besides the fact that you will learn something and will hopefully have results that could one day lead to making a difference in how dentistry or medicine is performed, research is also beneficial in the shorter term in that it looks very good on your CV should you choose to specialize. Even if you think that you are not interested in that now, you may change your mind so it is good to prepare as if you are so that you at least have the option. Definitely, having a project that is publishable is more meaningful, but in most cases even a negative result for your hypothesis for the experiment will be publishable, it just takes some work.
