Major choices?

[PharmDr.]

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I have completed a year of college level work and am currently in summer classes, I am planning on a career in dentistry and would like some thoughts about different major choices. I am planning on a molecular and cellular biology degree, but I was curious about if a bachelors in dental hygiene would be looked as favorably or less than one in bio. I think if you become a rdh than you can be making good money for a young college student(around 59k in my area says salary.com!) and get good valuable dental experience. My current school is SPC(St. Petersburg College) and they just got 4 year degrees in nursing,education,dental hygiene, etc. What do you guys think? I know it would take longer to get my pre-reqs done, but is this possible?Also I am 19 years old.

 

[critterbug]

Personally, I think a bachelors in dental hygiene would be ideal, but I don't know how adcoms will react to it.

I'm not sure if they favor it or not. But, it will allow you to make a nice part time wage while in dental school. 10 or so hrs a week (weekends maybe), and full time during breaks would allow you to make a decent income as a student. Better than working as a waiter/waitress!!

Just make sure you do well in your pre-reqs and take a few upper level bio courses "for fun" 🙂

 

[claudiadent]

would you have time to work during dental school? Maybe on the breaks but definately not during the school year. Most of the people I know in dental school study 4-8 hours a night after school.....no time to do anything else.

I don't know if they would look MORE favorably than someone who has a molecular biology degree. They just want to see that you can handle a science courseload and do well. As long as you take the pre reqs, have a high GPA, and do well on the DAT, you will most likely get an interview. All the extras like volunteering and research will get you in the school...

 

[critterbug]

would you have time to work during dental school? Maybe on the breaks but definately not during the school year. Most of the people I know in dental school study 4-8 hours a night after school.....no time to do anything else.

Depends on what your goals are. If you DEFINETLY want to specialize, I wouldn't try it. But if you are like me, and plan on general dentistry......then I don't see why not. I am not in dental school yet (start in July!!) but I think I could manage 1 day a week working (weekend/8-10 hours a week). But, if I was making *minumum wage*, I wouldn't even bother. On the other hand, if I was making a *hygienists salary* (avg around here $25-$30 an hour) I would do it in a heartbeat!! And you get dental experience to boot!!

 

[PharmDr.]

Thanks for your replies and yes I am set on general dentistry. If I did decide to get a bachelors in dental hygiene than it would be another 2 years to do but maybe a little less since I can get the rest of the pre-reqs done in the summers and a year after. Im just thinking that as people in the DDS/DMD forum said that I should try to major in something that I will enjoy. I think I would like learning about dental info more than bio. I am currently taking Anatomy and physiology 1 and will continue w/ the second, as well as micro, so i'll have some extra science classes to put on my application. I also think that it would be a good degree to have just in case I come into problems w/ classes I have yet to take like org. chem,calculus, & physics.

 

[PharmDr.]

I have another question about undergraduate degrees. I have found out that the upper division dental hygiene courses are tought only online. Do adcoms only favor in class lectures or does it not matter? I have yet to take an online class and would only take one if I decided to do the hygienist degree. Also, the school is not a university but a used to be jr. college that is now a fully accredited 4 yr. college. Is there any difference between a university and a college in terms of getting into d-school?

 

[Dr.SpongeBobDDS]

There are several former hygienists in my class - proving that your idea is certainly not unprecedented. However, only one works and that is absolutely minimal - I believe less than 10 or 15 hrs/month and oftentimes nothing. She is only able to keep this bizarre schedule because she worked for a dentist in this city before dental school and they have a very, very, unusually "friendly" 😉 relationship. The others do not have time or opportunity to work. I believe that most of them actually earned "normal" degrees in addition to their hygiene license.

On a related note, most of the class assumed that the hygienists would have a tremendous advantage over the rest of us in the subject matter. Actually though, the only places they have had any advantage is in perio clinic ---- scrapy, scrapy ---- and dental anatomy (but that gap was eliminated within the first month).

Also, the cities where dental schools are located are usually some of the very few places in the US that do NOT have a shortage of hygienists. Even if you did find time to work, it might be difficult to find a dentist that was so desparate for help that he would be willing to hire a someone with a schedule as hectic and unpredictable as a dental student.

I honestly don't think it would be worth the extra 2 years (maybe 3, remember most of the pre-reqs are sequential so you may not be able to complete them all in two years depending on your schools offerings.) Again, this is just my opinion; this path may end up working well for you. I am just pointing out some of the pitfalls that you may not have considered.

 

[Dr.SpongeBobDDS]

Also, keep in mind, that hygiene is quite possibly the most monotonous, mind numbing activity ever invented. Look under your kitchen sink, see all that gunk that has probably built up around the pipes where there have been little leaks now and again. Get a spoon and spend the next hour or two scraping that off until they are sparkling clean again. If you enjoyed that, imagine going to school and doing that 6 hours a day, five days a week for the next four years in some stinky, disgusting grungemouth.

There's a reason most hygienists only practice for a few years after graduation. 😉

 

[critterbug]

Also, keep in mind, that hygiene is quite possibly the most monotonous, mind numbing activity ever invented. Look under your kitchen sink, see all that gunk that has probably built up around the pipes where there have been little leaks now and again. Get a spoon and spend the next hour or two scraping that off until they are sparkling clean again. If you enjoyed that, imagine going to school and doing that 6 hours a day, five days a week for the next four years in some stinky, disgusting grungemouth.

There's a reason most hygienists only practice for a few years after graduation. 😉

 

[critterbug]

Didn't realize it would take an additional 2 years....in that case, disregard my post above. I assumed you could take your pre reqs and they would be applicable to your hygiene program, but I guess I was wrong. Go the biology route, as it will *help* prepare you for the intense biology you have coming in your first 2 years of d-school.

 

[critterbug]

There are several former hygienists in my class - proving that your idea is certainly not unprecedented. However, only one works and that is absolutely minimal - I believe less than 10 or 15 hrs/month and oftentimes nothing. She is only able to keep this bizarre schedule because she worked for a dentist in this city before dental school and they have a very, very, unusually "friendly" 😉 relationship. The others do not have time or opportunity to work. I believe that most of them actually earned "normal" degrees in addition to their hygiene license.

On a related note, most of the class assumed that the hygienists would have a tremendous advantage over the rest of us in the subject matter. Actually though, the only places they have had any advantage is in perio clinic ---- scrapy, scrapy ---- and dental anatomy (but that gap was eliminated within the first month).

Also, the cities where dental schools are located are usually some of the very few places in the US that do NOT have a shortage of hygienists. Even if you did find time to work, it might be difficult to find a dentist that was so desparate for help that he would be willing to hire a someone with a schedule as hectic and unpredictable as a dental student.

I honestly don't think it would be worth the extra 2 years (maybe 3, remember most of the pre-reqs are sequential so you may not be able to complete them all in two years depending on your schools offerings.) Again, this is just my opinion; this path may end up working well for you. I am just pointing out some of the pitfalls that you may not have considered.

Good post. I stand corrected. Maybe its not as easy as I originally thought.

The dentist I shadowed was a former hygienist and she worked during the breaks. I can't rember if she actually worked *during* school. She might not have now that I think of it. Maybe its harder than I thought.

But in an ideal world, it sure would be nice to find a job for 8-10 hours a week paying a hygienist's salary while in d-school !!

 

[JMJRDH1]

Also, keep in mind, that hygiene is quite possibly the most monotonous, mind numbing activity ever invented. Look under your kitchen sink, see all that gunk that has probably built up around the pipes where there have been little leaks now and again. Get a spoon and spend the next hour or two scraping that off until they are sparkling clean again. If you enjoyed that, imagine going to school and doing that 6 hours a day, five days a week for the next four years in some stinky, disgusting grungemouth.

There's a reason most hygienists only practice for a few years after graduation. 😉

If a hygienist is truly practicing as the oral health educators that they are trained to be, then their daily 9-5 will be absolutely nothing like this scenario you have created. The only clients that receive the spoon scraping that you have described are those same ones who have never received proper homecare instructions or scheduled appropriate recall intervals per the dental hygiene diagnosis and treatment plan. Those stinky, disgusting grungemouths you describe are not the fault of the client, but of the clinician that allows them to continue to flourish. Performance of oral cancer, periodontal, and hard tissue examinations, as well as exposure of appropriate diagnostic radiographs, take up as much time, if not more, than the time required to perform a complete dental hygiene prophylaxis on a conscientious client.


There are surely practicing hygienists who work in this exact scneario you have described, but there are in control of that and could change it if they so desired.

There will always be clients for whom homecare is just a word, but those are the minority of the total client population.

Monotonous? It certainly can be if you allow it to. But what career does not have some level of repitition to it? If spending 8 hours a day with 8 people who are delighted to see me is monotonous, then so be it. Oh yeah, hygienists make awesome salaries too. (almost forgot!)

There will always be people who think hygienists are just tooth scrapers, but do not fault them for their ignorance, for they have not likely experienced a day in the life of a Registered Dental Hygienist! 😉