If you could specialize in any field what would it be?

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What area of dentistry most interests you?

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ISU_Steve

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I was just wondering what fields most people are interested in at this point. Granted, our opinions might change (and probably will) once we get into dental school and actually get to experience the different specialties, but just for the sake of conversation, what interests you all the most? 👍
 
periodontics for me 😉
 
Pedo and Academic/Research positions at that.
 
The poll result is way off the actual percentage.
 
Perio for me too!! Saw an awesome sinus lift when I was at the periodontist.
 
For me, I can't decide between pediatrics and ortho. Hey, I'd rather hear a child cry than an adult 😉 Gotta love those kids!
 
I know...it's because it allows multiple choices....It's just lists the percentage of the total number that voted for the poll.

My ranking would be:
1. OMS
2. Periodontics
3. Orthodontics
4. Academics
5. Oral Path
6. Endo
7. OMF Radiology
8. General Practice
 
aphistis said:
Count me in for grad hygiene.


...er, perio, I mean.
Click to expand...

Come Bill, perio is awesome!! 🙄
 
Oral/Maxillofacial Surgery
 
Zurik5 said:
Come Bill, perio is awesome!! 🙄
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Come on don't put us hygienists down, glorified or not. General dentists don't want to be bothered with pickin' teeth all day. Your post was hilarious.
 
ItsGavinC said:
Pedo only has three responses which leads me to believe that this round of predents doesn't know that pedodontists make a killing. 😀
Click to expand...

WHat about Pedo makes so much bling?
 
👍 I believe you could take this field by itself.
 
With the shortage of dentists in public health and academics (returning to dental school to train/teach future dentists - it surprises me that only 2 indviduals (including myself) chose this!

Dentistry is a wonderful/beautiful profession - and we must value every aspect of it - not only the easy life-style/money aspect.

My long-term goal is to return to dental school to train/teach future dentists of America. I will feel much greater personal satisfaction.
 
crazy_sherm said:
Maybe we just hate kids... 😡
Click to expand...

I agree. 👍 But in my case, it's not the kids I would have a problem with. It would be the parents. Would it be unethical to put the nitrous on them to make them shut up? 😴 I spent a couple of days shadowing a pedi dentist and I knew I wouldn't be specializing in that- I don't care how much they make. :laugh:
 
Im suprised that Endo is so low...now they make a killing!!
 
Have you seen what endodontists do for a living? It's not too terribly stimulating (read as: redundant) and it seems like it would be rather difficult (of course this is speaking from an observer's point of view). I guess it's just not as glamorous doing root canals for a living as it is doing sinus lifts and wisdom teeth extractions. 😉

What surprised me is how many people want to do prosthodontics......
 
Aside from any financial benefits, Pedo offers a much more pleasant patient-doctor experience since most children will not have ruined all their teeth by the time they see. We've all seen the horror shows of many older people and even some adolescents. But kids have been around to little to to have too much damage! And kids can be cute!
 
OMFS for me
 
my question is how many of the predents who want to specialize will actually have that option. Who knows, it's years away anyways.
 
It makes for interesting conversation CJ. That's the only point behind this thread. Who knows what we will do. The statistics say most of us will wind up as general dentists 🙁
 
paolorossifan said:
Aside from any financial benefits, Pedo offers a much more pleasant patient-doctor experience since most children will not have ruined all their teeth by the time they see. We've all seen the horror shows of many older people and even some adolescents. But kids have been around to little to to have too much damage! And kids can be cute!
Click to expand...

Obviously you havent observed and/or assisted on a pedo case. More power to you...but have fun!!!! Kids can be much worse than adults...they kick and scream and cry. Not to mention the small oral cavity that we will eventually work in becomes much smaller when working on children. I have to say touring the NYU pedo clinic last year when interviewing cured whatever thoughts I had about doing pedo.

For all those who want to specialize and havent even started school yet...how the hell do you know? Additionally, who says you wont change your mind in 4 years? Maybe you have shadowed and thought it was cool, but until you experience it I think its tough to say I want to specialize in X, Y, Z. Ask a lot of dental students and they will say "I just want to get through"...thats how I will view the next 4 years.
 
Anyone thought about IV sedation dentistry...not a specialty but has some definite perks like being able to treat handicapped, the paranoid, difficult patients, etc. Less stress to patient and to the dentist. Some potential issues include lower volume of patients per day, need advanced training and extra equipment like heart monitor, PO2 machine, IV drugs ($$$).

1 year minimum certification residency required as well as bi-yearly ACLS refresher courses. Dad did 3 year hospital fellowship in anesthesiology (has more sedation training than an OMFS) and can use general anesthesa but limits practice to conscious sedation in 3-4 hour blocks of time per patient....interesting stuff. He can do in one visit what most general dentists do in three visits (multiple fillings, extractions, etc)....
 
Bullfan16 said:
Obviously you havent observed and/or assisted on a pedo case. More power to you...but have fun!!!! Kids can be much worse than adults...they kick and scream and cry. Not to mention the small oral cavity that we will eventually work in becomes much smaller when working on children. I have to say touring the NYU pedo clinic last year when interviewing cured whatever thoughts I had about doing pedo.

For all those who want to specialize and havent even started school yet...how the hell do you know? Additionally, who says you wont change your mind in 4 years? Maybe you have shadowed and thought it was cool, but until you experience it I think its tough to say I want to specialize in X, Y, Z. Ask a lot of dental students and they will say "I just want to get through"...thats how I will view the next 4 years.
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Well said Bull. I just want to get through, but my goal is to specialize. If I can't I'll try to do teaching. If I can't do that then I think I will go do research. I can't see doing general dentistry for 20 years and not becoming insanely bored with it. I might do it for 4 years for the public health service just to pay off my loans, but I don't think I would continue past that.
 
ISU_Steve said:
It makes for interesting conversation CJ. That's the only point behind this thread. Who knows what we will do. The statistics say most of us will wind up as general dentists 🙁
Click to expand...

I noticed there are several people who are interested in more than one area of dentistry. I would bet that those who are still interested in multiple areas upon graduation will be general practitioners since gp's can do work in all the fields of dentistry.
 
adamlc18 said:
I noticed there are several people who are interested in more than one area of dentistry. I would bet that those who are still interested in multiple areas upon graduation will be general practitioners since gp's can do work in all the fields of dentistry.
Click to expand...

I'm interested in several areas, but that's because I have yet to try them out for myself. As I said above, I don't think I would like to be a generalist. And as for them being able to do in all fields, I think that's oversimplifying it for most cases- just because you can, doesn't mean you should or that it's a good idea to even try. I'm sorry, I trust my general dentist a great deal, but wouldn't let him do a wisdom tooth extraction, sinus lift or implant on me. He might know how to do it, but he's probably not as proficient at it as someone who does only those things for a living- just like I know how to do a pericardiocentesis, but I'm not by any means what I would consider proficient due to a lack of practice at it. See my point? 👍 🙂

As for sedation dentistry, I'm all for it. I've already got loads of experience with procedures involving conscious sedation and have to maintain my ACLS cert anyways as an EMT-I (which I planning on continuing to volunteer as after I become a DDS). In the right hands and when applied with due caution, sedation dentistry is a win-win situation.
 
plazaday said:
Oh yes they do 👍
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sure they make a killing, but its just too bad that its the most boring and tedious job in the world :scared:
 
I just got back from the AAO meeting in San Francisco. I know where I want to end up... The meeting was incredible. Too bad you have to absolutely kick ass in dental school to even have a shot at ortho... 😱

No matter where we end up though, I've never been more convinced that dentistry (specialized or not) is the best profession in the world. It simply is.
 
Ever watched an endodontist work? If you have then that comment should be self-explanatory Dr. BadVibes.
 
ISU_Steve said:
I was just wondering what fields most people are interested in at this point. Granted, our opinions might change (and probably will) once we get into dental school and actually get to experience the different specialties, but just for the sake of conversation, what interests you all the most? 👍
Click to expand...

you forgot to include the latest of the dental specialities: radiology--
a good back-up if anything ever happens to your hands, plus it's interesting I suppose. I'd still choose ortho but my understanding is so would 50% of all incoming dental students.
 
Radiology's on there- third from the bottom. 🙂
 
No problem...it's easy to overlook something like that.
 
ISU_Steve said:
Ever watched an endodontist work? If you have then that comment should be self-explanatory Dr. BadVibes.
Click to expand...

Is that what she meant?? because I find it weird that someone that is still in undergrad and not applying to dental school for a couple of years knows that she will be an endodontist for sure....
 
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