Specializing, is it worth it ?

[Confused321]

Hello

I have a new interest in dentistry and my question is about specializing.
Although salary shouldn't be the main factor I do believe that its still important.

I read online that dental specialists like Orthodontists actually make less money than general dentists?
I've seen this trend in several websites and videos and would like to know if this is true.

I just recently realized that dental residencies are NOT paid... and that we have to pay the school tuition to do our residency. Since I would most likely already be in 400K debt, is specializing a bad idea because of this?

I am also interested in other specialties as well, any advice would be great!

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[Bernie Sanders]

Orthos in the past used to make a lot of money, cause they had hardly any debt and could start a practice. Associate orthos don't make as much and there are more associates due to increased debt. But you can still do pretty well as an ortho and I dont think you will be making less than a GP in most instances. If your parents can foot the bill of dschool pretty well, then ya I would say ortho might be worth it.

Oral Surgeons probably have the best income security and do make more than GP.

Dont go into dentistry, thinking you want to specialize only.

 

[THS]

Like presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said, oral surgeons have the highest average income of the dental specialists. It is generally easier to make good money as an OMFS than any other specialty.

Now as far as the other specialties go, the desire for income isn't a good reason to specialize. If you want to make $300k a year, don't spend 2-3 in an endo residency to make that money. Get out of school and start working and acquire a practice as soon as you can. That's how you'll make money in dentistry.

And yeah, it's way too soon to think about specializing. You don't know enough about dentistry to know you'll even want to specialize. And without taking the pre-req classes, you don't even know if you'll like the pre-dental track, or if you can even get the grades necessary.

 

[Scumbag_Steve]

.

 

[NMC2010]

As a general dentist, you can do a lot of specialty work if you want to. You could even do mostly specialty work if that's what does it for you. Even if you aren't at the top of your class, you can take CE after you're a dentist and become competent in other areas.

 

[endoaccess]

Orthos still make great money. Maybe it's not quite as lucrative as it once was, but they still do better than GPs. If an ortho is making less then a GP it's usually because they are not working full-time.

 

[Confused321]

Thank you all for your responses!!

 

[wildzodiac]

GPR = general practice residency
AEGD =advanced education in general dentistry.

GPR residents make a salary, AEGD residents pay the school tuition. For that reason, the GPRs are typically more favorable. GPRs are typically in a hospital setting whereas AEGDs are not. Both are either 1 or 2 year programs with some being one year and can often be extended for a seccond year.

 

[RoseEndo]

Many comments on SDN takes me back to days I was planning to apply to Endo residency. Everyone was telling me that rotary files and implants will crush Endo, but I still loved Endo and took the risk of applying to specialty. I was even thinking if Endo does not work to give-up specialty license and practice as a super GP and do all my Endo’s and place my own implants.