Specialities versus General Dentistry

[Mangocat]

Hi,
Although I haven't started dental school yet (or been accepted anywhere for that matter haha), I just want to find out more about the benefits of doing a specialty versus general dentistry because I think that's something that will factor into my choice of a dental school.
Is it safer to go into a specialty versus general dentistry? And worth it over the long run to go through that even more schooling during residency?

Thanks a bunch.

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[Zurich5]

Originally posted by Mangocat
Hi,
Although I haven't started dental school yet (or been accepted anywhere for that matter haha), I just want to find out more about the benefits of doing a specialty versus general dentistry because I think that's something that will factor into my choice of a dental school.
Is it safer to go into a specialty versus general dentistry? And worth it over the long run to go through that even more schooling during residency?

Thanks a bunch.

Mangocat,

Specializing means more $$, but also more stress in a lot of cases. You'll get the cases that gp's don't want, and that can be both good and bad. I would recommend not choosing a school based on whether or not you'll specialize. From what i've heard "everyone" enters dental school wanting to specialize, and only a handful of people actually do when it's all said and done. Best of luck.

 

[aphistis]

Originally posted by Zurich5
Mangocat,

Specializing means more $$, but also more stress in a lot of cases. You'll get the cases that gp's don't want, and that can be both good and bad. I would recommend not choosing a school based on whether or not you'll specialize. From what i've heard "everyone" enters dental school wanting to specialize, and only a handful of people actually do when it's all said and done. Best of luck.

The man speaks wisdom; listen, heed, and profit.

 

[ItsGavinC]

Of some interest might be the fact that those GPs who choose to specialize have nearly a 100% success rate of matching with the program that desire.

Just like dental schools like to admit pre-dents who have shadowed and know a bit about the profession, specialty programs like to admit dentists who have had some experience in the working world, and have experienced the specialty they wish to enter.

 

[elias514]

Although I am a pre-med (headin to UMich next year! Yeeeeeehaw!), my dad is a general dentist. Based on everything that he's told me about dentistry as a career (over 15 years of anecdotes, nuggets of advice, bitching, etc.), dental specialists have quite the lifestyle. One of my dad's buddies from dental school is an endodontist in private practice in Florida. This guy works 2-3 days a week and he still makes over $300,000 a year. Spends most of his time sailing. Rough life. Endodontists make a freakin killing. Christ, it only takes an endodontist about 15 minutes to do a root canal, and they make thousands of dollars for every root canal they do. Amazing.

Another advantage to specializing is the ability of specialists to remain abreast of all the developments in their field. Generalists have a helluva time keeping up with the explosion of knowledge in dentistry. I can't tell you how many times my dad has bitched about how difficult it is to keep up with all the freakin journal articles. Any given day my dad has a stack of 10 journals on his desk. Freakin crazy, man.

Yet another advantage to specializing is less overhead. Specialists don't have to keep as much stuff in stock as generalists, because the former do not have to perform a wide variety of procedures like the latter. Less stuff in stock translates into higher profits.

One drawback to specializing that my dad has talked about is the fact that specialists depend on general practitioners (like my dad) for referrals. So specialists have to do a fair amount of asskissing. My dad always gets a lot of gifts from specialists who depend on him for business.

Another drawback to specializing, according to my dad, is the lack of variety. One reason why my dad opted to become a generalist and not a specialist (he graduated at the top of his class a year early; so he certainly could have done anything he wanted) is the variety of general dentistry. He has to remain proficient in so many different procedures and be prepared to deal with a wide variety of problems; he loves the challenge that attends such variety. Specialists get so incredibly good at the limited number of procedures they perform (endodontics is an extreme example) that days can become quite monotonous.

Anyways, hope this helps.

 

[bcDDS]

The grass is always greener on the other side. I will make one comment about the financial differences b/w specialists and General practitioners and then move on to my main point. The floor is lower for GP's, but the ceiling is higher....
Specialists do depend on referrals and that isn't any fun. Although there may be the misperception that specialists get so good at the one or two procedures that they do, this certainly is not the case, and the work is very challenging. There is a reason that you need to go back to school 50-150% longer to become a specialist. The disciplines get very detailed and the work you can expect will not be of the GP variety. Think about it...You are getting a case from the GP because they either a. couldn't handle it from the get go, or b. they screwed it up and now need you to bail them out. In other words, you get the challenging stuff and no two cases are the same. Believe me when I say that a Root Canal isn't just a root canal. They get incerdibly tricky and challenging, and as a specialist, you are the last line of treatment. What if the case is difficult, even for a specialist's standards. I've known Endodontists that have spent 4 hours completing a root canal. Are they going to be able to refer it out to someone else? Technically, they could do that, but they would then kiss future referrals from the GP goodbye. GP's can choose to focus and excel at restorative dentistry, or they can choose to do a little bit of everything. GP's get to do the bread and butter of dentistry and they can choose to refer everything else out, while specialists are obligated to successfully perform whatever comes their way, usually the difficult stuff. GP's have a choice.... Specialists do not. But on the plus side, specialists achieve a very high level of expertise in their discipline, and being able to handle the cases that others could not may be the professional satisfaction that some will seek.
Don't forget the type of doctor-patient relationships that will be forged. As a GP, you will be able to grow with your patients over a lifetime, but as a specialist, your relationship with them will vary. There are pluses and minuses on both sides, and you just have to decide what you want out of the dental profession. Most important, choose to do what you enjoy. After all, you are the one that is going to have to wake up every morning for the next 40 years to go to work. You can either dread the day or feel juiced about. How will you decide to live?

 

[JavadiCavity]

You must be a specialist, and that's where you get all the facts from, right? Both you, and the poster above you, must be speaking from experience.

To all SDN posters: I'm glad we have experienced and practicing dentists and specialists replying to questions on this board.

The problem with both posts is that we (including myself) SDNers have zero to almost zero experience in the real world. It reminds me of when I was an undergraduate, and my buddies and I were so sure we knew the pros and cons of all of the job opportunities for business graduates just waiting for us once we had diplomas. We were sure that starting salaries were the low $50,000s, and that you would we working with corporate brass on Wall Street, etc. etc. Laugh all you want, but walk down the halls of any business school and you'll all hear the same bogus junk. Fact of the matter is, when we all graduated and accepted our jobs, only a few us really got what we expected. The rest of us were rudely awakened to reality of our situations.

All I'm trying to say is that more than likely, unless you have some experience on your young resume in the field on dentistry as a general dentist or specialist, you probably don't have a real good idea of what graduating dental students can expect. I'm not trying to be harsh, I'm just speaking from the experience of a guy who believed one thing and found out it wasnt' true.

Let's keep our 2nd hand opinions 2nd hand and not try to position ourselves as a fountain of knowledge on any one subject that we have limited or zero "real" knowledge of.

 

[arns51]

Originally posted by JavadiCavity
Let's keep our 2nd hand opinions 2nd hand and not try to position ourselves as a fountain of knowledge on any one subject that we have limited or zero "real" knowledge of.

I dont think you are referring to anybody in particular, but isnt second hand knowledge better than nothing? We dont always have somebody involved in the exact situation of every question asked. And if we do then obviously that is the person with the most knowledge and most qualified to answer questions.

Fact of the matter is is that the most frequent surfers/posters are pre-dents, who only have second hand knowledge. And keeping it to ourselves would leave us with a pretty boring forum.

Not only that, for my situation I think my second hand knowledge is quite good (I have very good friends who are D2's, D4's, and recently graduated from dental school).

 

[Dr.BadVibes]

The problem with both posts is that we (including myself) SDNers have zero to almost zero experience in the real world.

I dunno dude, elias514's dad is a dentist, so I would think that counts as a reliable source. Her points seem valid.

 

[bcDDS]

To JavadiCavity:
Actually, in response to your question (not sure if it was meant to be sarcastic or not), I do have some experience, and that's exactly where I am speaking from.
I've been a general dentist for several years, and I figured out that I'd be happier going back and specializing. I've got tons of friends that are even older and are either practicing as GPs and specialists, pros and cons to both. After seeing a bit of everything in GP, and actively attending Continuing Education courses like crazy, I can honestly say that it is practically impossible to be good at everything. Specialists exist for a reason, and they need to be utilized for the benefit of the patient. It all comes down to co-existing to provide optimal care.
I agree with you that things will not be what they seem when you get out. Everybody wants to see the glass half full but sooner rather than later, reality will set in. It's a tough world out there, and nobody should expect to make a killing right off the bat. There are too many ingredients that go into success, and it takes years to figure it out how to cook it. There are LOTS of posts from students that are just not true. Too much speculation based on word of mouth. I see questions that I feel I can contribute to, that's why I started taking the time to post.
One more thing...My opinions (and I guess I've shared a lot of them as of late) even though it is based on real world experience should be taken with a grain of salt as should all opinions. Everybody will have different experiences. I'm not claiming that my opinions are gospel. I'm just trying to help tell it the way I've lived it. Hopefully someone will be able to benefit from it. Cheers =)

 

[JavadiCavity]

Perhaps we should carry this conversation on further in a PM, but I'll also reply here to your post.

The value of this forum is in the accuracy of the information provided. If it was found that most of the posts in this forum were bogus or lop-sided, many readers/posters wouldn't use this resource. I think, as an SDN community, we owe it to ourselves as well as to others to keep posted information accurate, correct, truthful, and useful. I find myself in the same camp as a lot of other SDN posters who feel that many threads are useless and many posters should think twice before posting some baloney about an issue they are almost completely unfamiliar with.

I have no qualms with 2nd hand information that is reliable and verifiable. I realize that most posts on this forum come from pre-dents like myself who are just starting the whole process. However, I defend my original post. While I do believe most pre-dents have good intentions, I think they can be inadvertently harmful. What good are opinions that are based on facts, or on facts, which are pulled quite often from out the blue only to support someone's opinion.

Many of us have our and hopes and dreams pinned on whether or not we are excepted to dental school. I think some posters/readers will BELIEVE anything if it makes them feel better.

It reminds me of conversations that began like this: "Well, I heard from my best friend's dad's sister's daughter's husband that . . . is true!" Okay, while there may be a sliver of a possibility that it actually is true, I'd be willing to bet the farm that 99% of the situations aren't even a close cousin to the way things really are or will be.

There's a $100.00 answer to a $1.00 question.

 

[JavadiCavity]

To bcDDS:

Comments from individuals like you should be encouraged and respected. It strongly increases the worth of the SDN when posters like you offer insight and guidance to the hungry masses of pre-dental students.

Thanks.

 

[JavadiCavity]

To Avingupta:

And perhaps there is some truth in elias' post, but I don't think experience by proxy (i.e. through a relative or friend) is a worthy enough subsitute to allow posters to present opinions (either intentionally or unintentionally) as facts or as reality.

 

[elias514]

You guys make it sound like my dad lied to me. Why in the hell would he lie to me about dentistry?

 

[NewNameForGoogleBot]

I got your back, elias. We have some whiners on this forum. Don't worry about it and keep the info coming (I'll decide for myself what I want to believe and what is hearsay - I'm a big boy!).

 

[JavadiCavity]

Amen Jaap. Big boys never whine.

 

[arns51]

ok, maybe ill give an example. Say you have a question about endo, and nobody on this board is an endodontist or pursuing a degree in endo. However, my best friend happens to be an endodotist or an endo student who I converse with all the time because i am interested in dentistry. Would you not want my answer if I was pretty darn sure I knew the answer to your question?

There is very little on this forum that we know 100% for sure. I dont believe any of us have served on an admission committee how can we know exactly what they look for in a personal statement etc etc. However I personally think many of us have a pretty good idea about what makes up a good essay. Also, people are always asking what their chances are, and I believe we usually give pretty accurate answers, however we have no clue whether or not this person can hold a conversation if its not over the internet. If they cannot they are surely not going to interview well. However, judging on all the stats many of us have seen over the years I think we can very generally give a good indication of whether someone is screwed and need to retake the DAT or is sitting pretty.

This forum is what it is because there are many informed individuals, sure there is some BS (like ANYTHING, you have to sort through it), but I certainly dont think I have the right to tell people whether or not they are allowed to post based on the level of their knowledge.

Sorry, I probably should have PM'd you, but I just dont want people to be afraid to post what they feel to be correct. Hopefully your posts cause people to think twice about what they post rather than scaring them from it.

*edit: This issue is pretty much dead by now, but I didnt see some of the previous posts.

 

[JavadiCavity]

Please accept my apology for anyone that I offended. No harm intended. I appreciate your comments.

 

[PERFECT3435]

ELIAS AND BCDDS,

thank you for taking the time to answer those questions. it is needless to say that there are many pre-dents that really do appreciate posts like yours.

 

[Mangocat]

Thanks for all the feedback! I appreciate it

 

[FowlersGap]

bump