Is being a specialist better than a general dentist?

[happy_6523]

I want to specialize because I heard many people said that if you’ve good grades, specialize, which makes me feel like being a specialist is much better than being a GP in terms of money and lifestyle.

I’m a D1, so I don’t know which specialties I’m interested in yet, but I want to get good grades as many as I can.
I’m getting Bs and 1 or 2 As in my class, so I don’t think I’m in the top of my class (my school only starts ranking in second year).
I’m stressing out myself because I want to specialize, but feel like I’ve no way to raise my overall GPA to 3.6 or above in following years. Should I step back and settle down myself to become a general dentist? Is being a specialist that great?

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[RYost234]

I'd shadow what each of them in clinic do before getting too excited about the idea

 

[charlestweed]

Having good grades and high class rank will help increase your chance of getting accepted to the specialty that most people want to apply to (ie OMFS and ortho). Certain specialties require additional things beside the grades. Ortho programs prefer applicants who have strong research background. Endo programs prefer candidates who have GPR/AEGD or private practice experience. OS programs look at the CBSE score.

Have you tried your best in school? Can you spend more time to study to get better grades? Are you ok with giving up some of your personal time to do research and volunteer?

 

[yappy]

Do whatever interests you most.
In my experience the reason specialists tend to be happier on average is because it selects for people who are interested in and like dentistry. They’re willing to invest more time and energy into the profession.
Conversely, there is a whole subset of people who went to dental school for various reasons other than wanting to practice dentistry. They select to not do residencies because they don’t want to invest more time into the profession. They’re unhappy gps.
If you do what interests you I think you can find success in any area of dentistry.

 

[PerioDont]

Do whatever interests you most.
In my experience the reason specialists tend to be happier on average is because it selects for people who are interested and like dentistry. They’re willing to invest more time and energy into the profession.
Conversely, there is a whole subset of people who went to dental school for various reasons other than wanting to practice dentistry who are and select to not do residencies because they cannot stand investing more time into the profession. They’re unhappy gps.
If you do what interests you I think you can find success in any area of dentistry.

Thats a great point. This career is what you make of it.

The other thing I will say is that D1 year it seems like everyone wants to specialize in something and people are competing over grades. Then when you get close to app cycle time, you will discover the majority of students have very little desire to spend more time in school.

Some like yappy mentioned realized they hate dentistry, many hate dental school and the associated politics and want to get out. Most just want to have an income (very understandable).

Just do the best you can in school, do some ECs and research you are interested in and then spend some time shadowing in residency clinics if you have them or private practices. Even if you practice as a GP, you will better understand the procedures the specialists can do for your pts.

 

[happy_6523]

Having good grades and high class rank will help increase your chance of getting accepted to the specialty that most people want to apply to (ie OMFS and ortho). Certain specialties require additional things beside the grades. Ortho programs prefer applicants who have strong research background. Endo programs prefer candidates who have GPR/AEGD or private practice experience. OS programs look at the CBSE score.

Have you tried your best in school? Can you spend more time to study to get better grades? Are you ok with giving up some of your personal time to do research and volunteer?

I did fine in didactic classes, but I struggled in labs because the gradings in labs were subjective and biased. Sometimes my friends and tutor told me that my works were good, but then I got low grades. When my instructors said on my preps were good, but then they gave me a low grade. I never know how to meet their standards. I'll have a lot of labs in the second year, so I don't expect my GPA would go up a lot.

 

[charlestweed]

I did fine in didactic classes, but I struggled in labs because the gradings in labs were subjective and biased. Sometimes my friends and tutor told me that my works were good, but then I got low grades. When my instructors said on my preps were good, but then they gave me a low grade. I never know how to meet their standards. I'll have a lot of labs in the second year, so I don't expect my GPA would go up a lot.

I think it’s much harder to improve your grades if you are struggling in academic classes. A lot of people in my class are very smart. No matter how much time I spent to study on those academic classes, I could never get good grades like them. Luckily, I went to a P/F school. If it’s the hand skill problem, you can control it. Ask the instructors who gave you low grades what you did wrong so you can spend more time to practice on those weak areas.

To answer your original question.....YES, being a specialist is better. You spend less time to perform the procedures because you are better trained and your specialty office is better equipped (better assistants) than the general dentists. Patients (and their insurances) pay you more for the each of the procedures you perform. So on the average, you get paid more per hour. Getting paid more per hour, however, doesn’t mean that your overall annual income will be higher than that of a GP. A lot of places only hire specialists a few days a month. So to make more money, you have to travel to multiple offices.

 

[Lemillion]

Pediatric dentist here. Definitely enjoy being a specialist. No regrets on my end going into residency. I'll admit I was younger at the time with no significant other/kids so I was pretty flexible. I had a few classmates that would've specialized but there were outside factors that stopped them (sense of time and wanting to hit the "real world", significant other, multiple kids).

 

[happy_6523]

Pediatric dentist here. Definitely enjoy being a specialist. No regrets on my end going into residency. I'll admit I was younger at the time with no significant other/kids so I was pretty flexible. I had a few classmates that would've specialized but there were outside factors that stopped them (sense of time and wanting to hit the "real world", significant other, multiple kids).

What do you enjoy being a specialist? Is it the lifestyle, money, interest, or other things?

 

[Lemillion]

What do you enjoy being a specialist? Is it the lifestyle, money, interest, or other things?

Hmm some initial things that come to mind:

1. Interest: didn't really have an interest at the beginning of dental school but started liking peds during my 2nd and 3rd year. I liked the topics covered and then enjoying working with kids. Did some externships and that solidified it as well. Also found I didn't care as much for adult dentistry as I thought I would.

2. Lifestyle/money: being a specialist meant less competition. I was the only person out of a class of 100 students that did peds so I felt finding a job would not be difficult. In addition, if I opened up an office, I could set up shop and be fairly busy from the get go unless my next door neighbor was another pediatric dentist.

 

[TanMan]

I want to specialize because I heard many people said that if you’ve good grades, specialize, which makes me feel like being a specialist is much better than being a GP in terms of money and lifestyle.

I’m a D1, so I don’t know which specialties I’m interested in yet, but I want to get good grades as many as I can.
I’m getting Bs and 1 or 2 As in my class, so I don’t think I’m in the top of my class (my school only starts ranking in second year).
I’m stressing out myself because I want to specialize, but feel like I’ve no way to raise my overall GPA to 3.6 or above in following years. Should I step back and settle down myself to become a general dentist? Is being a specialist that great?

I'm a GP. I wanted to specialize early on, but then I realized that I'd rather do GP and the business end. I had the option to do endo or OMFS, but I was sick of school. Even though I was sick of school, I'm glad I became a GP and a happy one to boot. I get to cherry pick the cases I want to do for maximum returns/minimum liability (min-maxing, haha) and send the rest to the specialists.

If you love a field of dentistry more than anything else, specializing wouldn't be a bad thing. However, you would be limited to your specific field, if you decide to advertise as a specialist (depends on state boards) and/or risk killing your referral base. Don't specialize just for the money; if it's just about the money, you can get a similar result as a gp as you can as a specialist.

 

[DocMon16]

I don't think one is better than the other...go with your gut and what you like. You want to be able to do it for 20+ if not 30 years! I am in residency now for OMFS...im on Gen Surg now and not the most extravagant thing while some of my best friends are out in PP doing very well for themselves. LOL.

 

[2TH MVR]

Simple answer to your question. Yes. I enjoy being an orthodontist. I actually ENJOY what I do. I'm biased, but I tend to think that ortho is the best lifestyle specialty. The work is pretty easy. The patients for the most part are excited for their appts and love seeing the appt to appt changes with their smile. Patients seek out cosmetic orthodontic treatment as opposed to NEEDING restorative or tissue work. Teenage orthodontics can transform a child's entire outward attitude towards positivity. A smile is the window into a person's personality. A terrible smile can affect you for life.

Specialize because you are interested in that field. You're training for a lifelong profession .... not a JOB.

Don't specialize if you think you will make more money. Plenty of GPs make more than the specialists and vise versa. I know money doesn't buy happiness, but it sure helps. Right? I've learned this over the years. It doesn't matter how much money you have or make .... there will ALWAYS be someone else who makes your salary look average.

 

[apicalforamen]

Do whatever interests you most.
In my experience the reason specialists tend to be happier on average is because it selects for people who are interested in and like dentistry. They’re willing to invest more time and energy into the profession.
Conversely, there is a whole subset of people who went to dental school for various reasons other than wanting to practice dentistry. They select to not do residencies because they don’t want to invest more time into the profession. They’re unhappy gps.
If you do what interests you I think you can find success in any area of dentistry.

Let's stir the pot shall we? This was the opposite for my class (myself included). Most of us who specialized did so because we hated dentistry and wanted a very narrow scope of practice.

 

[LFA20]

Let's stir the pot shall we? This was the opposite for my class (myself included). Most of us who specialized did so because we hated dentistry and wanted a very narrow scope of practice.

Or don't have as good as hand skills to be a GP. LOL..

 

[bracketbuster68]

Or don't have as good as hand skills to be a GP. LOL..

I guess. I never wanted the hand skills to cut distal margins on second molars

 

[Cold Front]

I want to specialize because I heard many people said that if you’ve good grades, specialize, which makes me feel like being a specialist is much better than being a GP in terms of money and lifestyle.

I’m a D1, so I don’t know which specialties I’m interested in yet, but I want to get good grades as many as I can.
I’m getting Bs and 1 or 2 As in my class, so I don’t think I’m in the top of my class (my school only starts ranking in second year).
I’m stressing out myself because I want to specialize, but feel like I’ve no way to raise my overall GPA to 3.6 or above in following years. Should I step back and settle down myself to become a general dentist? Is being a specialist that great?

Almost every freshman in dental school wants to specialize. I would just focus on getting through the didactic years first, then when you arrive at the clinical portion of dental school - then you should know what area of dentistry intrigues you the most.

Me personally, I was upset dental school curriculum didn’t have any business class to offer - after paying all that money on tuition and fees!. I came to dental school to own a private practice, period. I didn’t care what EXACTLY I would do in the office as far as treatments or type of service I would render on patients; GP or specialty. I just wanted a full autonomy at my “own” practice, at my own schedule.

 

[2TH MVR]

Let's stir the pot shall we? This was the opposite for my class (myself included). Most of us who specialized did so because we hated dentistry and wanted a very narrow scope of practice.

I don't think @yappy meant those who specialize love dentistry in the literal sense. I believe he meant that those that specialize are more "equipped" or more "accepting" into the whole additional education to further their training. Lets' face it. Plenty of dentists who went to DS could not wait to get out. The idea of going to school for an additional 2-3 years is a non-option for most. If you hate school. You want out as soon as possible.

I personally was not interested in general dentistry .... so I specialized. Was it worth 3 additional years? For myself. It was 100%.

 

[HatInTheCat]

Do whatever interests you most.
In my experience the reason specialists tend to be happier on average is because it selects for people who are interested in and like dentistry. They’re willing to invest more time and energy into the profession.
Conversely, there is a whole subset of people who went to dental school for various reasons other than wanting to practice dentistry. They select to not do residencies because they don’t want to invest more time into the profession. They’re unhappy gps.
If you do what interests you I think you can find success in any area of dentistry.

The OP is asking for advice on something that’s very relative and hard to answer. And your advice only lends one perspective to the the topic. Happiness isn’t attributed to specialty. Happiness should be intrinsic, something that comes from your needs, wants and desires being met, not a SPECIALITY. I know plenty of GPs who are happy being owners, doing procedures they like, and for some, not being owners at all.

The OP needs to find out for themselves if specializing is what they truly want to pursue by showing up in departments where they see fit. And happiness will come from being motivated to either study more via formal training or become a GP and continue their education by other means.

 

[yappy]

The OP is asking for advice on something that’s very relative and hard to answer. And your advice only lends one perspective to the the topic. Happiness isn’t attributed to specialty. Happiness should be intrinsic, something that comes from your needs, wants and desires being met, not a SPECIALITY. I know plenty of GPs who are happy being owners, doing procedures they like, and for some, not being owners at all.

The OP needs to find out for themselves if specializing is what they truly want to pursue by showing up in departments where they see fit. And happiness will come from being motivated to either study more via formal training or become a GP and continue their education by other means.

My advice didn't support specializing or not specializing. I told the OP to do whatever interests them most. I agree that happiness is mostly dependent on the individual and less so about the field.

There are many happy GPs. However, it is more rare for me to find an unhappy specialist. As I described, I think this is because specializing requires additional training that self selects for people who are very devoted to their specialty/dentistry. Most people I know who regret dentistry stop at GP; they don't double their time/debts by training in residency.

 

[HatInTheCat]

My advice didn't support specializing or not specializing. I told the OP to do whatever interests them most. I agree that happiness is mostly dependent on the individual and less so about the field.

There are many happy GPs. However, it is more rare for me to find an unhappy specialist. As I described, I think this is because specializing requires additional training that self selects for people who are very devoted to their specialty/dentistry. Most people I know who regret dentistry stop at GP; they don't double their time/debts by training in residency.

I didn’t say you were advocating for a specialty. I said YOUR experience isn’t telling the full gamut of career fulfillment, specifically this trope of burnt out GPs who chose dentistry for reasons outside liking dentistry for what it is.

But ok 🙂 keep going.

 

[teefdocta]

I didn’t want to specialize at all during my first 2 years in dental school. Then clinic hits you and you realize what you like and what not. For some, they find their niches early and determine to tackle it very soon. For me, I find that general dentistry just not as dazzling as I once thought it would be 😀

 

[spazway]

Looking back - general dentistry is so chaotic! I think the variety is partially what attracted me to dentistry originally.
If general dentistry has variety in breadth, then dental specialties have variety in depth.

As a specialist, sometimes cases will be simple, and other times they will be complex. This is because there's always going to be a dentist who hates extractions, or endo, etc. and refers all their cases in a particular field to the specialist.

My undergrad degree was in neuroscience. I'm just finishing up my residency in TMD, Orofacial Pain & Dental Sleep Medicine. (My back and ears like me a little more than when I finished dental school.)

In general, there was much more critical appraisal of academic literature than I was trained to do in dental school. Doing a residency means you'll probably read ~100-200+(?) of the important articles in your field. So, while you are seeing the tough cases in clinic, you're also getting a deeper understanding of the fundamental theory/theories that shape the way things are done in your field.

When I have a clinical or academic question about TMD/orofacial pain, or even in other fields like neurology or endo or oral path, I have much more confidence that I will be able to find an answer by flipping through PubMed or other databases. I know what to look for, how to narrow my search, what kinds of papers are important, levels of evidence and quality of data, etc.

Not all academic papers are written equal, and it's important to be able to understand the current standards of practice and knowledge when someone comes around looking to sell a new product, material, medication, or procedure, especially when you're supposed to be the expert.

 

[2TH MVR]

In general, there was much more critical appraisal of academic literature than I was trained to do in dental school. Doing a residency means you'll probably read ~100-200+(?) of the important articles in your field.

When I have a clinical or academic question about TMD/orofacial pain, or even in other fields like neurology or endo or oral path, I have much more confidence that I will be able to find an answer by flipping through PubMed or other databases. I know what to look for, how to narrow my search, what kinds of papers are important, levels of evidence and quality of data, etc.

Not all academic papers are written equal, and it's important to be able to understand the current standards of practice and knowledge when someone comes around looking to sell a new product, material, medication, or procedure, especially when you're supposed to be the expert.

Yep. One of the main reasons for the requirement for a publishable, defendable thesis in residency is to ensure critical thinking. In residency ... I used to think this was a waste of valuable time. I would have preferred to treat more patients and gain proficiency. But later .... I realized that I would naturally be more critical of any article, presentation, publication, lecturers, etc. etc. Just gives you more tools to evaluate products, materials, techniques, etc.