What makes you fascinate about Dentistry?

[Smooth Operater]

Aside from autonomy, flexibility, $$, and constant interaction with the patients, what really makes you fascinate about the subject "oral health" ? I am asking this b/c it seems some ppl I've known seem to pursue for the perks that come along with Dentistry, not for the "passion" of studying and fixing teeths. Does one really need to "LOVE" the subject of teeth, in order to enjoy dentistry? Any comments are welcome!

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[justletmein]

manual dexterity - i love working with my hands and i'm insanely good at it, research, being able to help every patient with high quality care!

 

[UBTom]

Does one really need to "LOVE" the subject of teeth, in order to enjoy dentistry? Any comments are welcome!

I'd say one does not have to "love" teeth (i.e. obsessed with them day and night) to find dentistry enjoyable... But one has to at least "like" what the profession entails. After all, as a patient I would not want to go to an apathetic dentist.. 😀

Why I find the dental profession cool: Compare the wooden teeth George Washington wore in 1776 to the implants my sister surgically places today, and I think it's amazing how far the profession evolved. 😎

 

[toothcaries]

anyone that tells me that they "love" teeth causes me to question their sincerity and not to mention their sanity...




i love people..and by doing this dentistry thing...we restore function, get folks out of pain, make others look like a million bucks which may occationally give them more confidence and other good stuff..

but it's still just teeth.

 

[onetoothleft]

do podiatrists love feet?
do proctologists love butts?
do cardiologists love hearts?

as long as you have a healthy interest and feel like the secondary attributes of dentistry (business, people, office, etc.) you will do just fine

 

[jdcinza13]

Does that mean proctologists just need a healthy interests in butts? bend over.*THWACK*

 

[DrTacoElf]

Hands-On
Variety
Management

 

[Sprgrover]

I get to be the stuff of childhood nightmares.

 

[bpenly]

Your office is a surgical suite/laboratory. Having sat at a computer for seven years, that is very appealing. Moving around, solving multiple, short problems with some nice long-term cases fit in there too.

The stuff that really makes me fascinate is where the field may be in 15-20 years. For example, genetic dentistry such as growing new teeth for use in implant or perhaps flat out custom designing drugs to activate gene expression that may grow a new (third) set of teeth while you monitor the progress for of the patient. That is some cool stuff. Plus all the technology in the office is going to keep getting cooler.

 

[msf41]

Aside from autonomy, flexibility, $$, and constant interaction with the patients, what really makes you fascinate about the subject "oral health" ? I am asking this b/c it seems some ppl I've known seem to pursue for the perks that come along with Dentistry, not for the "passion" of studying and fixing teeths. Does one really need to "LOVE" the subject of teeth, in order to enjoy dentistry? Any comments are welcome!

Smooth...have you been to shadow a dentist yet???? Come on...go do it...you know you want to! 👍

 

[IcemanDDS]

Main things for me are...

Job Security (especially in today's world)
Independence
Money
Hands-on
I love technology and working with people

The job pretty much entails everything I like about a profession. No real malpractice insurance to worry about, not on call, etc.

 

[Smooth Operater]

Smooth...have you been to shadow a dentist yet???? Come on...go do it...you know you want to! 👍

Thank you for all your your replys. Keep them coming 👍

Msf, I don't have time to shadow any Dentist atm since school is starting. I am focusing on getting good GPA and doing volunteer work in community atm. I definitely will visit some Dentist next summer break. Thanks for the suggestions. In fact, I am planning to shadow physicians and dentists at the same time next summer 😛

 

[IcemanDDS]

Speaking of volunteer work, what kind of things are you guys doing? The only community volunteer work I've done really is help paint murals on the walls in the pediatric ward at the local hospital. What all are you guys doing??

 

[trypmo]

anyone that tells me that they "love" teeth causes me to question their sincerity and not to mention their sanity...
[....]

That some of us lacked sanity was never in question. 😀


And I gotta say, truly and with all sincerity, that teeth are extremely intellectually fascinating to me. 😍

I mean how could somebody NOT be crazy about the mesial dimple-like formation on #s 5 & 12? I can't explain it. It just tickles a happy spot in my brain. How it looks like when the tooth was being formed there were kinda two halves that grew together and the resultant curvature seems to mirror the results of continental drift (mountains) on a topographical globe, but on a tiny, tiny scale. And on all of the teeth, how they're these crystalline formations with living pulp inside - I mean how likely is that to evolve in the huge, grand, universal scheme of all the possibilities for anything to evolve on a planet?? Living rocks?!? Not even the most advanced semiconductor materials can boast those things; they just toss around their electrons like there's no tomorrow.

I know nothing about tooth development or evolution as yet, but it's as though I can somehow see little clues about it and make conjectures and at the moment it's just fun. And if/when I actually get to dental school and can learn about what's really behind tooth structure, which would be awesome beyond words, and then to actually DO stuff with them, to learn more about diagnosing and treating the problems that people can have with them, and to see how each person's mouth is so much different from all of the others, but so very similar because of the underlying genetic code for the species. Jeeezus! And how teeth are right up in the skull, so close to the brain and all that makes us individuals - the oral cavity is so closely tied into everything we are - communication, food, even (dare I mention) kissing et al.? Just to imagine being a person who could make such a positive impact on other people, and to do research which puts into effect the products of a scientifically-trained mind and skilled hands? JEEZUS! How could anyone NOT find that just one of the most awe-inspiring things in the world???



Well, so call me nuts. Maybe I am.

😳 😉


EDIT: P.S. No, that was not from any part of my personal statement.

 

[busupshot83]

IceMan's avatar fascinates me

 

[HoT-ExCeLsIoR]

IceMan's avatar fascinates me

true.

but i like to stick my hand in peoples mouths... thats why dentistry is fun.

 

[onetoothleft]

IceMan's avatar fascinates me

yeah it is a tooth with a silly smirk and a gimp eye. . . . hmmm

 

[sidewalkman]

Speaking of volunteer work, what kind of things are you guys doing? The only community volunteer work I've done really is help paint murals on the walls in the pediatric ward at the local hospital. What all are you guys doing??

For a while I was a lackey/dental assistant for a community dental clinic. A great experience, but had to leave to start my post-bacc.

What really attracted me to dentistry was the surprisingly interdisciplinary scope of the field, bringing together medicine, surgery, psychology, and engineering.

 

[fruity_trident]

surgery, hands on work everyday
great patient-dr interaction
ability to gain instant gratification, both patien & dentist
an amalgam of disciplines as someone has said: medicine, science, engineering

most of all, u get to play with POWER TOOLS...yesssssssss...the dentist i shadow has crazy new equipment! it's one helluva clinic i tell ya 😉

he said he's gonna open more practices and hire me. yay! lol!