Hi all...I am a dentist and I can say that I still (after 4 years of practice as an Army dentist) still enjoy what I do - and I work for the Army, LOL!!! In high school and throughout my undergrad I wanted to be a physician, did LOTS of hours in hospitals, did reasearch, etc, etc. I was pretty disillusioned by what I heard though. LOTS of physicians were not happy with medicine, and it had a lot to do with insurance and how some lame brain, non medical person, could make medical decisions, therefore over riding the doc's medical opinion for the bottom line.
Then I went to dinner with a friend whose dad was a dentist for over 20 years, and get this, he still LOVED what he did. He wasn't on call (except for the occasional time when his patients would get hurt), he only worked 4 days a week, and he only took a few insurances so he did not have to answer to an insurance person on why he put this or that into a treatment plan. I volunteered for a dentist, and then decided to go for dental school and here I am today.
Are there days that I hate what I do? Heck yeah, I am human and any person that says that they LOVE their job every single minute, IMHO, is lying. When I have this person sitting there, with very few teeth, and the ones they do have are rotting out of their head and they ask me about bleaching, I want to rip my eyes out, but it happens. Dentistry is very physically demanding. My work is work. It doesnt happen by me thinking about it, I have to do it. Does that make sense? If you want to sit around chatting and thinking about what the best thing to do or course of treatment is, dentistry is not for you. You will work hard. It is stressful. Patients can be demanding (and I am one of the lucky ones, my patients are actually incredibly grateful for the service I provide them...I have just as much admiration for them and the job that they do). I love helping a person smile again, and watching them say "wow, I have a wedding and now I can smile in my pictures."
You do not have to do a residency to make good money, but you can. I went to work for the Army (for almost 4 years now) and now will get out, with very little debt (who can live on the stipened they give you anyways) and am applying to pediatric dental residency. Yes, the ones I am applying to have tuition (about $30,000/year) but still I will graduate and make in the $200,000 bracket...not too bad to be doing something I love.
Basically, if you like to work with your hands, dentistry is for you. If you hate the mouth and spit, choose something else. Currently my husband wants to go to med school. There is absolutely nothing I could do to change his mind. He thinks mouths are NASTY. There are good and bads about both.
You just need to look at it and pick what is right for you. To ME, I wanted to enjoy my life, and be there to watch my children grow up (I am so not knocking MD's or DO's...dh wants to be one). This is just me and why I choose dentistry.