. (And if you throw D.O. programs into the mix I'd be willing to say that EVERY accepted dental applicant could have been accepted).

We're not stupid, ya know?
 
Anyone who really believes that dental students are med-school rejects is just plain ignorant. Of course, there are those who didn't do so well on their MCAT, but performed really well on their DAT. This shows that they're a better fit for dental school. Matriculated GPA of most schools have been increasing steadily due to the increase in the quality of applicants. And with the increasing number of applicants every year, you can bet that it will be more difficult to get into dental schools.

Just do that math: Dental school --> suffer for 4 years, and then cruise for the rest of your life. Med school --> suffer for 4 years, then 2-3 more, then suffer some more for the rest of your life.
 
Medical school is generally much harder to get into, so those who realize they won't make it as a doctor will apply to dental school.


That was a good joke...LOL!!!:laugh::laugh:
 
^^I don't think the poster meant it as a joke; it does hold some truth. I do know a few students who applied to both, or did dental as a backup.


To the OP: shadow both, then decide
 
^^I don't think the poster meant it as a joke; it does hold some truth. I do know a few students who applied to both, or did dental as a backup.

(It's called sarcasm.:D)
 
Dentistry :thumbup:

- 35-40 hr work week
- Three day weekend
- Ultimate flexibility
- Nicer setting (small practice as opposed to large hospital or impersonal practice setting)
- Money (apparently Dentists are making just as much if not more than some MDer's because of the extremely high overhead of just being a Physician)

Pretty much summed up everywhere above.


Only slimeballs go into any profession for pay or time off. You should go to dental school only if you want to be a dentist. If you wanna make a lot of money go into finance.
 
nothing wrong with appreciating the perks of the job. How many people do you think would apply to be a dentist if it only paid minimum wage or you had to work over 40 hours a week? It doesn't matter what initially attracted you to the profession, but what your mindset is as a practicioner once you've completed your training.
 
Only slimeballs go into any profession for pay or time off. You should go to dental school only if you want to be a dentist. If you wanna make a lot of money go into finance.

I am always amazed at illogical statements like this. Salary potential and hours worked per week are integral parts of any intelligent career plan. Would you still want to become a dentist if the expected salary ranged from $25,000-30,000 annually? Would anyone? I certainly wouldn't.

There is simply no escaping the fact that some people may enter dentistry because of these factors moreso than for their love of the profession. I personally know several people that really wanted to become dentists, became dentists, and are now unhappy with their chosen profession.

And by the way, following your line of thinking, all people in finance are slimeballs! :confused:
 
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