how does a dentist get a job after dental school

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

Teflondon95

Full Member
2+ Year Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2016
Messages
31
Reaction score
21
hi there.
this may sound dumb. Im starting dental school in august and I was just curious, after a dds/dmd graduated from dental school, what is next? how does one get a job and start working?? Like what does the average student do and whats the most common? do they apply for jobs on craigslist or something lol? Like I'm confused.. does the school hook u up? ugh

Members don't see this ad.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
First you have to decide if you want to do a residency or not. If you do, that will be your first job, and you apply in the June of your 3rd year. If you're just looking for a job straight out of school, usually you'll start putting feelers out in January / February of your 4th year. The issue is, most private practices want a dentist right now, and can't wait another 5 months for you to graduate, so to some extent, many time you'll be searching for a job after you graduate.

I used job sites like Indeed and Zip recruiter, but I will say I did use craigslist when I got desperate! School definitely does not hook you up, but many have a job board.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
You should explore your options about 6 months before graduation or so, but start really looking and sending resume and CL once you have your license or at least close to getting it. Try local dental societies and state licensing board websites
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Members don't see this ad :)
Once you know what kind of job you are looking for (academia, corporate, residency, private practice, public health, etc), you can look for jobs just about anywhere online. Indeed.com is a big one. If you're looking for public health, I would look at the individual sites within the geographic area you are considering or try to find a recruiter. If corporate, I would go to the company web site. IHS and other government jobs can be found online. Private practice is usually going to be advertised, in my experience, through dental schools and state dental societies and the like.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
I would recommend listening to at least “Shared Practices” podcasts while in dental school.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
70-80% of people go one of two routes.

You work for a DMO-They can be regional or Aspen. Depending on where you work you can make 90-140k. I would say 120 is about the average offer. Aspen and other places will come to your school and give out pamphlets. They'll pretty much sign anyone on

You work for a private practice-usually this won't pay as much, but you will actually have somewhat more tolerable work conditions. Usually you have to network or be related to this person to get this kind of job.

The other people will go on to residencies or Ph.d. We did have one person just flat out go to med school, but he was an outlier
 
Top