I apologize if this is pretty lengthy and jumping into a pod forum but heres my 2 cents..
To clear up some points mentioned, dent schools will vary on what they gear their curriculums towards. Some schools literally combine the dents and meds together (Harvard, UPENN, Columbia, UCONN, etc) in classes taught by med school faculty. Basically at these schools, the dents do exactly what the meds do for the first two years (yes, even the anatomy labs,etc). After these two years, the students separate, thus dents do dent clinic stuff, and meds do their med thing.
Other schools gear their curriculums specifically towards dentistry. An analogy that a Columbia dent told me was, "at columbia, you'll have to know all 17 chapters of the book. At other schools, you'll only be responible for the first 8." (if any dents reading this, don't get too offended if you go to one of these schools, its just an exaggeration on the columbia dents part to make his point). These schools are taught mainly by dent faculty. And anatomy training at these schools deal with the upper extremities, and not much on the lower I believe. Thus, the dentist family members of "the message" probably went to one of these schools.
Times have changed in dentistry, thus the curriculums are not what they used to be. These days, all dent schools maintain a high level of medical training in their curriculum. Some on par with med (for the first two years), others slightly below. Reasons are that dentists have a wide array of drugs and anesthetics to provide as mentioned by drmoon, thus knowledge on pharmacology and the medical implications of such medications is a must (for cryin out loud, some procedures require the dentist to put the patient into deep sleep and chop into their jaw, you can't be some random joe to do this). Another reason is that they must know what to do in order to avoid those rare emergencies in the office (allergic reactions to meds, etc). Also, many studies have found links between various oral manifestations with various systemic diseases, thus it would be ideal for a dentist to be able to catch such oral manifestations of these systemic diseases early (since patients generally see their dentist more often than their physician) and recommend an assessment by a physician. And, with a rise in elderly patients due to the baby boom generation, dentists have to be more aware of their physical ailments since this can effect the type of treatment the dentist provides.
DrMoon was correct in the fact that dentists don't go on to med residencies such as ob/gyn and psychiatry, nor are the 3rd and 4th year classes the same as med. However after reading JML1's post, I believe JML1 wasn't trying to claim that point, thus an argument was not necessary. Also, many oral surgeons will be able discuss how they "do multiple weeks of general surgery with little to no sleep." In addition, JML1's salary number, if anything might be slightly low. I've seen higher averages. However, newly graduated dentists won't make this much unless he takes over a practice (many students desire to take over their parents practice, etc), in this case there's the potential of making what ever the previous dentist was earning. For those not as lucky and have to start from scratch, It usually will take several years to make this much money and more, by rising the ranks, paying off debts, becoming associates, building patient pool, taking over or buying practices, etc. However, once again after reading his post, JML1 was only stating an average of what all gen dents make, not what rookies make, thus an argument is not needed on how skewed the averages are. I've actually seen average starting salaries range from 70-100K, depends on what route is taken.
going back to the original "pod vs dentistry" discussion, I believe these are two fields that you really have to want to do. I believe the idea of teeth and feet deter a lot of people from pursuing these fields, but one obviously has to look beyond teeth and feet, and assess what would make someone deal with teeth or feet everyday. I've known I wanted to go dent since sophomore year high school when I had my braces removed, head gear taken off, teeth whitened, and thus went from lookin like Alfred E Newman (MAD Mag.) to a more average normal lookin fella. My jump in self esteem hit me at such a personal note that it motivated me to go dent and thus the desire to provide these same emotions onto others. I could care less of what the stereotypes of dentists are, how disgusting looking into someones mouth is, how often dentists like to jump off rooftops, how stupid one can be to get into dent school, how little a dentist knows compared to a physician, or how high my paycheck will be my first year out. I mean, I do believe you'll never see an NBC primetime show on thursday nights about the drama in the endodontist's office. However, As long as I'm closing gaps, turning barnacle looking teeth into pearly whites, fixing the wretched overbites of slack jawed yokels, filling cavities, slapping on braces, gaining trust and friendly relations from people who are initially scared sh#tless of me, and having patients leave my office with a smile, I'll be completely fulfilled with my life. THe money I'll be earning doing this will be more than enough to take care of my family which is a bonus.
choose a field because you honestly like what you'll be doing every day for 30+years of your life. If that means treating foot disorders thus curing wounds, suppressing pain, making people feel better, I'm all for you. as long you find personal fulfillment, and bring food to the table for your family, or yourself,why not. I have no problem with pods,and frankly find the bashing between md's/do's/dents/opts/pods/pharms, etc that I see on these forums ridiculous and pointless. Whatever you do though, Don't go dent or pod because of the "Dr" in front of your name, the white coat you'll be wearing, or how similar to med school the training is. You'll constantly feel second class to medical doctors if you have this attitude in life. That's not a good way to live. I mean face it, no matter what , you'll never be asked to be an advisor on the set of "ER", appointed US Surgeon General, or approached by someone worried about his or her mysterious flu-like symptoms and be paid for it, but there are much more things to look forward to in life....in my opinion.