Want to be an orthodontist..

[jollybjolly]

I want to be an orthodontist.
I love making people feel better about themselves and putting a smile on someones face.

For the longest time, I wanted to do a job with computers since that is my most skilled area, however, I realized that I'd probably be bored without any real socialization, that's why I believe orthodontics is for me.

I know that I will need 4 years of dental school.. But I DON'T want to be a dentist (I'm not sure if performing surgeries is for me... I don't really like working with needles, inflicting pain, etc). What if I go through 4 years of dental school and find it too competitive to specialize in orthodontics or don't get accepted to that area of specialization??

I think orthontics is for me because even though it sometimes does inflict pain, it doesn't require the task of performing surgeries.. I don't like having someone's life under my control, freaks me out.

What is the best dental school and what kind of GPA/DAT score will it take for me to make it into there? Also, how hard is it to get into an orthodontics area of study after dental school?

What if I attended an IVY league college.. Wouldn't it be really competitive or would they choose more people to go to dental school?

Do you think ortho is for me?

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[FutureDent020]

I want to be an orthodontist.

Don't we all...

 

[solstice]

I want to be an orthodontist.
I love making people feel better about themselves and putting a smile on someones face.

For the longest time, I wanted to do a job with computers since that is my most skilled area, however, I realized that I'd probably be bored without any real socialization, that's why I believe orthodontics is for me.

I know that I will need 4 years of dental school.. But I DON'T want to be a dentist (I'm not sure if performing surgeries is for me... I don't really like working with needles, inflicting pain, etc). What if I go through 4 years of dental school and find it too competitive to specialize in orthodontics or don't get accepted to that area of specialization??

I think orthontics is for me because even though it sometimes does inflict pain, it doesn't require the task of performing surgeries.. I don't like having someone's life under my control, freaks me out.

What is the best dental school and what kind of GPA/DAT score will it take for me to make it into there? Also, how hard is it to get into an orthodontics area of study after dental school?

What if I attended an IVY league college.. Wouldn't it be really competitive or would they choose more people to go to dental school?

Do you think ortho is for me?

So you have your personal statement (ABOVE) about why you want to do Ortho, then you asking strangers who BTW don't know you if ortho is for you?

 

[476515678234896]

I want to be an orthodontist.
I love making people feel better about themselves and putting a smile on someones face.

orthodontists (who know what they're doing) don't really do anything except watch the assistants "put smiles on someones face"....maybe you should consider that.😀

For the longest time, I wanted to do a job with computers since that is my most skilled area, however, I realized that I'd probably be bored without any real socialization, that's why I believe orthodontics is for me.

okay.....this isn't your personal statement, you don't need to prove anything to us.

I know that I will need 4 years of dental school.. But I DON'T want to be a dentist (I'm not sure if performing surgeries is for me... I don't really like working with needles, inflicting pain, etc). What if I go through 4 years of dental school and find it too competitive to specialize in orthodontics or don't get accepted to that area of specialization??

this is very possible. The probability of matching into a competitive residency like ortho or OMFS is really low so banking your entire career on ortho isn't a good idea...in other words, don't put all of your eggs in the orthodontics basket.

I think orthontics is for me because even though it sometimes does inflict pain, it doesn't require the task of performing surgeries.. I don't like having someone's life under my control, freaks me out.

give it a rest.

What is the best dental school and what kind of GPA/DAT score will it take for me to make it into there? Also, how hard is it to get into an orthodontics area of study after dental school?

any dental school will do, you're going to need to be in the top 10% of your dental class and do well on the NDBE.

What if I attended an IVY league college.. Wouldn't it be really competitive or would they choose more people to go to dental school?

Ivy schools are good if you can afford them. You'll get a top notch education and some kick ass prestige (which mildly helps when applying to dental school). But in the end game of becoming an orthodontist, your undergrad has little bearing on getting into an ortho program.

Do you think ortho is for me?

it's too early to know if you're competitive (hell it's too early to know until 3rd year dental school). But if you have no real desire to be a general dentist, I would tell you to be cautious when making this decision because it is very likely that you'll be a GP after dental school (90% of your class won't be specializing).

Your still in high school, get into a good university and don't worry so much about your career. Explore many fields and have fun, make some mistakes because if you choose to go into the health care field...you'll be working relatively hard until you retire. (unless of course you're an orthodontist )

 

[hopefullyadent]

i would love to be one too..i would argue its probably the best job in america...but its very very hard to get it...dont worry about it now though..if i were u i would work on acquiring skills that will make u a better dentist, regardless of whether u become an orthodontist or not: learning about taxes, website design (i noticed that almost every filthy successful dentist (orthodontist or not) has a nice website, improve manual dexterity, learn about what makes an advertisment good (u do this by volunteering at other dentists' office and asking them questions)....u will need these skills if you become an orthodontist or just a general dentist...u can't really do anything to up your chances at this point of being an orthodontist..maybe try to refine study habits but thats about it lol...if u learn the above skills u will have an upper hand over other dentists

 

[Medwell]

jollybjolly posted a similar question on CollegeConfidential, except over there he said:

I really don't have many specific interests so that's why I figured why not start by checking out careers that are top paying.

Orthodontics sounds almost too good to be true..
The salary is so high and many orthodontist's only work four day work weeks.. am i missing something?

You also said that you're more of a "math person." Did you check out the link I gave you for math-related careers over there?
You're going to have to do a ton of dentistry-related stuff while in dental school - also, unless you're the very best in DS, chances of getting accepted into an ortho residency are pretty slim.

I think you need to do some further career-exploring, and base your search on aspects other than salary.

 

[FutureDent020]

Haha, nice Medwell. Unfortunately Jolly, everyone in America is aware that Orthodontics is a great profession that pays well. It's easy to come out of high school and be influenced by salary. Hell, it's easy regardless of your age. But to get through all the hard work ahead, you will need some sort of passion for dentistry, if you choose to pursue it.

 

[doc toothache]

I want to be an orthodontist.
I love making people feel better about themselves and putting a smile on someones face.
For the longest time, I wanted to do a job with computers since that is my most skilled area, however, I realized that I'd probably be bored without any real socialization, that's why I believe orthodontics is for me.

I know that I will need 4 years of dental school.. But I DON'T want to be a dentist (I'm not sure if performing surgeries is for me... I don't really like working with needles, inflicting pain, etc). What if I go through 4 years of dental school and find it too competitive to specialize in orthodontics or don't get accepted to that area of specialization??

Since you want to be an orthodontist but you don't want to follow the required path, why not wait a few years; who knows, one of the ds might start a special program just for applicants like you who want to take a detour and go straight for a specialty program.

 

[Danny289]

Since you want to be an orthodontist but you don't want to follow the required path, why not wait a few years; who knows, one of the ds might start a special program just for applicants like you who want to take a detour and go straight for a specialty program.

 

[Vicviper]

Have you even shadowed an ortho yet? I mean, sure, it may be what you want, but I thought all through highschool and college that I wanted to be an ortho, but now that I'm here in dental school, it seems like the most boring thing in the world to me. On top of that, you've got only maybe 2-3 minutes of patient interaction per visit from what I hear.

I mean, if you like Ortho, more power to you, but you don't want to put yourself into a position that you'll end up hating the work you'll be forced to do by the crazy amount of debt that you'll be in after dental school, if you either couldn't get into ortho school or because you find that you don't like ortho either.

 

[RAlec114]

Have you even shadowed an ortho yet?

Indeed, I would shadow one to see if you really like the job.

 

[cmcner]

I'm just going to throw it out there that a general dentist can do braces if they choose to, but it is usually just a small part of their business. So even if someone can't make it all the way to ortho you can still do braces from time to time if that is their dream. However unless the general dentist is abnormally well trained they should only do routine cases and refer complex cases out to an orthodontist.

 

[jollybjolly]

Thanks, I really do appreciate your comments 🙂

 

[Cofo]

I want to be an orthodontist.
I love putting a smile on someones face.

... Gag me already.

 

[MrBeans]

... Gag me already.

👍

 

[crmdental]

UoP has a program where you can get your B.S and DDS at the same time. It's shorter than going to an undergrad and then dental school. I think the only requirement throughout the program is GPA. They also have specialty ortho program. Look into UoP, if I knew I wanted to be a dentist in high school I would have looked into their program.