Self employment and autonomy come with a lot of jobs/professions...not just dentistry. I ask D4 applicants who are less than a year from graduation and applying to my program, who after all are already treating patients, why they chose dentistry. You would think they could put it all together by that time, but even they have trouble with a cogent answer.
Dentistry is an expensive and exhaustive undertaking, so you as an undergrad should give every consideration to other paths as well. Now is your time, and realizing that there are choices other than dentistry may sound harsh to someone like you, but it is a fact.
Let me tell you some of the negatives:
Minimum 3 years of college, which is not cheap. Even if you work part time, you cannot cover this expense. Hopefully you are one of those who got a scholarship and most of the tuition is defrayed. If you are a college athlete, you may already have another career path to ponder.
In any case you have lost 3 years full time salary.
Minimum 3 years of dental school, most likely 4. Quite expensive and very difficult. We as dentists must learn an entire set of repetitive hand skills, and another language that we only speak amongst ourselves. Combine this with upper level basic science, and multiple multi step procedures, and the reason D school is tough becomes evident. Another 4 years of full time salary lost.
I will not go into saturation and corporate stuff, it has been discussed ad nauseum
Dentistry is for the most part a brick and mortar profession, completely non portable. You need an operatory to perform most procedures.
This means you are generally stuck in one place, and when you leave that place for another, you start all over again. Licensure in dentistry is akin to Game of Thrones. Little state kingdoms fighting for their sovereignty.
Overhead in dentistry is high. Everything we use is very expensive, even disposable items, which there are plenty of.
Lastly, although everyone, and I mean everyone needs to see a dentist regularly, most do not because of fear, anxiety, expense, or lack of access. The scramble for fee for service patients is real.
There are lots....and I mean lots of other jobs/professions that pay as much if not more, which come with different types and perhaps less expensive headaches. Greater portability IMHO is the #1 reason I would not choose this profession today. I see my own son who is an attorney. He works anywhere he can get a WiFi connection. His office is literally in his backpack. If he feels like working at 2AM, it's not a problem. Meets with clients via Skype/GoToMeeting from anywhere. Files paperwork with the courts electronically. Gets paid electronically.
No third party mess. He can work a few hours while away on vacation if he needs to. I cannot do any of this. When I close the door to my office and go home, all production ceases. Not that I don't need a break, but the rules of work have changed over the years, and set hours seem old school (Most D schools have lecture on podcast. My point illustrated. Was not available when I went to school in the 80's.)
I would be more than happy to tell you the pro's as well, but starting off with these ideas above may be an eye opener.
