Should you SPECIALIZE OR NOT?

[areucool1234]

Ok, so lets be honest here. There are a LOT of unsuccessful general dentists. There are also quite a few successful general dentists. I have noticed that orthodontists/periodontists have higher average salaries.

so my question: Do you really need to specialize and do residency for three years? Is it worth it? Does it really give you a bigger salary potential? Does specializing attract more patients?

I heard you can take classes as a general dentists to learn new things. Would ortho put you in a better position to get more money quicker?

DISCLAIMER: AVOID responses like, "You shouldn't even be worrying about it right now" or "Dont do it for the money" or "It's just 3 years of residency, life is long" (yea well 3 years of your youth is 3 years of your youth, you never get your damn youth back!)

Thanks!!!!!!!

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[Sbosu]

You shouldn't even be worrying about it right now

 

[Aceofspades]

Don't do it for the money.

 

[Oracle DMD]

what do you mean by "unsuccessful" dentists? i don't think there are a lot of unsuccessful dentists but maybe we have diferent definitions of success. i think if you're clearing well over 120K and are happy doing what you're doing; well that's a success.

 

[UCLAzy]

its just 3 years of residency, life is long.

you're welcome.

 

[areucool1234]

hahah u guys are so damn funny...NOT!!

ANYONE WANT TO ACTUALLY RESPOND?

 

[Greensalad]

New technologies are helping GP's produce more quicker. If you want to specialize, do omfs or ortho.

 

[TeethandGums]

Ok, so lets be honest here. There are a LOT of unsuccessful general dentists. There are also quite a few successful general dentists. I have noticed that orthodontists/periodontists have higher average salaries.

so my question: Do you really need to specialize and do residency for three years? Is it worth it? Does it really give you a bigger salary potential? Does specializing attract more patients?

I heard you can take classes as a general dentists to learn new things. Would ortho put you in a better position to get more money quicker?

DISCLAIMER: AVOID responses like, "You shouldn't even be worrying about it right now" or "Dont do it for the money" or "It's just 3 years of residency, life is long" (yea well 3 years of your youth is 3 years of your youth, you never get your damn youth back!)

Thanks!!!!!!!

I have always viewed specializing as an option for those who LOVE a certian aspect of dentistry, others may look at it for the the salary, fame, or reputation, but however you look at, if specializing turns you on, then YES!! its worth doing the residency or extra three or so years. I don't think specializing attracts more patients. The type of clinician you are and practice setup, i feel, attracts more patients. Yes the average salaries are higher for a specialist, but these are just averages. That's one of the beauties of this profession, you decide what your salary potential will be (specialist or not)!

 

[faystie]

I have plans of taking ORTHO. I really don't care if it'll take a lot of my time cause Im not the outgoing type anyway.

 

[doc3232]

hahah u guys are so damn funny...NOT!!

ANYONE WANT TO ACTUALLY RESPOND?

hahahahahahahaha...

IMO, you shouldn't be asking pre-dent students. Some haven't gotten into dental school yet.

 

[achilles2]

I'd worry about part I of the boards THEN worry about the specializing.....just sayin

 

[Slack3r]

New technologies are helping GP's produce more quicker

You got a purdy mouth.

 

[ECUMuscle]

Just an account from an outside observer. I think possibly a/some reason(s) why there may be many "unsuccessful dentists" (but I'm still trying to properly define that one) is due to so many dentists try to start up a business in a metro area where there is one dentist/500-1000 patients and possibly because they lack business savy/sense. There is money/business to be made/had going into a rural area that lacks dentists. This is my plan.

 

[areucool1234]

Ok, so some of the responses have sucked, some have been good. I still need to know something. First of all, my definition of sucess is this:

• I get out of dental school and I know from other dentists that 150K is what starting DDS gets.
• I spend maybe 3-4 years working with someone else, with that kind of salary.
• I then start my own practice, obviously I wont do too well the first year. But after 3 or so more years, I start making 350K-plus income.
• After 40, I wanna start making 500K plus.

So do you think an Orthodontist or General DDS would have a greater likelihood of achieving the above conditions. Also, I still am a little confused as to how a General DDS makes more than an orthodontist. can someone explain this to me (give me concrete specifics, please)

THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Californian]

general dentist do not make 150k as a starting..

 

[Jake8]

Ok, so some of the responses have sucked, some have been good. I still need to know something. First of all, my definition of sucess is this:

• I get out of dental school and I know from other dentists that 150K is what starting DDS gets.
• I spend maybe 3-4 years working with someone else, with that kind of salary.
• I then start my own practice, obviously I wont do too well the first year. But after 3 or so more years, I start making 350K-plus income.
• After 40, I wanna start making 500K plus.

So do you think an Orthodontist or General DDS would have a greater likelihood of achieving the above conditions. Also, I still am a little confused as to how a General DDS makes more than an orthodontist. can someone explain this to me (give me concrete specifics, please)

THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Easy, you control an area of the market and have tons of people who work under you with patients constantly coming in. Much easier to do in an unsaturated market where you have a higher population base to pull from. Oh and you also do your own orthodontics making sure you make more than the guy next door who gets your complicated cases.

However you are back to the point that your salary potential is determined by how hard and long you work.

 

[areucool1234]

i still need more responses please..

 

[Moe Lester]

I have been told by "successful" dentist that if you want to perform additional procedure then go take some classes and learn it yourself and do the cases that you can handle and send the difficult ones out to specialist.

 

[wigglytooth]

It's only worth it if you think it's worth it. Dental school takes 4 good years of your life (when you are still in your prime) and tacking another 3 years of low income/student loan intrest accruing would be things to consider. What about starting a family and having kids? How will that fit for you? It's not just about money or if you really like doing a procedure. Specialization gives you the privelage and responsibility to be highly skilled in a discipline. If you mess up, you mess up hard in terms of legal issues because you are technically the highest on the totem pole in terms of skill. You will get all of the cases GPs don't want to take, and you will have to have a good network of referrers in order to maximize how well you do (even for ortho, you will need to be buddies with some peds or GPs to get a steady patient base). There are also the obvious benefits, like generally higher pay, possibly lower overhead than GP, can work for fewer days/week and still make a healthy living. Personally, I do not know if I want to do a speciality, especially since I have not had hands on experience in everything yet, but these are some of the things to consider.

 

[somethinpositiv]

hahah u guys are so damn funny...NOT!!

ANYONE WANT TO ACTUALLY RESPOND?

Wrong forum. You should have posted this in the Dental forum. What do pre-dents know about specializing

 

[areucool1234]

bump...da bump..bump..bump

 

[DrReo]

Ok, so some of the responses have sucked, some have been good. I still need to know something. First of all, my definition of sucess is this:

• I get out of dental school and I know from other dentists that 150K is what starting DDS gets.
• I spend maybe 3-4 years working with someone else, with that kind of salary.
• I then start my own practice, obviously I wont do too well the first year. But after 3 or so more years, I start making 350K-plus income.
• After 40, I wanna start making 500K plus.

So do you think an Orthodontist or General DDS would have a greater likelihood of achieving the above conditions. Also, I still am a little confused as to how a General DDS makes more than an orthodontist. can someone explain this to me (give me concrete specifics, please)

THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I WOULD RECOMMEND INVESTMENT BANKING FOR THE MONEY. Before the market crashed, they were raking in 750k easily.

 

[USU24]

It is irrational for you to EXPECT to make that kind of money. But yes, orthodontists make more money than your average general dentist. So, if you plan on being the general dentist at the top of the scale then why don't you plan on being the orthodontist at the top of the scale, then you could make even more. Yay.

 

[areucool1234]

need more responses.... a minor small question: what about that LVI institute can u go into that after general dds?

 

[Greensalad]

You got a purdy mouth.

I from the south. This why nobody respect us. Why do we even have schools down here.

 

[USU24]

need more responses.... a minor small question: what about that LVI institute can u go into that after general dds?

Oh my gosh. You do not need more responses. Everyone is saying the same thing: it depends on you, your circumstances, your practice, everything. It is extremely variable. You cannot count on any income regardless of your specialty. As far as the LVI (the I stands for institute so, that was redundant) they offer programs so you can learn about fixing TMJ disorders or doing full mouth restorations or stuff like that. I guess you could charge more for that training but those programs cost a lot so, again, its debatable.

 

[cyrano]

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