What is the attraction to being a dentist ?

[FreakyStudent]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I am just curious to know why you are attracted to dentistry. I have been told many times that I should go to dental school if I dont get into med school but I just cant imagine drilling teeth for year after year much less cleaning them or removing them.

What is the attraction ? The good money and easy hours ? That is a great motive in my opinion.

 

[ISU_Steve]

Those are the two big ones for most people. But there's a lot more involved in dentistry than cleanings, fillings and extractions. Might I suggest you do a little research into what the various dental specialties do? If you need help finding information, I'll be more than happy to help. Just let me know.

 

[Tooth Fixer]

I am just curious to know why you are attracted to dentistry. I have been told many times that I should go to dental school if I dont get into med school but I just cant imagine drilling teeth for year after year much less cleaning them or removing them.

What is the attraction ? The good money and easy hours ? That is a great motive in my opinion.

Not every dentist fixes and cleans teeth. Some go into business aspect of it. Buy build sell practices. Research to build better tools and such. It branches out into many areas. Like my uncle he set up his own practice maybe cleaned teeth for 5 years on his own and after that has others working for him, so he runs the business aspect of it. It all depends on what turns your wheel.

 

[PharmDr.]

Like others have stated on this site, dentistry is one of those hidden really great professions, but it is often misunderstood. I also use to think that dentists only clean,drill, fill, but after research and a lot of shadowing, I was amazed by the scope of practice. I recommend shadowing several of the specialties to get "a feel" of what dentistry is all about. All, and ill repeat, ALL of the dentists I have spoken to and known through my family are VERY HAPPY they chose dentistry over medicine. The minimum hours, no to little worry about malpractice (depends on specialty), no life and death issues, great pay, etc., etc. I really like hands on things and surgery, so dentistry is great. Ever since I had two periodontal surgeries by a really nice and down to earth periodontist, I became interested in dentistry. I am assisting him now when I come in for the occasional shadowing. I guess he is like a mentor to me as hes very successful and has an absolute beautiful practice. 😉

 

[DDS:)]

Not every dentist fixes and cleans teeth. Some go into business aspect of it. Buy build sell practices. Research to build better tools and such. It branches out into many areas. Like my uncle he set up his own practice maybe cleaned teeth for 5 years on his own and after that has others working for him, so he runs the business aspect of it. It all depends on what turns your wheel.

The dentist I was shadowing with said same thing. He said he enjoys the business part the most. He has 3 practices and hires dentists work for him.

 

[cka88]

The dentist I was shadowing with said same thing. He said he enjoys the business part the most. He has 3 practices and hires dentists work for him.

hey fiona,


didn't know you wanted to be a dentist...hahaha

 

[Dental Mom]

Adding to the reasons......

I will get the chance to do construction work with teeth. You can really make a change in someone's life by improving their teeth 😀

One can do cosmetic dentistry which has a very bright future 😀

Job security. People are living longer and keeping their teeth

You can have your own practice and work alone or hire people 😀

The dental program is much-much more family friendly than the MD. No 80 hrs a week in a hospital for 3+ yrs

Our malpractice insurance will be anywhere from $600 to $3000+ A YEAR! 😀 Depending on the specialty.

If you really have the vocation, you will never get bored

You can earn a decent salary by working 4 days a week

Not too much insurance paper work

You don't have to see patients every 10 minutes all day long to be able to run a practice. You can have your own hrs, so stress can be controled 😉

The list goes on and on......

I wanted to be a surgeon. But with 2 children, I'll never see them. Dental school will be tough, but is 2 yrs of academics and 2 yrs of clinic. My family can deal with that. I actually have found "my thing".

Go into anything with your eyes wide open. Maybe there's something else out there for you. Don't do it for the money. You will be miserable driving to work every day.

$$$$$$$ Money doesn't make people truly happy 🙁

 

[Bullfan16]

One can do cosmetic dentistry which has a very bright future 😀

Not to burst your bubble...but this avenue of dentistry is the least appealing (at least to me). While I agree that helping a person who's appearance is affected by their teeth is a great thing....taking a person out of pain is much more meaningful. I hate that dude on extreme makeover...veneers are a temporary fix and while they are aesthetically pleasing, they arent a permanent solution. They are similar to fake fingernails. This is one aspect of dentistry and is not the majority of cases that we will see down the road (unless you concentrate solely on cosmetic dentistry). Just my $.02

 

[airvent]

I am just curious to know why you are attracted to dentistry. I have been told many times that I should go to dental school if I dont get into med school but I just cant imagine drilling teeth for year after year much less cleaning them or removing them.

What is the attraction ? The good money and easy hours ? That is a great motive in my opinion.

What exactly do you expect to be doing as a Medical doctor. Medicine is not ER and M.A.S.H. Medicine is divided into specialties so you won't be doing more than what you are trained to do. Unless you are a surgeon most of the diagnosing you will be doing will be pretty mundane. And even the work of a heart surgeon can become reptitive. Not every physician will be saving lives with 3 seconds to spare. Even ER Docs don't do much more than stabilize the patient until a surgeon is available. Even then the most critical job likely belongs to the anesthesiologist(sp)

Dentistry offers hands on patient care everyday. The whole notion that "looking in someone's mouth" is gross is misguided and immature. I really don't get it. Its a part of the human body. No more or less gross than looking at any other part.

 

[PharmDr.]

I couldnt agree more airvent. I am soo sick of hearing people in school or on this forum talk about the mouth as being soo gross. Am I missing something hear? The other two holes are a lot less appealing and smelly, but it is something medical docs must suck up and include in their scope of practice. I dont think a person should be a health professional if they think the body is soo gross. It is natural. As cliche as it may be, helping others from illness and pain is our number one priority. I work in a hospital as a pharm tech and have volunteered in the E.R dept and let me tell you, it is not as glamorous as t.v. portrays. Patient stabilized, surgery takes over with opertation and most often post-op. Dentistry offers a more laid back lifestyle both during work and after. Medicine is NOT what it is made out to be in society. Every single doc in my hospital which is a large level 1 trauma center in Tampa is stressed. Stressed they tell me everyday I work to the point that they feel like just quiting. I come in to work or in to volunteer in the E.R. very excited to observe and learn everything, but the docs keep insisting that dentistry is the way to go. I am and have taken their opinion not with a grain of salt, but with much more importance as I respect them. I am also sick of hearing how some of the docs feel like their kids ignore and despise them. A job is a job and that is it. I have come to learn at an early age of 20 that family is something you will always have and that it should not be taken for granted. Everything I have stated in this post is from my own experiences and I want to make it clear that I am not a know it all undergraduate student.

 

[vasco]

I couldnt agree more airvent. I am soo sick of hearing people in school or on this forum talk about the mouth as being soo gross.

This is one of my favorite parts of Dentistry. I love it when people say that they would never want to look into mouths all day. This is one of our best barriers to entry protecting our market from an influx of people. When people I talk to tell me that, I can't help but smile because it means that Dentistry will remain protected from entry and prices will be shielded from too much supply. Net result is that I’ll have more patients and more money!

 

[dWiz]

This is one of my favorite parts of Dentistry. I love it when people say that they would never want to look into mouths all day. This is one of our best barriers to entry protecting our market from an influx of people. When people I talk to tell me that, I can't help but smile because it means that Dentistry will remain protected from entry and prices will be shielded from too much supply. Net result is that I’ll have more patients and more money!

thx for exposing the "secret" 😡

 

[Dental Mom]

Not to burst your bubble...but this avenue of dentistry is the least appealing (at least to me). While I agree that helping a person who's appearance is affected by their teeth is a great thing....taking a person out of pain is much more meaningful. I hate that dude on extreme makeover...veneers are a temporary fix and while they are aesthetically pleasing, they arent a permanent solution. They are similar to fake fingernails. This is one aspect of dentistry and is not the majority of cases that we will see down the road (unless you concentrate solely on cosmetic dentistry). Just my $.02

As long as I do something that will last, I'll be happy to do it! I live in South Florida and here it's all about beauty. First people will take care of the pain and what ever that needs to be done THEN they want those teeth to be very white and straight! I'm planning to be a general dentist & do other cosmetic stuff too 😀

Hey, I don't like fake nails either 😱

 

[kelbal10]

I am just curious to know why you are attracted to dentistry. I have been told many times that I should go to dental school if I dont get into med school but I just cant imagine drilling teeth for year after year much less cleaning them or removing them.

What is the attraction ? The good money and easy hours ? That is a great motive in my opinion.

If you do not get into medical school, what makes you think you can get into dental school?!

 

[Rezdawg]

If you do not get into medical school, what makes you think you can get into dental school?!

Probably the fact that it is a lot harder to get into medical school than to get admitted into dental school. Statistics will show this to be very true.

 

[dexadental]

I think what attracted me to dentistry was the idea of running my own business, because I'll be damned if I ever work for someone else but myself, and also working closely with patients and medicine. For a while I thought about going into alternative medicine, like chiropractics or even going to DO school...but in the end, shadowing at a dentist office won me over. Dentistry is alot more than just being in someones mouth, you're giving patients confidence, seeing new people everyday, and running a business your own style. The only person you work for are your patients, which you can always choose to not work on if you want 😉 , so in the end, you're your own boss! But you gotta love dentistry and really want it to truly see why it is great.