second guessing orthodontics

[kamsartipi]

4th year student, months away from graduating. I wanted to be an orthodontist bc the field was interesting and the lifestyle was desirable! However, as I interact with more and more dentists they tell me not to do it because it's not worth it anymore.

I was fortunate to end up with a competitive class rank for ortho and had alot of extracurricular involvement throughout my studies. With that being said, What is the general consensus? Is ortho still worth it? Do I stay a GP or Do I see if I like other areas of dentistry?

thank you!

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[yappy]

4th year student, months away from graduating. I wanted to be an orthodontist bc the field was interesting and the lifestyle was desirable! However, as I interact with more and more dentists they tell me not to do it because it's not worth it anymore.

I was fortunate to end up with a competitive class rank for ortho and had alot of extracurricular involvement throughout my studies. With that being said, What is the general consensus? Is ortho still worth it? Do I stay a GP or Do I see if I like other areas of dentistry?

thank you!

I highly recommend that you don't talk to general dentists about orthodontics. I say this as a general dentist. You should reach out to working orthodontists, young and old. My thoughts, for what they're worth, is that if you are interested in orthodontics you should go for it if you have the opportunity.

 

[Big Time Hoosier]

4th year student, months away from graduating. I wanted to be an orthodontist bc the field was interesting and the lifestyle was desirable! However, as I interact with more and more dentists they tell me not to do it because it's not worth it anymore.

I was fortunate to end up with a competitive class rank for ortho and had alot of extracurricular involvement throughout my studies. With that being said, What is the general consensus? Is ortho still worth it? Do I stay a GP or Do I see if I like other areas of dentistry?

thank you!

What will be your student loan balance when you graduate from dental school?

Big Hoss

 

[kamsartipi]

What will be your student loan balance when you graduate from dental school?

Big Hoss

About 350k Canadian (50k is interest free) - which is like 250-260k USD. Going to be working for 1 year in rural area to pay off debt. I’ve been considering ortho for a while but…. If it’s not worth it anymore I’d love periodontics as well due to its surgical aspect. Other than those 2 I wouldn’t be interested in anything else. What do you think @Big Time Hoosier

 

[Big Time Hoosier]

About 350k Canadian (50k is interest free) - which is like 250-260k USD.

That’s much lower than most.

Big Hoss

 

[OncePreDent]

About 350k Canadian (50k is interest free) - which is like 250-260k USD. Going to be working for 1 year in rural area to pay off debt. I’ve been considering ortho for a while but…. If it’s not worth it anymore I’d love periodontics as well due to its surgical aspect. Other than those 2 I wouldn’t be interested in anything else. What do you think @Big Time Hoosier

perio and ortho are significantly different, I'm kinda surprised you are in between those two because of how different they are. Would it make more sense for you to practice GD for a few years in a rural community and see if there is more of a calling for one or the other, or continue with GD?

 

[JacquesVallee]

If you pay off all your student loans I'd still do Ortho. The Ortho lifestyle can't be beat.

 

[vk223]

I wanted to chime in on this because this forum has lot of negative voices about orthodontics (either general dentists/other specialty/or ortho unhappy with their current pay and tuition). All of my orthodontists friends including me love our specialty and would not choose anything else. The lifestyle is decent but we can get busy seeing lot of patients too, but many of us really enjoy the intellectual side of it— problem solving, tx planning etc. Nothing in life should be done for money only- otherwise just look at owning business as a GP and real estate. If you do ortho I would recommend residency with reasonable tuition, not 100k a year for 3 years. And if you are okay with rural smaller places can probably find a place earning 400-500k and pay it off in 2-3 years. Income vary a lot depending on where you are at. It’s a profession that will never die. I worked at a DSO before and quality of GP ortho/invisalign work is pretty bad and patient will find out eventually too.

 

[sparklingwatergirl]

If you pay off all your student loans I'd still do Ortho. The Ortho lifestyle can't be beat.

agreed ortho is an excellent lifestyle specialty!

 

[TanMan]

Orthodontics would be worth it if you can finish your cases fast, have an efficient system where you don't do much of time consuming/hands on, and you have a good marketing/sales team.