do you think I can become a dentist??

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yourdentisttt

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I'd never thougt I was afraid of blood, until I came across this video of dental surgery on youtube. None of the dental procedures that I witnessed during shadowning disgusted me, but this one really made me sick inside, which made me wonder if dentistry is really right for me. I like every aspect of dentistry, but I don't know if I can be a successful dentist if I am even remotely grossed out by this kind of stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UvGf1jO6w4&
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that is a serious procedure right there....
 
Maybe you have trypophobia. The only part of that video that truly freaks me out are the holes in her mouth...and the crappy music :laugh:

I wouldn't worry about it, you get used to that kind of stuff.
 
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If you are trying to go into general dentistry i can assure you you will not have to do a procedure like that!

But it shouldnt gross you out too badd...
 
don't be an oral sugeon and you'll be fine.
 
My periodontist I shadowed did implants all day...

I remember him revealing 8 implants in this one patient and thinking, "Wow! this person spent $16,000. lol.
 
That's a sweet video. I think it takes dental school to help us realize that even these advanced procedures that seem relatively gory will help our patients have a better function/look of their mouth. You'll be a great dentist, but it takes practice! Don't get discouraged. I was a CNA when I was 15, and all my friends said they could never get into that sort of field. Now many of them are pursuing nursing. Like I said, practice! You'll be fine!
 
haha--that was pretty crucial...I wouldn't sweat it. If you can handle extractions, then you're good to go for at least a general dentist.
 
It may seem a little gross at first but you will become desensitized to all of that quickly.
 
I would recommend dentures so I could make my tee time
 
yourdentisttt said:
I'd never thougt I was afraid of blood, until I came across this video of dental surgery on youtube. None of the dental procedures that I witnessed during shadowning disgusted me, but this one really made me sick inside, which made me wonder if dentistry is really right for me. I like every aspect of dentistry, but I don't know if I can be a successful dentist if I am even remotely grossed out by this kind of stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UvGf1jO6w4&
Click to expand...

Well, now you know Oral Surgery is not the field for you.
Nevertheless, if your grossed out by blood, I wouldn't recommend dentistry. The most basic thing you'll do on daily basis as a general dentist is a root canal, and even that involves some bleeding (not severe bleeding, but nevertheless).
So, if you're seriously terrified of blood, you might wanna start thinking about a field that doesn't have anything to do with the human body!
 
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nze82 said:
Well, now you know Oral Surgery is not the field for you.
Nevertheless, if your grossed out by blood, I wouldn't recommend dentistry. The most basic thing you'll do on daily basis as a general dentist is a root canal, and even that involves some bleeding (not severe bleeding, but nevertheless).
So, if you're seriously terrified of blood, you might wanna start thinking about a field that doesn't have anything to do with the human body!
Click to expand...
I don't know who you shadowed, but General Dentist do not do root canals on a daily basis. They may do some if they feel comfortable, but most stick to crowns, bridges, extractions, fillings, etc. If you have experienced a general dentist do daily root canals then forgive me, but I have never heard of that.
 
I think you will be ok. That video really grossed me out too. It's more important that you find this stuff interesting, and that will pull you through. You could still be an oral surgeon if you wanted just get into dental school don't listen to SDN :love:
 
this shouldnt gross you out too much... but go into ortho
 
FutureDent020 said:
I don't know who you shadowed, but General Dentist do not do root canals on a daily basis. They may do some if they feel comfortable, but most stick to crowns, bridges, extractions, fillings, etc. If you have experienced a general dentist do daily root canals then forgive me, but I have never heard of that.
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Yea! I guess the dentist I shadowed loved root canals. Because we almost always had a root canal patient. But if that's not the norm, then I don't know why he did so many of them.
 
FutureDent020 said:
I don't know who you shadowed, but General Dentist do not do root canals on a daily basis. They may do some if they feel comfortable, but most stick to crowns, bridges, extractions, fillings, etc. If you have experienced a general dentist do daily root canals then forgive me, but I have never heard of that.
Click to expand...

I agree. I shadowed one dentist who doesn't even do root canals. He refers patients to someone else.
 
nze82 said:
Yea! I guess the dentist I shadowed loved root canals. Because we almost always had a root canal patient. But if that's not the norm, then I don't know why he did so many of them.
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Yea, that's weird. But i'm sure it's good business if he was able to do them efficiently. I wonder why he didn't specialize as an endodontist..
 
MTD52 said:
I agree. I shadowed one dentist who doesn't even do root canals. He refers patients to someone else.
Click to expand...
I guess every dentist has his/her preferences then!
Anyways, not to hijack the OP's thread. I think if you're deciding to work in a field such as dentistry, you shouldn't be too grossed out by blood.

 
nze82 said:
I guess every dentist has his/her preferences then!
Anyways, not to hijack the OP's thread. I think if you're deciding to work in a field such as dentistry, you shouldn't be too grossed out by blood.
Click to expand...
Ortho FTW :D
 
That's not too bloody but it looks wicked. The patient appears to be awake for this as well. Please put me under for a procedure like that lol.
 
Honestly, you'll get used to this sort of thing. In one of my pre-dental classes we had an OMFS come in and show us a slide show of things he had done... there were a few that really got to me and made me want to puke (especially the one where he had to reconstruct the face of someone that tried to commit suicide with a shotgun...). But now, when I watch stuff like this, it's more interesting than disgusting. You will be desensitized to it all and be able to do your job. But if not, you can just refer all your extractions etc to other drs.
 
that procedure is AWESOME!, those kind of procedures makes me want to brush my teeth every hour of the day lol
 
yourdentisttt said:
I'd never thougt I was afraid of blood, until I came across this video of dental surgery on youtube. None of the dental procedures that I witnessed during shadowning disgusted me, but this one really made me sick inside, which made me wonder if dentistry is really right for me. I like every aspect of dentistry, but I don't know if I can be a successful dentist if I am even remotely grossed out by this kind of stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UvGf1jO6w4&
Click to expand...

You could limit your practice to prophies.

FutureDent020 said:
I don't know who you shadowed, but General Dentist do not do root canals on a daily basis. They may do some if they feel comfortable, but most stick to crowns, bridges, extractions, fillings, etc. If you have experienced a general dentist do daily root canals then forgive me, but I have never heard of that.
Click to expand...

It must be nice to be omniscient. Keeping track of what procedures the roughly 150K dentists do on a daily basis must be pretty challenging.
 
MTD52 said:
I agree. I shadowed one dentist who doesn't even do root canals. He refers patients to someone else.
Click to expand...

Many dentists refer their patients with root canals because root canals are dangerous in the sense that they have a high probability of failing. It is hard to get all the pulp/bacteria out of all the little pockets, and if even a tiny amount is not taken out, it could mean failure.

Even though its worse for business, referring is often the right thing to do because an endodontist is much better in doing root canals, and it is sort of an insurance in case something goes wrong.
 
I woudn't say referring is often the right thing to do because an endodontist is better. That's the beauty of CE. When you get out of school you can go learn how to place implants, extract bony 3rds, or do molar endo. That's the beauty of general practice, you can choose to do what you like and are comfortable with, and send the rest away. There are many, many general dentists who are probably better at implants than some oral surgeons, because they took the time and classes to learn it well.

And GP dentists do root canals on most anterior teeth and premolars, it's the crazy twisting molar root canals that are tough and are most likely to be referred out. If you're referring away all your endo you're losing a lot of revenue right there. Endo on a one root #8 doesn't need to be referred
 
doc toothache said:
You could limit your practice to prophies.

It must be nice to be omniscient. Keeping track of what procedures the roughly 150K dentists do on a daily basis must be pretty challenging.
Click to expand...
Honestly, there are many times that you are one of the most helpful members of this forum.... but at times you can also be the most useless one.


To the OP:
While you really shouldn't be that grossed out by just watching that procedure, you eventually will get desensitized.
 
I get grossed out sometimes too. Not so much the blood or the smells, but just the really deep OMFS stuff. I think oral surgery sounds cool, but I know I just don't have the stomach to do it. On one particularly deep wisdom extraction, I had to step out a minute, but fillings, crowns, root canals, etc., don't bother me.

For some reason, I picture it happening on myself and it grosses me out. Also, after 100 hours of shadowing, when I hear someone suck down on the suction, I swear I can feel it in my own mouth.
 
yuppers said:
Honestly, there are many times that you are one of the most helpful members of this forum.... but at times you can also be the most useless one.
Click to expand...

And this must be an example of a post we should emulate.
 
yourdentisttt said:
I'd never thougt I was afraid of blood, until I came across this video of dental surgery on youtube. None of the dental procedures that I witnessed during shadowning disgusted me, but this one really made me sick inside, which made me wonder if dentistry is really right for me. I like every aspect of dentistry, but I don't know if I can be a successful dentist if I am even remotely grossed out by this kind of stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UvGf1jO6w4&
Click to expand...

Patient's mouth looks grosser in video than they do in person. I use to find men's facial hair around the mouth to be really gross but when I shadowed a dentist and observed patients with facial hair it was not that bad at all, I hardly noticed it. Plus for most of the procedures the camera is zoomed in.
 
When my mother was in nursing school, she'd pass out when blood was drawn and get vasovagal during procedures and things like that. Now, she's tough as nails and doesn't even wince at the most ghastly stuff that comes in.

I myself get a little funny when it comes to certain things like getting blood drawn, but she tells me all the time that you just get acclimated to it and then it doesn't bother you anymore. She also always tells me that no matter how gruesome something looks now, you have to remember that you are helping that person live a better life in the long run.
 
doc toothache said:
And this must be an example of a post we should emulate.
Click to expand...

Never said that I was the one to emulate in posting. And that was half my post anyway.

I guess it is too much for me to expect more from a dentist who has been through more than us pre-dents and possesses more knowledge on these types of matters.
 
I shadowed a couple of these procedures, involving sinus lifts... stuff is a bit gruesome at first if all you've witnessed so far is general dentistry.

but dude, you don't have to be an oral surgeon. i wouldnt think too much into it
 
Last edited:
pbure9 said:
ye very cool. weren't those temps tho? i hope they were
Click to expand...

I am pretty sure they were, but aren't there several different shades of material that you could use for the temp anyway.
 
doc toothache said:
It must be nice to be omniscient. Keeping track of what procedures the roughly 150K dentists do on a daily basis must be pretty challenging.
Click to expand...
Common Doc. You know that it is irrational on a business standpoint for a general dentist to perform root canals on a daily basis. They could perform 5 crown preps during the time it takes to do one root canal. Plus the expenses of proper equipment (microscopes, drills). Yea, I obviously don't know what every general dentist does, but isn't it fun to act omniscient sometimes? You would know, right? :D
 
This is an excellent video of what dentistry can do in 2009 that could not be done 25 years ago (when I graduated). I do these cases in my office and in the hospital where I am director. Anyone not comfortable with implant dentistry should consider an alternative, as it is the standard and the future.

As far as endo goes, many GP's are not comfortable with molar endo, but anything anterior to that should be fair game. With apex locators and good rotary epuipment, it is an easy and money making procedure.
 
FutureDent020 said:
Common Doc. You know that it is irrational on a business standpoint for a general dentist to perform root canals on a daily basis. They could perform 5 crown preps during the time it takes to do one root canal. Plus the expenses of proper equipment (microscopes, drills). Yea, I obviously don't know what every general dentist does, but isn't it fun to act omniscient sometimes? You would know, right? :D
Click to expand...

What would be "irrational" is to discuss with you the the wisdom for selecting procedures done in an office. You could, however, come back in 5-8 years and share your rationality for performing or excluding certain procedures in your office.
 
doc toothache said:
What would be "irrational" is to discuss with you the the wisdom for selecting procedures done in an office. You could, however, come back in 5-8 years and share your rationality for performing or excluding certain procedures in your office.
Click to expand...

Play nice :D
 
that was cool.. i didn't even bother to stop eating my sandwich while watching that
 
Yeah, for GP's you really do what you feel most comfortable doing (to some extent). My dental anatomy professor says he does all of his own endo because he's used to doing them and makes a nice chunk of change doing his own. I was talking to one of the clinic professors *general dentist*, and he was showing us some pictures of some of the work he was doing in his practice, and he said he occasionally does full arch implants like what was in that first video.

I thought the first video was pretty cool, but the second one was maybe a bit more than I'd like to do, haha - still interesting though I guess, ha. And that statement in my signature is an "if." :)
 
I have a very good skilled, hands. My motor skills are just very good. Does this fact make me to become a dentist? I am still thinking if I will be a good dentist ? I wouldn't prefer to deal with blood , but something which is more cosmetic ??? thanks
 
doc toothache said:
What would be "irrational" is to discuss with you the the wisdom for selecting procedures done in an office. You could, however, come back in 5-8 years and share your rationality for performing or excluding certain procedures in your office.
Click to expand...


Do you really have nothing better to do than argue with predents?
 
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