Dentistry Specialities

[Chrono1984]

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Hello all,

I was curious as to if any of you pre-dental students know for sure where you want to go with dentistry. Obviously getting into dental school is a start!

So I probably am getting ahead of myself, but I was really interested if anyone could direct me to a good place for information on orthodontics and/or oral maxillo-facial surgery. I know both are competitive professions to get into, but I am unable to find any actual numbers. I always have been interested in orthodontics..but am now seriously looking into OMS.

I have heard some schools offer OMS students an opportunity to earn an MD degree on top of the DDS.

So if anyone could give me some idea of how much school is involved as well as qualifications, I would be much obliged! Now I must return to my DAT studies...sigh.

cheers!

 

[Utes]

Ask this question on the Dental Residency board

 

[fightingspirit]

Hello all,

I was curious as to if any of you pre-dental students know for sure where you want to go with dentistry. Obviously getting into dental school is a start!

So I probably am getting ahead of myself, but I was really interested if anyone could direct me to a good place for information on orthodontics and/or oral maxillo-facial surgery. I know both are competitive professions to get into, but I am unable to find any actual numbers. I always have been interested in orthodontics..but am now seriously looking into OMS.

I have heard some schools offer OMS students an opportunity to earn an MD degree on top of the DDS.

So if anyone could give me some idea of how much school is involved as well as qualifications, I would be much obliged! Now I must return to my DAT studies...sigh.

cheers!

1-yes, you are getting ahead of yourself so focus on gettin in and then get your hands dirty in dentistry and decide...what's wrong with people now adays? everybody wants to specialize and yet everybody does not know squat about specializing.

2-i am always amazed by those who say " i 've always had a passion for ortho or OMFS" or "i am deeply interested in ortho and OMFS"...i mean is it a conincendence that you are interested in the most lucrative ad competitve specialties?....i am not singling you out...there are many predents just like you....i bet you if pedo was the most competitive, you'd say "i've aways had a passion for kids and their teeth"....

yes, go back to your DAT

 

[Chrono1984]

What's wrong with having goals?

The only reason I got into dentistry was by going through 8 years of orthodontic treatment and becoming fascinated as my bite developed into something 'normal'. But I apparently am not allowed to be interested in such specialties? Its true, I would like to be more informed, which is why I was asking for help. I have interned with both my general dentist and orthodontist. This summer, I will be observing some oral surgery. What's wrong with knowing more?

I never said I was going to try for either...I merely expressed curiosity and was wondering if anyone else was interested in them.

Your point is taken though, I should really focus on getting into school right now. However, I think you could have put it with better taste than assuming you know me well enough to make rude insinuations.

 

[gryffindor]

1) Finish DAT, get into dental school.

2) Land in top 10 class rank, 90+ boards. Not necessarily an easy thing to do. This criteria will likely work for both specialties, but for ortho - the higher the numbers the better.

3) Do some research, have some hobbies/clubs or volunteer, do some externships (more important for Oral Surgery than for ortho), etc.

3) Ortho residencies are 2 - 3 years long - some result in a master's degree + certificate, others award only a certificate. There is no difference in getting a master's or not, you just need the certificate to call yourself an orthodontist.

4) Oral Surgery residencies are 4 - 6 years long. The 6 year programs are usually the certificate + MD programs, while the 4 year programs are certificate only. Both programs will train you to do the same exact procedures in oral surgery and it usually doesn't make a difference which program you did for private practice. The MD can be more valuable if you want to work in an academic setting and a few other reasons.

Check out for ortho - http://www.braces.org/careers/ and for oral surgery - http://www.aaoms.org/residencytraining.cfm

 

[rocknightmare]

most lucrative.. = endo 🙂

 

[starbright]

1-yes, you are getting ahead of yourself so focus on gettin in and then get your hands dirty in dentistry and decide...what's wrong with people now adays? everybody wants to specialize and yet everybody does not know squat about specializing.

2-i am always amazed by those who say " i 've always had a passion for ortho or OMFS" or "i am deeply interested in ortho and OMFS"...i mean is it a conincendence that you are interested in the most lucrative ad competitve specialties?....i am not singling you out...there are many predents just like you....i bet you if pedo was the most competitive, you'd say "i've aways had a passion for kids and their teeth"....

yes, go back to your DAT

there's nothing wrong with knowing what you want.

 

[ARguy]

What's wrong with having goals?

The only reason I got into dentistry was by going through 8 years of orthodontic treatment and becoming fascinated as my bite developed into something 'normal'. But I apparently am not allowed to be interested in such specialties? Its true, I would like to be more informed, which is why I was asking for help. I have interned with both my general dentist and orthodontist. This summer, I will be observing some oral surgery. What's wrong with knowing more?

I never said I was going to try for either...I merely expressed curiosity and was wondering if anyone else was interested in them.

Your point is taken though, I should really focus on getting into school right now. However, I think you could have put it with better taste than assuming you know me well enough to make rude insinuations.

Don't worry about what others say. Stick to your goals and make it happen. There will be plenty of people along the way to tell you what you can or cannot do just as fightingspirit has. Ignore them. You know what you want. Why should you have to offer anybody an excuse because of this fact? Just do it dude, I'll be cheering for you. This might help: http://www.dent.unc.edu/careers/career_options/CareersIndex2.cfm

 

[EyeAmCommi]

most lucrative.. = endo 🙂

Right on. According to the American Association of Endodontists there are only 6500 endodontists in the world...

 

[Cyclysm]

Right on. According to the American Association of Endodontists there are only 6500 endodontists in the world...

that is because they want to kill themselves after doing root canals all day everyday

 

[EyeAmCommi]

that is because they want to kill themselves after doing root canals all day everyday

Whatever keeps the endo count down