In your opinion, what is the best specialty (including general dentistry) to pursue & why?

[UConnDoIt]

Just a confused dental student who wants to hear responses from current residents and practicing dentists.

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[HatInTheCat]

Such a loaded question. Depends on what you’re looking for in terms of income, stress level, lifestyle, and debt.

 

[HMI]

Just a confused dental student who wants to hear responses from current residents and practicing dentists.

Endo, I'm a practice owner and between Endo, Perio and O.S., Endo days are by far more productive and easier to build ( more than the other two specialties combined). Ortho is good too since its easy on your body and mind, but in terms of income ( if that's your goal) then Endo is the best.

 

[bergus95]

Endo, I'm a practice owner and between Endo, Perio and O.S., Endo days are by far more productive and easier to build ( more than the other two specialties combined). Ortho is good too since its easy on your body and mind, but in terms of income ( if that's your goal) then Endo is the best.

Endo more productive than both combined? Maybe a stretch.

 

[PerioDont]

Such a loaded question. Depends on what you’re looking for in terms of income, stress level, lifestyle, and debt.

yep. What year are you in dental school? How is your performance? Do you think you have what it takes to specialize as well?

Shadow a bunch of different specialties and see what lifestyle you like the best. GP can be wonderful and very lucrative if you are a solid business person. If you are a high energy and social person it can be wonderful. Run multiple chairs, hygiene and EFDAs and treat patients well and you can have a very great lifestyle. However, there is a larger variety of stuff you have to be good at, though you can refer harder stuff. You won't know if you really like only doing certain procedure till you start doing it yourself in clinical years.

I agree endo is a great specialty, however it is much more uncommon to get straight into endo from dental school, so you may have to do either a GPR or work a few years and come back (not that there is anything wrong with that, just something to consider). Definitely low overhead. Can be acute pain in many cases as well.

OS has a high stress level, more acute situations and pain. Residency is very arduous. I think perio has a good balance of surgery and not much acute painful stuff as OS. Peds is a high volume practice, lots of hygiene checks and exams and all treatment has to be quick on kids. Ortho has mental energy expenditure, less physically taxing, no injections etc. I think both ortho and peds involves a lot of dealing with parents. Prosth is basically a super-GP, heard mixed things about private practice prosth though some are definitely killing it. seems many prosth end up in faculty positions. In OS, perio, endo, and prosth, you need to be good at networking with GPs to get referrals. Ortho/peds as well, but many walk in to those as the public knows what they do. Do you feel well connected in your class? would your classmates send you their patients? I think that is a good starting point to determine how you could connect with GPs in your area.

I chose perio because I wanted to do surgeries and don't like a high volume practice or lots of call and pain. I am very interested in All-on-4s and other life altering treatments that can be done. GPs can definitely do a lot of stuff, but they have to train more to do beyond single tooth dentistry, i.e. crowns, filling, occasional exo/denture/RCT

 

[yappy]

OMS: Always necessary. Interesting cases. Large scope of practice. Well compensated. Professionally rewarding.

 

[futuredebt]

OMFS if you do well with stress and enjoy surgery.

Ortho if you do not like giving shots.

I'd go ortho personally. It is cool to do really hard/amazing things at first (e.g. surgery) until the years start adding up. Myself I'm most interested in an easy job as each day passes

 

[Stelbel]

The “best” or perfect speciality really isn’t a one size fits all answer.

When choosing anything, I like to remind people that it’s the big and small things that matter. Lifestyle and salary are important factors, but small things can become massive issues if they aren’t considered.
The pay and lifestyle of a (insert speciality here) may be fantastic, but if you don’t enjoy what I call the “bread and butter” of the job then you won’t be happy.
Do you not enjoy being patient with a canal that’s taking longer? That may seem small and insignificant but in the long term it’s what separates a good Endodontist from a bad one. That doesn’t mean we don’t have bad days and get frustrated, but ultimately you don’t want the cause of your stress and frustration to be something small that you have to do routinely.

Pay attention to the small things. They are what make great doctors great.
That doesn’t mean be picky! If you can find something that you love, the big and the small, that’s the right choice.
Keep your mind open, you will change your outlook as you progress. Focus on being the best Dentist, the rest falls into place.

 

[LFA20]

Just a confused dental student who wants to hear responses from current residents and practicing dentists.

Ortho

 

[navirpid]

Anesthesia

 

[Big Time Hoosier]

Politician. Just think of all the potential insider trading and getting paid $100,000 per speech after you leave office! You literally can make a fortune “solving” problems that you created in the first place!

Big Hoss

 

[schmoob]

Any specialty can be rewarding and lucrative. I’m a GP. Endo is great but I can do most of my own, and I do the crown. I had 2 cases today and ended up doing one RCT, and referring another. The referral was a retreat, which I normally do as well, but the dentist who did it perforated when they placed the post. The point is I get to CHOOSE which cases I want.
I can take out 3rds, but am happy to refer tough cases to O.S. The OS and Endo will do the job faster and better, while I can do a bunch of restorations in that same time but make much more money. It’s better for the patients too because they want the “best,” All this while my hygienists are generating money.
I will say that I really do enjoy the relationships I build with specialists.

 

[gryffindor]

Ortho. I love that solving the challenges takes time. Like several years. I hate having to come up with answers on the spot, I like to research and think (and maybe procrastinate too LOL). It's my personality and ortho really fit the bill.

 

[UConnDoIt]

Ortho. I love that solving the challenges takes time. Like several years. I hate having to come up with answers on the spot, I like to research and think (and maybe procrastinate too LOL). It's my personality and ortho really fit the bill.

What do you think the future of ortho will be like? In 10 years? 20 years?

 

[allDAT]

In 2050, all of the specialties will still be around. Do what you like. They are all good. Be careful with the cost if Ortho if that’s what you decide to do.

Example, if you don’t like kids, being a pediatric dentist would be miserable. If you don’t like surgery, being an oral surgeon or periodontist wouldn’t be a good fit for you. If you don’t think you can tolerate the risk of trying and failing to rescue a patient during sedation, dental anesthesiology isn’t for you. Etc etc.

No dentists who are sober are homeless.

 

[futuredebt]

What do you think the future of ortho will be like? In 10 years? 20 years?

In my opinion, very similar to today. not what it used to be, but still better than the rest. While I do not believe making a ton of $ will buy you happiness, I do believe being deep in debt can sell you depression. like allDAT said, keep the student loan balance squarely in your mind when considering options.

 

[charlestweed]

The most desirable specialty is the one that a lot of dental students and practicing dentists want to apply to….the one that is very competitive to get into…the one that requires the applicants to have excellent academic stats+ other extracurricular activities. When I applied for ortho, I didn’t know anything about the specialty (job prospect, salary, work hours etc). I applied because a lot of students at my school also wanted to become an orthodontist. Since a lot of people wanted to apply to this specialty, it must be a good specialty….and I probably made the right decision. I have practiced ortho for nearly 20 years. I can see why so many dental students want to pick this specialty and why so many practicing dentists want to return to school for ortho. I’ve seen pedodontists, OMFS residents and periodontists who gave up their specialty and switched to ortho.

OS is probably the next best specialty because a lot of people also want to apply to this specialty as well. The reason why it’s not as desirable as ortho is it requires more years of training….and it’s much more stressful (in comparison to ortho).

 

[gryffindor]

What do you think the future of ortho will be like? In 10 years? 20 years?

So my crystal ball is in the shop this month, but there will always be lots of messy occlusions to fix. Also America is full of lazy people who don't like to do things that require a strong commitment to compliance (like exercise or in this case, wearing aligners 22 hours/day) so fixed braces aren't going anywhere. I'm not sure where the current direct-to-consumer model fits with this. Right now all I see walking in are the failures their product was never going to fix but I don't know what their end game is.

 

[navirpid]

Just a confused dental student who wants to hear responses from current residents and practicing dentists.

Honestly everyone can give their opinion, but people’s opinions shouldn’t matter to you. I mean that in a good way. Definitely specialize instead of GP. I personally don’t know any specialists who regret specializing, but I know plenty of GPs who wish they would’ve specialized. All the main specialties are great and will continue to be. Pick the one you think is the most fun, do it, and don’t look back.

 

[UConnDoIt]

The most desirable specialty is the one that a lot of dental students and practicing dentists want to apply to….the one that is very competitive to get into…the one that requires the applicants to have excellent academic stats+ other extracurricular activities. When I applied for ortho, I didn’t know anything about the specialty (job prospect, salary, work hours etc). I applied because a lot of students at my school also wanted to become an orthodontist. Since a lot of people wanted to apply to this specialty, it must be a good specialty….and I probably made the right decision. I have practiced ortho for nearly 20 years. I can see why so many dental students want to pick this specialty and why so many practicing dentists want to return to school for ortho. I’ve seen pedodontists, OMFS residents and periodontists who gave up their specialty and switched to ortho.

OS is probably the next best specialty because a lot of people also want to apply to this specialty as well. The reason why it’s not as desirable as ortho is it requires more years of training….and it’s much more stressful (in comparison to ortho).

Why do you think endo doesn't get a lot of attention as being another top specialty?

 

[charlestweed]

Why do you think endo doesn't get a lot of attention as being another top specialty?

Because unlike orthos, who can market their practices directly to the general public, endodontists have to rely 100% on the GPs for getting new patients. Trust me, it’s no fun to go around begging the GPs. Endos have to deal with after hour emergencies. If you are not available to help get the patients out of pain, the GP will refer the pt to another endo down the street, who is willing to work late. With the high success rate of implants, many dentists choose to extract a tooth and implant…for certain cases, this may be more predictable and cost effective than RCT, post BU, and crown. That’s why some endo programs now teach their residents to perform implant placements. And the last reason why it’s not as desirable is it’s hard to get in straight out of dental school. Most endo programs require GPR or private practice experience.

Endo is a good specialty if you don’t mind going around meeting the referring GPs. I did a year of GPR because endo was my backup plan in case I didn’t get accepted to ortho.

 

[PerioDont]

Honestly everyone can give their opinion, but people’s opinions shouldn’t matter to you. I mean that in a good way. Definitely specialize instead of GP. I personally don’t know any specialists who regret specializing, but I know plenty of GPs who wish they would’ve specialized. All the main specialties are great and will continue to be. Pick the one you think is the most fun, do it, and don’t look back.

agreed. It does get me at times that I will not have much income for my next three years as a resident when I know I could be a successful GP, but in the long run I have never met a specialist who regretted it. and just like you said, I've met many,many GPs who wished they could have specialized.

If you can specialize just do it right after school. It sucks to go back and be at the bottom again with no income but much easier to swallow when you are already there as a dental student.

 

[UConnDoIt]

agreed. It does get me at times that I will not have much income for my next three years as a resident when I know I could be a successful GP, but in the long run I have never met a specialist who regretted it. and just like you said, I've met many,many GPs who wished they could have specialized.

If you can specialize just do it right after school. It sucks to go back and be at the bottom again with no income but much easier to swallow when you are already there as a dental student.

I totally agree with their point and yours. I'm leaning towards specializing for sure. My next question is, how do you accept that you have to put some parts of your life on hold for another couple years? It's hard being in school for 8 years, sacrificing some things here and there...and then you come to a realization you have to do it for another couple years if you want to specialize. In other words, how do you feel content with your decision to specialize when your family/friends have been out of school for years and year, are making money, and starting a family, meanwhile you're still in school?

 

[navirpid]

I totally agree with their point and yours. I'm leaning towards specializing for sure. My next question is, how do you accept that you have to put some parts of your life on hold for another couple years? It's hard being in school for 8 years, sacrificing some things here and there...and then you come to a realization you have to do it for another couple years if you want to specialize. In other words, how do you feel content with your decision to specialize when your family/friends have been out of school for years and year, are making money, and starting a family, meanwhile you're still in school?

Cause if you use that mentality as a reason to go straight in practice as a GP, then you’re going to waste a few years practicing wishing you would’ve specialized. Then one of two things will happen. You’ll continue as a GP for 30+ years always regretting not going to residency. Or, you’ll apply to residency after a few years of practice. Either way, you’ll wish you would’ve gone to residency straight from dental school.
Residency isn’t that bad, especially if the specialty you choose excites you (which it should). Plus, some residencies are paid. You have a looooong career and life ahead of you. Just do it, you won’t regret it.

 

[yappy]

I totally agree with their point and yours. I'm leaning towards specializing for sure. My next question is, how do you accept that you have to put some parts of your life on hold for another couple years? It's hard being in school for 8 years, sacrificing some things here and there...and then you come to a realization you have to do it for another couple years if you want to specialize. In other words, how do you feel content with your decision to specialize when your family/friends have been out of school for years and year, are making money, and starting a family, meanwhile you're still in school?

The journey is always better than the destination.

 

[charlestweed]

I totally agree with their point and yours. I'm leaning towards specializing for sure. My next question is, how do you accept that you have to put some parts of your life on hold for another couple years? It's hard being in school for 8 years, sacrificing some things here and there...and then you come to a realization you have to do it for another couple years if you want to specialize. In other words, how do you feel content with your decision to specialize when your family/friends have been out of school for years and year, are making money, and starting a family, meanwhile you're still in school?

This is why I keep telling young HS and college kids (many of them are my patients) to study hard in school and avoid taking a gap year. Don’t worry about the school’s name. Go to a cheap local college so you can keep undergrad loan as low as possible. When you are young and have less student loans, you’ll have more flexibility to decide whether you want to specialize or not than when you are older (and have kids) and already owed a lot in student loans. If you do everything right, you should still be under 30 when you finish your residency training, except for the 6-yr OMFS route.

 

[mmc12]

I have heard of established pediatric dentists, periodontists and other specialists applying for positions in orthodontic residencies. I have NEVER heard of an establish orthodontist applying for another specialty position.

 

[PerioDont]

I totally agree with their point and yours. I'm leaning towards specializing for sure. My next question is, how do you accept that you have to put some parts of your life on hold for another couple years? It's hard being in school for 8 years, sacrificing some things here and there...and then you come to a realization you have to do it for another couple years if you want to specialize. In other words, how do you feel content with your decision to specialize when your family/friends have been out of school for years and year, are making money, and starting a family, meanwhile you're still in school?

It is something I struggle with honestly. but then I see my GP sister (DMD '20) and many other friends I know that are out of school recently, and it seems like most people have trouble their first few years out as a GP, with time management, working with assistants/hyg, dealing with a lot more pts etc. I'd rather struggle under the guidance of a residency and make 2-3 times as much as a GP in the long run. seems like most GP associateships for new grads are not great and many are a straight up scam.

This is why I keep telling young HS and college kids (many of them are my patients) to study hard in school and avoid taking a gap year. Don’t worry about the school’s name. Go to a cheap local college so you can keep undergrad loan as low as possible. When you are young and have less student loans, you’ll have more flexibility to decide whether you want to specialize or not than when you are older (and have kids) and already owed a lot in student loans. If you do everything right, you should still be under 30 when you finish your residency training, except for the 6-yr OMFS route.

I did this. I am going to be starting perio residency at 24. But there is a flip side. I've never had any real money in my entire life. never had a 'real' job other than summers. don't have too much life experience.

I definitely am grateful to be here and have these problems. I had a full ride for UG. but sometimes I wish I had just taken longer and not spent that much time worrying about the 'next step'? Idk. life is great and I did enjoy dental school and UG overall. I have always been the youngest in my class forever. The struggle is when I graduated from UG, my friends and classmates who I knew worked less than me and weren't as talented got jobs immediately and started making money, and now the same for DS. Just gotta suck it up I guess.

 

[SilkyJ]

OMFS. You have the option of broad scope hospital practice or limited scope office procedures. You can choose to do high volume private practice or boutique implant/zygomas/orthognathic. Facial trauma is an option pretty much everywhere. Numerous fellowship options. Hospital privileges. Your income is whatever you choose to make it based on how you want to practice. Many OMFS choose to work 3 or 4 days a week just because. The satisfying crunch of a downfracture.

Also notably absent from OMFS:
- Distorted impressions
- Open margins
- Perio probing
- Border moulding
- Adjusting occlusion
- Maintaining isolation (Except for E+Bs)
- Rubber dams
- PVS
- Dealing with hygienists
-Denture adjustments

OMFS obviously has its challenges as well, but I don’t think you’ll find a specialty that offers more flexibility in terms of scope, practice style, or lifestyle.

 

[yappy]

OMFS. You have the option of broad scope hospital practice or limited scope office procedures. You can choose to do high volume private practice or boutique implant/zygomas/orthognathic. Facial trauma is an option pretty much everywhere. Numerous fellowship options. Hospital privileges. Your income is whatever you choose to make it based on how you want to practice. Many OMFS choose to work 3 or 4 days a week just because. The satisfying crunch of a downfracture.

Also notably absent from OMFS:
- Distorted impressions
- Open margins
- Perio probing
- Border moulding
- Adjusting occlusion
- Maintaining isolation (Except for E+Bs)
- Rubber dams
- PVS
- Dealing with hygienists
-Denture adjustments

OMFS obviously has its challenges as well, but I don’t think you’ll find a specialty that offers more flexibility in terms of scope, practice style, or lifestyle.

Perio might be a better specialty. It has all the positives you mentioned except they don’t do the surgeries that almost no surgeons do. 😂

 

[charlestweed]

I did this. I am going to be starting perio residency at 24. But there is a flip side. I've never had any real money in my entire life. never had a 'real' job other than summers. don't have too much life experience.

I definitely am grateful to be here and have these problems. I had a full ride for UG. but sometimes I wish I had just taken longer and not spent that much time worrying about the 'next step'? Idk. life is great and I did enjoy dental school and UG overall. I have always been the youngest in my class forever. The struggle is when I graduated from UG, my friends and classmates who I knew worked less than me and weren't as talented got jobs immediately and started making money, and now the same for DS. Just gotta suck it up I guess.

Believe me! You didn’t miss out on anything when you worked hard in school so you could graduate on time (or early). It sucks to be a poor student and have to live on borrowed money. No life, no job, no money, bad credit score, being in debt, getting zero respect from others etc. So why not finish school ASAP and get out of this “unglamorous” lifestyle ASAP?

People (like you) who constantly worry about the future are likely to become more successful than the ones who just want to live from day to day.

 

[charlestweed]

Perio might be a better specialty. It has all the positives you mentioned except they don’t do the surgeries that almost no surgeons do. 😂

The problem is the OS don’t get paid much for doing the type of surgeries that the periodontists don’t do. My OS friend once told me that he needed these implant and 3rd molar cases because they helped finance his orthonagthic cases. Medicaid only paid him $1500 per jaw surgery. He later sold his partnership portion to his partner. He took a big pay cut to work full time for Kaiser Permanante, where he gets to perform orthognathic surgeries every day.

 

[allDAT]

Why do you think endo doesn't get a lot of attention as being another top specialty?

Likely because endo is tedious, very challenging, and requires quite a bit of schmoozing with referral sources. I personally like endo, but a toothache brings out the worst in people and sedation is usually not an option due to logistics. So our endodontists not only get challenging cases, they get challenging people who are also often in pain.

Absolutely nobody wants to ever see an endodontist, whereas they may look forward to seeing their orthodontist or pediatric dentist or even their general dentist.

 

[cmjacks5]

Just a confused dental student who wants to hear responses from current residents and practicing dentists.

Endo, Endo and more Endo!. I just love it. I hope you weren't expecting a philosophical answer because this is all I got lol

 

[cmjacks5]

I totally agree with their point and yours. I'm leaning towards specializing for sure. My next question is, how do you accept that you have to put some parts of your life on hold for another couple years? It's hard being in school for 8 years, sacrificing some things here and there...and then you come to a realization you have to do it for another couple years if you want to specialize. In other words, how do you feel content with your decision to specialize when your family/friends have been out of school for years and year, are making money, and starting a family, meanwhile you're still in school?

Dont worry about them lol. It is your goal. stay focused. I mean we can have it all but just not at the same time..

 

[Cold Front]

Politician. Just think of all the potential insider trading and getting paid $100,000 per speech after you leave office! You literally can make a fortune “solving” problems that you created in the first place!

Big Hoss

I wish I had read this 25 yrs ago. Made me chuckle.