Wanting out of dentistry/current student

[jeep69]

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im a D2 that simply hasn't clicked with anything dental related and am debating about dropping or staying in due to sheer stubbornness. I love science and art and saw an opportunity to make a **** ton of cash so thought it would be perfect, it's a nightmare. I don't have a passion for it and am unsure of what's wise at this point and would like to hear from some impartial dentists that are practicing. I've got a ****load of debt, I have passions for other medically related fields I could get into but pay is substantially less but I wouldn't be miserable 24/7.

At this point t the ONLY REASON I am considering finishing is due to the fact I have worked 5 years to get into dental school. I could easily see myself graduating and saying **** it I never want to have anything to do with this ever again.

 

[Member 6236]

I feel you man. I feel the same way....but look into OMFS. It's my passion like nothing else now.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[vellnueve]

Until you work with patients you don't really know.

 

[dds__2017]

im a D2 that simply hasn't clicked with anything dental related and am debating about dropping or staying in due to sheer stubbornness. I love science and art and saw an opportunity to make a **** ton of cash so thought it would be perfect, it's a nightmare. I don't have a passion for it and am unsure of what's wise at this point and would like to hear from some impartial dentists that are practicing. I've got a ****load of debt, I have passions for other medically related fields I could get into but pay is substantially less but I wouldn't be miserable 24/7.

At this point t the ONLY REASON I am considering finishing is due to the fact I have worked 5 years to get into dental school. I could easily see myself graduating and saying **** it I never want to have anything to do with this ever again.

Is it dentistry you don't like, or dental school? I agree with another post that you may feel differently once you get into clinic, and you might like a speciality you hadn't thought of before. If you dislike working with patients, there is also teaching and research which are good options. I think that if you are full-time faculty for 10 years your loans get forgiven, but someone correct me on that if it's wrong.

 

[JoblessDent]

Until you work with patients you don't really know.

To be fair you are in the military, so you work with generally excellent patients in a controlled environment. Outside it can be a poopshow and unfortunately op will not know whether or not he liked dentistry until he graduates.

OP, if you want my advice. This field isn't worth it. I haven't found a job yet, have been rejected from all public health jobs as they want years of experience, rejected from the Army because of lack of spots for direct commissioning. I really don't think I can keep trying in dentistry or else I will end up homeless on the streets paying dues and CE but unable to find ANY job.

 

[vellnueve]

Has nothing to do with my point.

He's a second year. He's only doing preclinical stuff which is tedious and mind numbing.

Until you actually experience patient care you won't know if you like it or not.

To be fair you are in the military, so you work with generally excellent patients in a controlled environment. Outside it can be a poopshow and unfortunately op will not know whether or not he liked dentistry until he graduates.

OP, if you want my advice. This field isn't worth it. I haven't found a job yet, have been rejected from all public health jobs as they want years of experience, rejected from the Army because of lack of spots for direct commissioning. I really don't think I can keep trying in dentistry or else I will end up homeless on the streets paying dues and CE but unable to find ANY job.

 

[jeep69]

Is it dentistry you don't like, or dental school? I agree with another post that you may feel differently once you get into clinic, and you might like a speciality you hadn't thought of before. If you dislike working with patients, there is also teaching and research which are good options. I think that if you are full-time faculty for 10 years your loans get forgiven, but someone correct me on that if it's wrong.

I don't know. I enjoy being active but I sit on my ass all day. I've had neck and back issues start that are nagging and were never there before school. I don't really enjoy hunching over and trying to do watch repair in someone's mouth and if I had to do that all day I would be out4sure. I do not like operative dentistry but I love patient care in general. I feel like I should have gone into medicine as I love science classes much more than any of the hands on classes. I'm competent but not very good at the hand skill work either and generally would rahther have a job where I'm up moving around, treating patients, making an impact in their lives, making good money to where I can enjoy my life and do what I want while not sacrificing my orthopedic health or mental well being like I feel I will have to do for dentistry.


Lots of people have given me **** about this but how am I supposed to know if i would be good at this or truly like this unles I try it out and give it a shot?

 

[ncide]

Microscopes or high magnification loups with a steep angle of declination will help with your back problems. While I was in practice, I lifted my patients up and stood for longer procedures. I developed significant neck pain but those were resolved when I got a good pair of loupes in dental school.

I got to know lots of my patients and became friends with many of them, and they genuinely appreciated my care for them (for the most part). Once you get into the real world, you'll see dental school is a lot different.

Hand skills come with practice, so don't get discouraged if you find it difficult now. It gets better.

 

[jeep69]

Microscopes or high magnification loups with a steep angle of declination will help with your back problems. While I was in practice, I lifted my patients up and stood for longer procedures. I developed significant neck pain but those were resolved when I got a good pair of loupes in dental school.

I got to know lots of my patients and became friends with many of them, and they genuinely appreciated my care for them (for the most part). Once you get into the real world, you'll see dental school is a lot different.

Hand skills come with practice, so don't get discouraged if you find it difficult now. It gets better.

thanks for the suggestions/ I am debating waiting to make any decisions until I get in the clinic and can use loupes as well as a saddle seat vs regulr chair, part of me thinks its stupid to bail before I try to implement these aids as I am currently working with all of the prelab benches and chairs that do not fit me.

What procedures did you stand for? this is pretty interesting.

 

[vellnueve]

Finish school. If you decide you don't like operative dentistry you can always try one of the specialties, or you can look at something like dental anesthesia or orofacial pain, two fields that are likely to grow and require little in the way of fine motor skills or poor posture.

 

[jeep69]

nor do resear

Finish school. If you decide you don't like operative dentistry you can always try one of the specialties, or you can look at something like dental anesthesia or orofacial pain, two fields that are likely to grow and require little in the way of fine motor skills or poor posture.

I have been interested in BOTH of these, and have started to research this option. I also am really drawn to something called "oral medicine" program that schools offer but I can t find out if its a specialty or not.
WE have not received ANY information in my school in the way of dental anesthesia or orofacial pain, and I have no clue how one would run an office or a practice focusing on that. literally the main thing being drilled into our head "no pun intended" is operative dentistry, I think I am mentally stuck that this is all there is to being a dentist.

I would not want to teach nor do research, I feel like the rewards for me would not be there In the teaching aspect of things as I would not get to have direct interaction with the patient nor would the compensation be there to afford me to pursue my other passions outside of dentistry (aka live my life). I am a people person and am an extrovert, a lot of my peers in school are the complete opposite and honestly many are quite strange with little social skills.

 

[dds__2017]

There is an orofacial pain specialist at my school and the job seems like it might be more what you are looking for in that you are interacting with patients but not doing operative dentistry. Oral pathology or oral medicine was another good suggestion. Generally oral surgery is done standing, but it can still hurt your neck or back if you are twisting your head to see something.

 

[vellnueve]

nor do resear
I have been interested in BOTH of these, and have started to research this option. I also am really drawn to something called "oral medicine" program that schools offer but I can t find out if its a specialty or not.
WE have not received ANY information in my school in the way of dental anesthesia or orofacial pain, and I have no clue how one would run an office or a practice focusing on that. literally the main thing being drilled into our head "no pun intended" is operative dentistry, I think I am mentally stuck that this is all there is to being a dentist.

I would not want to teach nor do research, I feel like the rewards for me would not be there In the teaching aspect of things as I would not get to have direct interaction with the patient nor would the compensation be there to afford me to pursue my other passions outside of dentistry (aka live my life). I am a people person and am an extrovert, a lot of my peers in school are the complete opposite and honestly many are quite strange with little social skills.

Orofacial pain and oral med or DA look like good bets for you. Talk to those specialists at your school and see if you can shadow or rotate through their services.

 

[CanaDMD]

Oral pathology/medicine seems like a great gig. There are two of them at my school/in the whole city. They work hand in hand, owning one "practice" (not in the traditional sense as they do not see patients, but one service center) where oral surgeons, dentists, etc send their biopsies/whatever else they need the oral pathologist for to check out.

So there is no patient interaction at all in that field, if that's what you're looking for (same as a MD pathologist)

 

[ncide]

I am a people person and am an extrovert, a lot of my peers in school are the complete opposite and honestly many are quite strange with little social skills.

I honestly believe that you will enjoy dentistry once you start practicing. You meet so many people, and the most liked (and successful) dentists are those that get to know their patients on a personal level. Many dentists are exactly as you point out, introverts, and get taxed by the constant need to socialize with people all day long.

I loved running into familiar faces on the street and striking up conversations with my patients. They'd invite me to their cafes or restaurants to show off their places, even hit me up on xbox for a match or two. You feel like you belong and are making a meaningful difference in others' lives. Your patients soon become your friends.

 

[CanaDMD]

I honestly believe that you will enjoy dentistry once you start practicing. You meet so many people, and the most liked (and successful) dentists are those that get to know their patients on a personal level. Many dentists are exactly as you point out, introverts, and get taxed by the constant need to socialize with people all day long.

I loved running into familiar faces on the street and striking up conversations with my patients. They'd invite me to their cafes or restaurants to show off their places, even hit me up on xbox for a match or two. You feel like you belong and are making a meaningful difference in others' lives. Your patients soon become your friends.

I love this post!

 

[jeep69]

Ok I will se of any of those are at my school to where I can talk to them. So is the basic take home point from everyone to not drop out but finish?

Obviously only I can decide but it's very hard to get a good picture of things while I'm"still in the frame". So I'm trying to reach out to as many people as possible. I've thought about staying in and seeing what the next semester brings and still applying to my other program which I feel is where my passion lies, but it pays like 70k tops and I'm 200k in debt.

That way if I can't take it in the spring I have some sort of backup plan.

 

[Incis0r]

I loved running into familiar faces on the street and striking up conversations with my patients. They'd invite me to their cafes or restaurants to show off their places, even hit me up on xbox for a match or two. You feel like you belong and are making a meaningful difference in others' lives. Your patients soon become your friends.

Do you think this is specific to VCU? Is the dental school located in a small town?

I feel like it's harder to form these bonds with your patients if you're at a more urban program.

 

[ncide]

Do you think this is specific to VCU? Is the dental school located in a small town?

I feel like it's harder to form these bonds with your patients if you're at a more urban program.

This was back when I lived in Seattle before dental school. Richmond is an urban city as well, just not as large as Seattle. I was an assistant for some general dentists and specialists for a few years after my undergrad years to see if I enjoyed dentistry.

How you practice determines how your professional and interpersonal relationships develop. Every time you see a patient is an opportunity to know the person more and that opportunity can easily be fostered into a friendship. Some doctors I worked with kept their interactions brief and strictly professional, others were genuinely were to see a familiar face and catch up. Some told patients that they were only available to be reached during work hours and other doctors gave out their personal cell phones and called the patient in the evening after each major procedure to see if everything was going well. I was the latter type and saw how personally rewarding dentistry could be.

There was a person that was wrote about how upset she was that her dentist was retiring and she was struggling to find one that she liked. I didn't know anything about her situation except what she wrote about, but one thing that stood out to me was how the doctor treated his patients. Every year he would hold a Christmas party at his own house and invite all of his patients over to enjoy their company. It doesn't matter if he came from a small town or a larger one. He took time to get to know each person individually and with that, became a loved and cherished doctor among his community of patients. That's the legacy we should leave in the lives of our patients. That's when dentistry really becomes personally enriching and rewarding.

 

[FrogH20]

From what you've said it sounds like dentistry is painful and tedious to you. Experience and ergonomics will improve this dramatically. If you choose to stick with dentistry you absolutely must learn to use indirect vision, loupes, light (cannot stress this enough) and become a study of proper ergonomics.

Your program likely will not teach, or enforce, ergonomics to the degree that you need to master them so it's all on you. I also suggest learning to take care of yourself by eating healthy, exercising, stretching, and focusing on proper posture.

Looking at many of your posts it seems as though you may have been more satisfied in medicine but there are challenges in every career; look before you leap.

thanks for the suggestions/ I am debating waiting to make any decisions until I get in the clinic and can use loupes as well as a saddle seat vs regulr chair, part of me thinks its stupid to bail before I try to implement these aids as I am currently working with all of the prelab benches and chairs that do not fit me.

What procedures did you stand for? this is pretty interesting.

 

[cacazor]

I can't really tell from your wording.

Are you going through pre-clinical without loupes...?

 

[UncUndergrad1]

You sound like me. Do OMFS. It's a long road, but worth it. We're all extroverts/ENTP/Double reds/Dominant blah blah blah

We like to be awesome

 

[jeep69]

I can't really tell from your wording.

Are you going through pre-clinical without loupes...?

Yes I have been, our school just had loupe fair and I ordered some and they should be in shorty.

 

[johnhancock1]

I felt the same way as you OP during my clinic time in dental school and my first year of practicing in private practice. My experience is a little different because I actually enjoyed the technical aspects of dentistry and was good at it. However, you haven't started seeing patients yet but to me that was the dissatisfying part of dentistry. So, I'll give you my experience with working with patients.

One of the most unfulfilling aspects of general dentistry is your patients are afraid and they don't want to be there. Many of my patients liked me as a person but at the end of the day, a lot of people are afraid of the dentist and would rather not be there if they didn't have to.

One of the hardest things I have had to deal with in particular is patients not understanding why their teeth wasn't sensitive in the first place but now after the fillings, their teeth are sensitive (even if the fillings are perfect; sometimes patients are especially sensitive after fillings). In particular, I'm referring to lesions that have just reached the DEJ where they haven't had symptoms. Even though you know for a fact you did the right thing by doing the fillings, it is so heartbreaking when your patients are upset at you and it is so hard to explain to them that they needed the fillings in the first place (because they don't have knowledge of dentistry). Now, it's different when you do a RCT or EXT when the pain is in extreme pain. They know you got them out of pain and they are very grateful. Gratitude from patients is what makes a career fulfilling.

If you have the grades, specialize in Ortho. This is where I'm at now and almost all your patients are satisfied with you because ortho will always make a visible difference that the patient can see. Thus, patient satisfaction and gratitude is high and to me that is what makes a career fulfilling.

I was first drawn to general dentistry because of money and lifestyle (TBH I think general dentists have the capabilities to make as much as Ortho these days if you account for the extra debt and schooling). But now that I have grown up a little, I now see why money doesn't make you 100% happy. Not all my colleagues agree with me. So this is my opinion.

 

[Localnative]

echoed your sentiments during my 1st few years of dental school
looking back I strongly advise you to finish
Grew wary of the curriculum and hype during my 2nd yr, ended up doing a HHMI NIH fellowship which revitalized me. Worked at the NCI, Surgery Branch. When I returned my fourth year, was actually excited about clinical dentistry.. I got swept up in the OS thing and found a calling.
Urge you to stick with it. Its painful, however road less traveled majority of time is more rewarding at the end
PM me if you need levelheaded advice. been there.

 

[jeep69]

So I've spent some time observing with an oral surgeon past few days and I REALLY enjoy what he does... It looks like awesome work and so many of the aspects I hate from operative are not there at all, this further complicates things....LOTS more school......

The day's flew by and even assisting I had zero orthopedic issues from assisting in the standing position.

 

[ncide]

One of the most unfulfilling aspects of general dentistry is your patients are afraid and they don't want to be there. Many of my patients liked me as a person but at the end of the day, a lot of people are afraid of the dentist and would rather not be there if they didn't have to.

 

[Pedodel]

Hey , look every profession has it's very difficult issues. In dentistry , to be good or great, you have to have A Ton of self confidence . A little bit or a lot of Navy Seal mentality...is needed. . You have to believe you can be good and do anything. You can't be Squeemish or tentative. You have to be confident.

ALL medical /dental positions have major challenges . You have to decide if you want to cave in or be big.
I know and work with a ton of other medical specialists ( pediatricians, surgeons, etc..... ). They All bitch about their Job. Most , HATE it. I love what I do! Most make 1/2 to 1/5th of f what I make .... I think what I do is easy compared with what they have to deal with.
Anyway....

In dental school, I did not think I could handle dentistry as a lifelong profession. I hated dental school, and did not in any way love dentistry. But I was ( am ) tough. I was set in my path,, and I was firm that I would make it work.

I got out of dental school ,,, did a GPR which was hell, and got into a PEDO residency which was awesome!
It's a long story ,,,,, but now I freaking LOVE this gig. I could not imagine going into any other field.

It's not always a laid back life. You have to have energy,,, and self confidence. You must at leist ,,,like working with people. Otherwise you will struggle.
Don't make your dental school experience a prescription for your life in dentistry. Most hate dental school ( and the dental experience during those years). It's not like that in the real world. It's harder in some ways ( business wise), but better and easier in most ways.
It is very focused / hard work,,, but can be very enjoyable and rewarding if you have the right work ethic and mentality. If you can find your nitch,,, you will be more happy.
Don't think that dropping out of dental school and working on a computer all day will make you happy. Don't think, that going to medical school and examining and doing surgery on some ones ass or vagina, or purelent foot or abdomine will be fun. It's all messed up stuff.
In dentistry we work on teeth. It is usually not life or death , or any thing so absolutely vile, that you can't go home and feel normal.

Also,,,,we work normal hours. Most work 4 to 4.5 days a week. We are not on call much. Compared to MD's. And legally we don't have 1/10 th the issues of those in medicine have . Or quite the insurance nightmares that MD's are living with.
Oh,,, I am soooooo glad I am not in medicine.
Stay tough,,,,, if you get through school and can be positive and confident,,, you can do it , and be successful. Being happy,,,, that's up to you.

 

[Awarara]

dude you have only done one year of dental school, you don't know anything about dentistry (i barely know anything as a fourth year). a lot of people don't like dental school and most people hate sim lab and working on mannequins. you haven't even started seeing patients yet. no one enjoys doing operative lol... but it's just something you put up with. people go into general dentistry because they like the freedom, owning and managing their own practice, working hard to increase production or working three days a week and be laid back.

people like general dentistry not because of operative (who the hell likes to do class twos), but because they like the variety of procedures they can do. as a GP, you can literally learn as much as you want and do all the cool complex treatments, or you can just chill and be satisfied with bread and butter procedures. it's up to you if you want to do all the cool things such as endo, implants, full mouth rehabs. with technological advancements, the future of dentistry can't be any funner (if you like technology/toys) with digital impressions/cerec/3d printed crowns, implant abutments and stents, dentures... you get to see people going from crappy teeth and give them a legitimate smile, and if you are good at it, it's probably one of the most gratifying procedures anyone can do for their patient. wait till you see a patient in your third/fourth year who only has 10 teeth that are disgusting and give them even simple complete dentures. it really changes their look and life.

and that is just for GPs, i'm not even gonna get started on the specialties

also if you believe that many of your classmates are "strange with little social skills", maybe you need to look in the mirror.