I don't mean to push anyone's buttons but....

[MaybeMD]

....why do you wanna become a dentist??? I honestly don't mean to piss anyone off, but I just don't see why someone would want to deal with teeth for a career. Obviously you would get satisfaction in dealing with patients. But other than that, what would make you want to go into dentistry? And please don't say money!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Joshua Tree]

Why do you want to be a doctor? There isn't a difference, if you want to do something, you try and do it.

If you want the "merits of dentistry" response, well the reasons are:

1. Dentistry is a health profession, so you provide health care for your patients and community
2. Autonomy of job. Dentistry is one of the few areas in health care where you can be your own boss and not let insurance companies or others instruct you on your desired method of care.
3. The ability to see your work make an immediate difference (the aesthetics of your work)
4. And yes, the money is good. Average work week for a dentist is around 37hrs/wk and average income is over $100,000 (conservative estimate)
5. Job security and freedom.
6. There are more dentists retiring every year than are graduating. Plus, more people are keeping more of their teeth than years prior. This adds up to a very bright future for the profession.

I know it may be a myopic viewpoint, but these aforementioned reasons make dentistry the most appealing health care profession.

I think the question to ask is why would someone want to be a proctologist or a urologist? Compared to that, the teeth are easy!

 

[EcoRI]

OK, I?ll tell you if you tell me why you?d want to stick your finger in someone?s a_ s. Seriously, if you really think about it, there are really few areas of medicine that only deal with glamorous patients? What?s makes you think that a proctologist, a podiatrist or a gynecologist has it better than a dentist?
Yes the patient interaction and the money is attractive. I?m personally attracted to the many opportunities available. Aside from general dentistry you can specialize, do research, teach or even combine any of them (granted the same is true for MDs). Many are also attracted to the manual dexterity aspects. Plus you can be a dentist in 4 years and have the same rewards as an MD and more?.patient interaction, you can be your own boss, great salary (can be as good if not better than an MD), not forced into managed care, better hours than an MD?.Come on guys help me out here!
Anyway, that?s my input.
Take care,
EcoRI

 

[MaybeMD]

I'm not trying to create a Medicine vs. Dentistry thing here. I am really not trying to be an a$$, I just wanted to know. ****, I told you guys that, yet EcoRI must not have read my post completely! And I NEVER said that there are any areas of medicine that had glamorous patients. I never said that because there isn't any areas of medicine that always deal with glamorous patients. I was just curious why one would want to be a dentist, and that's it.

 

[savvysearch]

i wonder why people have such an adversity towards teeth. Sometimes when I tell people I want to do something in the dental field they think its gross. I don't know what's up with that. I don't find the mouth to be that disgusting. Although it might be the most dirty part of the body. The only problem I see is that people fear you because you give them pain.

Frankly, the question can be asked of any profession. I wonder why anyone would want to be a financial analysis or a plummer (people don't know this, but a lot of plummers are very wealthy).

 

[mzalendo]

No comment

 

[EcoRI]

MaybeMD,
Sorry about my opening statement. I was just joking around.
Because of your name I did feel like you were implying that MDs dealt with more glamorous patients. If that's not how you felt then I apologize.
So lets throw the question back.....why are you interested in becoming an MD? Does your name "MaybeMD" imply that you are considering becoming an MD? Are you considering dentistry as well and is that why you posed your question?
Take care.
EcoRI

 

[ItsGavinC]

Originally posted by MaybeMD
....why do you wanna become a dentist??? I honestly don't mean to piss anyone off, but I just don't see why someone would want to deal with teeth for the rest of their lives. Obviously you would get satisfaction in dealing with patients. But other than that, what would make you want to go into dentistry? And please don't say money!

MaybeMD,

I'm going into medicine (dentistry, specifically) for the same reasons that you are going into medicine. Plus, I won't have to pull a q of any sort, while you will have to (at least during your residency). Entiendas?

 

[nycdoc]

For me, the autonomy is the biggest reason. It really is a 'blue-collar' type job IMO....you're basically a mechanic of the mouth if you do general dentistry. It can be fun at times believe it or not. After you've seen a hundred mouths I think you really stop noticing that you're looking into them all day long. It doesn't seem so bizzare and weird if you do it day to day. Pro football players are weird too when you think about it...grown men running around and fighting over a ball. It's all relative.
I like science, I like working with my hands and I consider myself a somewhat artistics person (although my waxing grades say otherwise). And I want to run my own business.....
With this personality, it was either become a dentist or a CPA and everyone knows dentists have more fun.

 

[tinker bell]

Can you not going to see your dentist when you have a tootache?
Do you ever feel thankful that you have dental care and your dentist is around when your face is swollen and you can't go to school?
Do you know how many people are sick, I mean very sick and lose their teeth before the age of 30 because they can't afford dental care?
Do you know that if you don't have your teeth around, you tend to get infection in your mouth more than any other?
Let just say that you don't care for dentist? Why do full blown aids patients still want to see their dentist and get treatment?
Yeah, why someone would bother spending money fixing a tooth if he/she knows he has only a few month left to live?
BECAUSE NOONE CAN STAND THE PAIN OF A TOOTHACHE.
And do you know that oral cancer is lethal? What do you do when you have one cancer tooth? Remove the tooth with the mandibular bone on it? Yes, in short, sawing it off.
Think about someone has a cancerous tongue. If it doesn't discover by a dentist, who does?

Yeah, may be it's surprise someone, but for all of the above noble reasons, I want to be a dentist.

Don't think that only MD do noble jobs and all dentist do is fixing teeth. We do fix teeth plus something else as well. Your mouth just doesn't come with teeth alone. It comes with tounge and bones and muscle and tissues and saliva glands. If someone thinks so, I think that person has the brain a size of a shrimp and should seriously not looking forward to take care of other people health.
T

 

[Yah-E]

1. I'll get to spend time with my family and friends OFTEN
2. I can have Fridays, evenings, and weekends off from work
3. I can make it home for dinner
4. I'll be respected among my community
5. I will make people smile IMMEDIATELY
6. I can choose to be an Oral & Maxillofacial surgeon
7. I get to golf quite a bit...actually A LOT
8. I'm my own boss
9. No one will die under my knife
10. I get to have a beautiful smile and WHITE teeth for FREE
11. I'll drive a very nice car
12. I'll be living in a very nice house
13. To catch and earn the love of a HOT @ss wife
14. I'll get to build years of trustworthy physician-patient relationships
15. I can do research and contribute to modern health science
16. I can teach the public about oral health and hygiene
17. I can make recommendation on which toothpaste and toothbrush to use
18. I can tell MDs and DOs that I make just as much $$$ as they do and work half the time as they do.
19. No one dares to yell at me at my work unless they want to be fired
20. I'm sitting down majority of the time at work

Would you like more reasons?

 

[dentalapp]

Originally posted by Yah-E
4. I'll be respected among my community

6. I can choose to be an Oral & Maxillofacial surgeon

13. To catch and earn the love of a HOT @ss wife

16. I can teach the public about oral health and hygiene
17. I can make recommendation on which toothpaste and toothbrush to use
18. I can tell MDs and DOs that I make just as much $$$ as they do and work half the time as they do.
Would you like more reasons?

Er..to be earnest, I don't think your reasons quoted above are mostly true. Because:

4. Wouldn't people ( besides us ) think you're a med school dropout, like what Jerry Seinfeld says?
6. Choose? I thought you have to be accepted for this. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I heard you need like a 93% on the boards and above a 3.7 dental gpa to be considered seriously for this rare spot. If anything, an MD/DDS oral surgery job is more 'prestigious' of all health careers and it's obvious that nobody's going to hand it to you for free.
13. Frankly, the dentists living on my block have gross wives. Also, I thought modern women prefer only good looking men and most male dentists don't have that quality.
16. Everyone knows and nobody cares that much.
17. All toothpastes/brush are the same. We all know that anything that has fluoride does the job and that any indicated product features are marketing gimmicks.
18. But most don't, if you look at the stats.

 

[Yah-E]

"to be earnest?" What is "earnest"? Now getting to your opinions on MY reasons why I want to be a dental medical doctor....

First, I believe they're all true in my opinion. Every one has their own reasons and beliefs on why they want to be a dentist, there isn't really right or wrong answers on why YOU want to be a dentist.

You say: Wouldn't people ( besides us ) think you're a med school dropout, like what Jerry Seinfeld says?

I say: Jerry Seinfield, are you kidding me? Is he the official professions guru? All patients that I've interacted in private dental offices (General, Perio, and OMS) and dental school settings, they've all shared one common theme, they all enjoy their dentists very much EVEN when they're getting their 3rds yanked. Do you feel that Broadway Play Actors are second to Big Screen Actors and that the reason that they're there is because they couldn't make it in Hollywood, CA? I believe not, they're simply have different passion on what they do. If you survey 100 random patients, I can bet on that over 50% of them will say they've never thought that I'm in dentistry because I couldn't make it in medicine. Heck if I truely liked medicine, I would be there right now!

You say: Choose? I thought you have to be accepted for this. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I heard you need like a 93% on the boards and above a 3.7 dental gpa to be considered seriously for this rare spot. If anything, an MD/DDS oral surgery job is more 'prestigious' of all health careers and it's obvious that nobody's going to hand it to you for free.

I say: Did I say for "free"? I said "choose to be"....of course you have to earn it, but you STILL choose to earn good grades, study, and do well on the NBDE don't you? YOU ABSOLUTELY CHOOSE on what you want to do in your life, especially in your career. Unless you're one of those passive people that let life come to you instead of having you take charge of your life, then I guess I can see how you didn't understand what I was talking about when I say "choose to be"! You're correct on the competitiveness for OMS and OMS/MD programs, but stay tuned, I'll be occupying one of ~180 spaces for OMS or OMS/MD in four years because I "choose" to kick @ss in all of my classes and to do well on my NBDEs. I was is Oral Surgery department yesterday morning shadowing and assisting at my dental school here at Nova, the Chief OMS Resident and a D3 couldn't believe that I, a D1, already know what I want to do OMS already! They not only involved me in the procedure, but they also want me back there every Thursday to further expose myself in the specialty. Listen, I'm not arrogant or think I'm the ****, I simply know what I want to do and am determined! All because I "choose" to.

You say: 13. Frankly, the dentists living on my block have gross wives. Also, I thought modern women prefer only good looking men and most male dentists don't have that quality.

I say: Wow...maybe it's a Nova or FL thing, but majority of my colleagues are amazingly attractive. Some find me attractive and some don't, but I never seem to have problems to hangout with beautiful women on dates, social gathering, or in academic settings. I'll find that someone special who's not only intelligent, but also drop dead gorgeous! I'm not worried!

You say: Everyone knows and nobody cares that much.

I say: Whoa....why are you applying to dentistry if you believe no one cares that much about their oral hygiene and health? I believe differently....for those that do not care, they're simply unaware of the whole oral hygiene-pathology relationship. You reach out, people will care! Positive attitude, my friend.

You say: All toothpastes/brush are the same. We all know that anything that has fluoride does the job and that any indicated product features are marketing gimmicks.

I say: Gimmicks or not, this is still one of my reasons why I want to be a dentist! How is it not true, if this is MY reason that I want to be a dentist? I never said IN GENERAL this is why people want to become a dentist, did I? I think it's cool that patients will ask you for recommendations of oral hygiene products! Every patient that I interacted with ALWAYS looked at their new toothbrush with a smile when it was given to them at the end of their appointment to see what color it was, what brand, what shape, etc.! If they're all the same, then why do you go to Target, Walmart, or where ever and stand in the toothbrush isle for 5 minutes or more to decide on which new toothbrush or toothpaste to purchase. Everyone does this!

You say: But most don't, if you look at the stats.

I say: We sure do, especially with the family care doctors. Obviously with specialties are different, but if we dentists work just as much hours as physicians do, we'd be making just as much as they would if not more! Let's compare apples to apples here...a dental specialty with a medical specialty (Oral surgery and Radiology) and general dentistry with family practice...pretty equal in gross income, but dentistry has much better lifestyle (golfing)!

Here's the whole deal....these are MY reasons why I want to become a dentist and they're simply what I believe in...not you or the person next to you, you have your own. They're neither true or false, they're simply my beliefs and my fuel for my career success!

 

[MaybeMD]

Hey EcoRI, it's cool, no hard feelings . I want to be a doctor for the patients I would treat; a reason that we, among many others, probably both share. It may sound cliche, but it's the truth. Helping people now makes me feel great, I personally can't wait until I save people's lives! Oh, and TINKERBELL, I never said that all dentists ever do is fix teeth. And I also never said that only MD's do noble jobs!

 

[JML1DDS]

MaybeMD,
Once again I am in despair due to the lack of insight from our medical colleagues. I am not sure if you are in med school or premed. etc. It would seem only natural that IF you were intelligent enough to get into medical school...that you would be INTELLIGENT enough to deduce why someone would want to become a Doctor of Dental Surgery. The many nights of watching Mark Greene on ER may have clouded your thought processes. Not all MD's "save lives". The person who asks why somone would want to be a dentist might as well ask why someone would want to be a Urologist. My brother, who is a urologist, enjoys helping people, curing disease, and being well respected. Same thing with DDS's. I enjoy helping children who have abscessed teeth or supernumeraries impacting their permanent teeth, etc, etc. We all enjoy curing disease. It still amazes me the caliber of questioning I see from the "MD group".
Also, don't try to poke someone in the ribs and then say you are not trying to start something....You know full well that the way you worded your question you were trying to get some sort of arousal, but were trying to be subtle. You are going to have to learn to enhance your deductive reasoning and your reasearch skills if you EVER expect to be able to diagnose a patient accurately. If you can't figure out why someone would want to be a dentist, HOW IN THE WORLD, will you ever be able to figure out if a patient has ITP, what may be causing their spleen to enarge, why the patient has renal failure, etc. etc. "Problem Solving" you should read up on it and hone your skills.

 

[JML1DDS]

Yah-E,
This is off the subject, but don't be misled by what you have not been exposed to yet. OMS is a great specialty. However, OMS has declined in applicant pool somewhat....It is still very competitive, but nothing like Ortho. or Endo. Pedo. and OMS are about the same. The reasoning is that Endo. is usually a 3 yr program and you will Make MUCH more money as Endo than OMS. Ortho is a 2yr (27mos.) prgrm and you will make similar money to OMS and Ortho is a no brainer after you complete the residency (It is getting into Ortho. that is difficult). Same as Peds. 2yr program and you will make similar money to OMS. OMS is 4 yrs for the certificate and 6 yrs for dual degree. You will do all kinds of cool stuff in an OMS residency, bilateral splits, osteotomies, facial reconstruction, but when you get out....You don't realize that the Tori removal that was so cool to you in your first year of dental school will not "foot the bill" to pay your overhead. Upon graduation of OMS you will earn your mainstay from wizzie extractions, and perhaps implants. You will find that facial reconstruction and splits and leforts are very hard to find. This should not alter your thoughts of being OMS just get more exposure to REAL OMS than what you have heard or seen in dental school. I was the same as you.....I KNEW I wanted to do OMS from the get go...Nothing else was an option, My NBE scores of 92 on part I and 91 on part two plus my class rank would have gotten me a spot in either an MD/DDS program or a certificate(4 yr) however, I chose Pedo instead for many reasons. Four years of dental school is a long long time and you will be exposed to many different things and by the end of your four years you will have a different mind set. So if you still want to be OMS that is GREAT!!! Just don't count out other things. Keep your grades up at all times and rock the boards and you will have many more choices at match time.

 

[Yah-E]

JML:

I appreciate your advice. Although my passion is with OMS, I will always have an open mind in the field of dentistry. It's funny, I'm doing very well in my Dental Anatomy courses that all my professors are trying to get me to do Comestic Dentistry. They always say "screw OMS, do general!"

My short term goals are keep all my course, exam, and quiz grades in the 90s/100 and take one exams at a time. I'll definitely keep all of you of my progress semester after semester. By the way, where are you doing your post-doctoral at this time or are you still a Pre-doctoral student?

 

[MaybeMD]

JML1DDS, WHAT THE F*CK IS YOUR PROBLEM???!!!!! Where the hell do you get that stuff?? Watching Mark Green on ER, it sounds to me like you watch that show a little more than I do since you know the whole f'n names of the doctors on the show. And I never said that all MD's save lives, did I?! If you were INTELLIGENT enough to read my posts then you should be able to DEDUCE that! And was I trying to get some sort of arousal? Why in the hell would I want to come into this forum just piss everyone off?! I really wanted to know why people wanted to become dentists; and by asking this I was hoping to gain some insight on the profession of dentistry from the pre-dental perspective. This is because I am premed, and I feel that us premed's and predent's are somewhat inthe same boat. And if you, JML1DDS, are already a dentist then this f*cking thread doesn't apply to you. Of course, that's assuming that you are INTELLIGENT enough to DEDUCE that! Man, I'm glad that you aren't my dentist, and I feel sorry for your patients for having deal with such a$$hole like you!

 

[gryffindor]

MaybeMD - Why do I want to look at teeth all day? Although there is no such thing as a "stupid question," this one comes close. Because I just do. They don't bother me. But the thought of MD training with Ob/Gyn and general surgery rotations in third year is enough to make me run the other way. God bless those who feel that is their life calling, it just isn't mine. People with GI problems, broken arms, colds and flu - don't come to me. People with broken down, abscessed or fractured teeth - no problem. It's all about your interests.

JML1DDS and Yah-E - The "Dental Bytes" in the Sept 2002 newsletter of the ADEA lists the specialties according to how students pursue them. Of all the students specializing after graduation, 33% of them go to ortho, 20% go to pedo, and 15% each go to OMS and endo.

Although JML1DDS is right to say to keep an open mind, that doesn't mean that if you still feel oral surgery is your passion you should pass it up b/c of what the market may be. You have to do what makes you happy. As a DDS, you don't have to look at which specialty will make more $$$ since at that level, they are all bound to be financially successful. The "screw specializing, do general" people are everywhere. You'll hear it from your teachers and classmates the next four years. Don't listen to them if it's not what you want. They haven't convinced me yet. It's sad that there isn't as much encouragement to specialize at my school, rather to step back and be an all-knowing general dentist who refers out only the most difficult cases and all ortho (b/c we get almost 0 training in ortho).

The markets must be different around the country b/c around here, I think the perception is that Pedo makes "less" than OMS. Whatever, the pedodontists all look to be doing fine, no one is starving.

As time permits, you should definitely do office visits while in dental school to learn what the specialties routinely do in private practice - it's different from what you have to do at school and can help you be better informed. But, Yah-E, you already have to first goal down which is to do your best in your classes b/c as unfair as it is, many of the post-grad selections often come down to numbers. Better numbers can only help you keep all options open.

 

[vahedi]

Originally posted by Yah-E

9. No one will die under my knife

that is a good reason... and I don't know why i want to be a dentist.... I'm just more attracted to that profession than medicine....

and it's true.. after a while, you really forget that you are staring inside of someone's mouth the whole day....

I've been assisting a periodontist for the past two months and I have gotten used to everything... I don't care much about the money (kinda ) or anything else..... I just like the dentistry profession...

 

[DcS]

It's amazing how some people have no problem jamming their tongue in someone's nasty ass mouth, yet wonder how us dentists can stick our hands in them! Last time I checked, most people don't check the plaque index of their make-out partners

 

[Centrum]

Originally posted by DcS
It's amazing how some people have no problem jamming their tongue in someone's nasty ass mouth, yet wonder how us dentists can stick our hands in them! Last time I checked, most people don't check the plaque index of their make-out partners

Haha. That is a good one. I never really thought about it that way hmmmm

 

[MaybeMD]

DcS, that's pretty funny !! I never thought about it that way either! And GRIFFEN04, sorry for phrasing the question that way, I changed it a bit after I read your post.

 

[tinker bell]

According to the "Rich dad, poor dad" book, the worst profession is being a medical doctor, not a dentist.
Maybe MD, I did not indicate your name when I said that "don't think only MDs save live".
I just said in general to whoever think so. Because there are apparently many people who are not predents visit this forum quite often and post many stupid questions. You are not the first and only pre-med here.
Yeah, it makes me fell kind of gross when I see someone with a beautiful face and smile and shows all the teeth with plaques.
And some MD I happen to know lost a canine and leave a hole right there. Disgusting.
Just wondering who would want to kiss those people. I certainly don't think that is "DA LOOK" in our culture these days any more.
T

 

[dentalapp]

It depends on how you see it.

Traditionally, medical schools are more competitive and more scholarly than dental schools. With a 3.6 gpa and an MCAT 31, you might get accepted from wait-lists to maybe 1-2 schools out of 20 that you apply to. Medicine requires a lot of time commitment and its life and death intensity is grueling, to say the least.

For dentistry, it would be about 3.2 and a DAT of 18 ( 70th percentile, am I right? ) to get in somewhere. Dental applicants don't apply to an insane number of 20 schools. About ten years ago, you needed a 2.5 gpa, which is just so incredible. Dentists don't have it as hard as MDs.

Clearly, you really do have to admit medical doctors carry higher credentials and respect. Then again, it depends on how you see it.

Despite my interest in dentistry, I myself would feel envious when I happen to pass by a cardiothoraic surgeon at a medical center.

 

[gryffindor]

dentalapp - I don't think envy is the right emotion to describe how you should feel of your medical colleagues. We all deal with different parts of the body and should respect each other for our knowledge. You really should figure out if you heart is in dentistry b/c if you are jealous of a cardiothoracic surgeon, maybe you need to explore your options. I passed by many MDs and MD residents last week during my hospital rotations in oral surgery. I don't envy their jobs or their training, rather I am glad and have a lot of respect that there are people who would want to pursue the demanding schedule of a cardiothoracic surgeon as a career. If I ever needed heart surgery, I would want him/her to do it.

Same goes for dentistry. Believe me, when you have a patient in excruciating pain, and you do a root canal to relieve them of the pain, they will have nothing but respect for you.

"Dentists don't have it as hard as MDs." You might want to wait till you start dental school before saying stuff like that, b/c dental school is a huge time commitment. And you can make your career as difficult or as simple as you want it. If you crave life/death situations, medically complex patients in a hospital setting, diagnosing rare diseases, and doing procedures like intubations and IV sedations in addition to "traditional" dentistry, maybe a career as a hospital dentist would suit you better.

In college it was hard being pre-dent b/c all I ever heard was why it is so wonderful to be pre-med. I thought long and hard about why I was sure I wanted to do dentistry and not medicine. I gave medicine a chance at one point only b/c so many of my college mentors and professors insisted I was cut for med school and not dental school (b/c of my grades). But I got through it and came to dental school and couldn't be happier, because now I am with 90 other students in my class who have the same goal as me - to be happy with a career as dentist. The teachers are all dentists as well who are all very satisfied with their careers and very encouraging to us just beginning our careers.

 

[tinker bell]

The first two years of dental school is not easy. It is as hard as med school in term of science classes. In addition, the dental lab, waxing is very time consuming. I visited the ucsf dental school lab last Sat and most of the first year and second year students were there. So, there is nothing easy. Many schools have dental and medical school take classes together for the first two year. So, you can't say that who got it easier. I wish it's easier for dental school so I will be able to have fun, but from what I observe lately, I don't think so.
And dental school is easy to get in? I don't think so. I got aa 20 and pat 18 with a 3.0 GPA 3 yrs ago and still didn't make a cut even I applied to 20 schools indeed. And I graduated from a good undergrad. So, please don't say it's easy. Otherwise, I could get in 3 yrs and even 4 yrs ago.
It's always easy to say it's easy back in the good old day. But to your surprise, it's not.
My classmate got a 19/18 and 3.5 GPA and still got rejected 3 yrs ago.
T

 

[anamod]

Here is my 2 cents about this whole topic. While I do agree that medical school is more difficult to get into, dental school is slowly creeping up. The gpa of my entering class this year was 3.59 and the medical school class was 3.61.To me that is not much difference. And this is by no means a good measure of intelligence, considering that when we took gross anatomy with the medical students our dental class averaged higher on the exams thn the medical students. I do agree that medical students have a harder road ahead of them, but that is by their choice. To those who say that dental school is harder because we have to do all this lab work are also wrong. Now this is my personal opinion but I find it much easier to sit in a lab and do a wax up than sit in a classroom all day and listen to someone lecture.

 

[JML1DDS]

MaybeMD, You ought to think about cleaning up your language. No one wants a doctor with a filthy mouth...No pun intended. Many premeds come on the dental forum and spout off stupid questions just to get a rise out of people. I find it hard to believe that you did not intend to demean this field slightly by the way you worded your question, however, if you SINCERELY did not intend to upset anyone then that is cool! Just simmer down. Don't get so upset. No need for name calling. You should be able to debate a subject without losing control of your means.