Immediate help needed and appreciated

[Rabbit99]

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[Cali20002]

Mistakes in dentistry can be detrimental to your business at best and fatal at worst. I heard a story about a 3 year old patient who went in to their pediatric dentist for a checkup. The dentist said that 6 of the teeth needed to be removed and as a result, the child would need to be put under. During the procedure, it turned out that the child did not make it out alive. An autopsy revealed that the child's 6 teeth did not have any observable decay.

Another sad story...there was a 13 year old who needed RCT or pulpotomy? (I think?). When finishing up, the dentist put in these teeny tiny little balls soaked in a solution that kills off everything it touches. The dentist put in a few of these and accidentally forgot to take one out. These are tiny things mind you, smaller than a water droplet. He sealed up the tooth and as time went on, the patient complained of pain in his jaw. He got an x-ray and it turns out his jaw was necrotic. He had to get it removed.

 

[distressstudent]

You will definitely make mistakes in dentistry. Either in dental school or private practice. It's not an easy job.

These mistakes might not kill someone, but be sure that they can illicit one hell of a headache for you.

 

[I-hate-alginate]

Mistakes in dentistry can be detrimental to your business at best and fatal at worst. I heard a story about a 3 year old patient who went in to their pediatric dentist for a checkup. The dentist said that 6 of the teeth needed to be removed and as a result, the child would need to be put under. During the procedure, it turned out that the child did not make it out alive. An autopsy revealed that the child's 6 teeth did not have any observable decay.

Another sad story...there was a 13 year old who needed RCT (I think?). When finishing up, the dentist put in these teeny tiny little balls soaked in a solution that kills off everything it touches. The dentist put in a few of these and accidentally forgot to take one out. These are tiny things mind you, smaller than a water droplet. He sealed up the tooth and as time went on, the patient complained of pain in his jaw. He got an x-ray and it turns out his jaw was necrotic. He had to get it removed.

You definitely took dentistry off OPs list. If you add another case, you would take dentistry off my list too lol.

 

[Rabbit99]

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[Cali20002]

Go pharmacy. Dentistry is a hard job

 

[845302]

Dentistry: Stressful. Hard. Unforgiving. Yet rewarding.

If you have a real passion for dentistry, go for it. Don't let anything get in your way. Be good at it. As much stress and hardships you will go through during your career, it will be all worth it if you have a deep passion and love for dentistry.

Yes, there are some sad stories about dentists who weren't thinking about what they were doing. However, if you are motivated to do well in dentistry and are always on edge and ready to go, the sky is the limit.

Do what you love. Never regret it.

-Fyz

 

[ApicalStop]

Pharmacy and dentistry are two very different fields. I considered going to pharmacy school and almost applied before I shadowed a couple general dentists and decided that was the right choice for me. Call up a couple pharmacists and see if they will let you shadow for a couple days. Do the same thing with a few dentists. See what they both do on a day-to-day basis and that will really help you decide, don't try to make the decision based on what you think the job entails. Consider the long term career and not just the immediate pressures and responsibilities of the schooling involved to get there. If you don't think you can hack it, that's one thing, but seriously consider what you want out of your profession, career, and personal life. Dental school is extremely difficult and doing actual dentistry is difficult, but extremely rewarding. I am thankful every day that I chose to pursue dentistry over pharmacy, but obviously that's a personal decision you have to make. Be informed and go shadow/observe both professions in action... that's the best advice I can give you.

 

[wengerout]

I shadowed a pharmacist once before my first year in undergrad. 15 minutes in I called my ride to swing back and pick me back up. The two are very different so I would shadow both again and figure out which one you actually want to do.

 

[Rabbit99]

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[Lane138]

Okay those were two depressing stories, but if you think you can't kill anyone as a pharmacist, think again!! Just google pharmacy and death.

To the OP: You should delve deeper about your motivations for dentistry. What does it even mean to be passionate about teeth? Do you think you can say that after working with only teeth for eight hours a day? I'm a newly minted dentist and I don't think I could ever say that. What appealed me about this profession: how you're doing arts and crafts all day and helping people drastically improve their day. I love interacting with people (most of the time). And I liked sciences. To me, teeth are as cool as the pancreas, and less than the brain.

You mention opportunities abroad. If it's very important to you, dentistry will be hard. It's incredibly difficult to get licensed to practice in other countries unless you spend tons of time and money applying and taking other tests. The US doesn't accept any other country's license, so surprise surprise, very few countries take ours. Take my word-- I am currently practicing abroad, but it was like pulling teeth to get here.

 

[TanMan]

Mistakes in dentistry can be detrimental to your business at best and fatal at worst. I heard a story about a 3 year old patient who went in to their pediatric dentist for a checkup. The dentist said that 6 of the teeth needed to be removed and as a result, the child would need to be put under. During the procedure, it turned out that the child did not make it out alive. An autopsy revealed that the child's 6 teeth did not have any observable decay.

Another sad story...there was a 13 year old who needed RCT or pulpotomy? (I think?). When finishing up, the dentist put in these teeny tiny little balls soaked in a solution that kills off everything it touches. The dentist put in a few of these and accidentally forgot to take one out. These are tiny things mind you, smaller than a water droplet. He sealed up the tooth and as time went on, the patient complained of pain in his jaw. He got an x-ray and it turns out his jaw was necrotic. He had to get it removed.

We hear stories of these, but I'm sure there's plenty more that are not publicized. I don't think we have to worry about it as long as we have some clinical common sense... and if you don't, you probably shouldn't practice dentistry. Just be glad we can hire the best lawyers given our resources. Liability depends on the state where you choose to practice. In Texas, they can't get much from you, and you got some of the strongest homestead protections.

Anyway, don't let these stories discourage you from pursuing dentistry. The most common worst outcome is having to redo the work or pull the tooth out. There are higher risk procedures such as endos that may lead to bleach accidents, or IA nerve injury from 3rds/implants- they don't occur too frequently and that's why you have liability insurance.

I remember reading some thread before that some predent said they theoretically could sue their dentist for working on the wrong quad... that made me chuckle. It's not that easy to sue someone without the financial resources. Now, your licensure is another matter, but with the right legal team, you can probably get any disciplinary action downgraded.

This goes back to clinical management and patient interaction skills. Know what you're doing, and you won't get into these situations. However, the other component is patient assessment and interaction. Screen the problem patients out, know what to say to get them out of your practice, and keep the good patients (those that don't ask questions or complain). As I tell everyone, make your money and get out.