which specialties??

[caloriefree]

If you're planning to specialize, (for those of you going into d-school this fall and those who are currently attending), which specialty(ies) do you have in mind and why??

When is a good time to decide on which specialty you want to do?
Do you have time to shadow other endo, omfs, pedo etc dentists once you are in school?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[UCSF2012]

If you're planning to specialize, (for those of you going into d-school this fall and those who are currently attending), which specialty(ies) do you have in mind and why??

When is a good time to decide on which specialty you want to do?
Do you have time to shadow other endo, omfs, pedo etc dentists once you are in school?

Ortho, cuz everyone's doing it.

Oral Surgery, cuz you get a sweet MD with it.

Endo, cuz it's not too hard to get in.

Perio, cuz hell...no one wants it, and I wanna specialize in something.

Pros cuz many people think it's ew to make dentures for old people.

Everything else cuz I can't think of the name right now, so few people must want it. (See Perio, above for reason)

 

[blankguy]

If you're planning to specialize, (for those of you going into d-school this fall and those who are currently attending), which specialty(ies) do you have in mind and why??

When is a good time to decide on which specialty you want to do?
Do you have time to shadow other endo, omfs, pedo etc dentists once you are in school?

As a naive predent I feel that third year is the time to decide since the first two years are going to be primarily hitting the books and working in a simulated environment. We won't know until we begin working with real patients for an extended period of time. The first two years exposure to real patients tend to be limited if there is any contact with them.

 

[blankguy]

Ortho, cuz everyone's doing it.

Oral Surgery, cuz you get a sweet MD with it.

Endo, cuz it's not too hard to get in.

Perio, cuz hell...no one wants it, and I wanna specialize in something.

Pros cuz many people think it's ew to make dentures for old people.

Everything else cuz I can't think of the name right now, so few people must want it. (See Perio, above for reason)

I'm actually sick and tired of other predents talking about ortho. I think it is important to approach this with an open mind and see where your interest fall during the course of the first 2 years and beginning of the 3rd year.

 

[UCSF2012]

I'm actually sick and tired of other predents talking about ortho. I think it is important to approach this with an open mind and see where your interest fall during the course of the first 2 years and beginning of the 3rd year.

Well, let them talk about ortho. They'll later learn that ortho's boring as hell. It's like....pulling teeth General practice is the only way to avoid the tedium of procedures.

 

[Fonz]

Well, let them talk about ortho. They'll later learn that ortho's boring as hell. It's like....pulling teeth General practice is the only way to avoid the tedium of procedures.

OMFS has to be pretty exciting. You get to reconstruct people's faces after traumatic injury.

 

[armorshell]

I'm actually sick and tired of other predents talking about ortho. I think it is important to approach this with an open mind and see where your interest fall during the course of the first 2 years and beginning of the 3rd year.

I think it's harmless to pursue something if you have an interest in it coming in, and very possibly beneficial.

 

[Frederico Albin]

If you are into surgery, theres only one specialty for you. Thats at least another 4 years added to your curriculum. Thats if you do get in, which is really hard.

Ortho is no less competitive than omfs, you need to have really high scores and a great amount of extra-curriculars/research.

The other specialties are also hard to get in and you will need some kind of exposure to that field if you want to have an advantage.

Another really good point that we get from current SDNer is what Blankguy just said, go into dental school with a open mind and get a feeling of what dentistry is really like before making further decisions.
GL to ya

 

[tamkhan]

Ortho, cuz it's clean

Or at least I tend to think so

 

[Regmata]

Endo, cuz it's not too hard to get in.

You are sorely mistaken on this one...

You decide third year of dental school. You do not need to shadow the specialty you think you want while a predent. Exposure to a desired specialty can and should be gained while in dental school.

 

[Giuliana]

You are sorely mistaken on this one...

You decide third year of dental school. You do not need to shadow the specialty you think you want while a predent. Exposure to a desired specialty can and should be gained while in dental school.

It is rather naive of you to think that by the end of your third year, you will have accumulated enough experience/exposure to a specialty through your dental school alone. For example, at many schools, including the one you attend, you have only 2 weeks of rotation (6 clinic days) through OMFS during third year. How can only 6 days on an OMFS rotation be enough to decide?

To the OP - you will get a limited amount of exposure during your third year. If you are genuinely interested in a specialty, seeking out extra exposure can help you in deciding. In addition, if you shadow outside of the dental school (highly recommended), you will see how that specialty is practiced in the real world - which is often way different than how it is done in a dental school setting.

 

[NewMexDent]

I plan on specializing in being totally awesome. It's competitive to get into, but I think I can make the cut. Do you think I'll get enough exposure in dental school to totally awesome people to help me make my decision?

 

[Dentalicous1234]

It is rather naive of you to think that by the end of your third year, you will have accumulated enough experience/exposure to a specialty through your dental school alone. For example, at many schools, including the one you attend, you have only 2 weeks of rotation (6 clinic days) through OMFS during third year. How can only 6 days on an OMFS rotation be enough to decide?

To the OP - you will get a limited amount of exposure during your third year. If you are genuinely interested in a specialty, seeking out extra exposure can help you in deciding. In addition, if you shadow outside of the dental school (highly recommended), you will see how that specialty is practiced in the real world - which is often way different than how it is done in a dental school setting.

is this common? i would think that you wouldn't get time to do this with being so busy in dental school.

 

[Giuliana]

is this common? i would think that you wouldn't get time to do this with being so busy in dental school.

You have very little time in dental school, but a lot of people do this either on vacations or on weekends. For example, at Buffalo, you have no clinical exposure to ortho until your fourth year. So a couple of my classmates shadowed orthodontists over this past winter break and after the boards this past summer. That gave them the exposure needed to make an informed decision on whether to pursue ortho. Similarly, a lot of my wannabe pedo classmates volunteer in the dental clinic at Children's Hospital to get more exposure to pedo.

Bottom line... you don't have to do this... but shadowing outside of school can really help, especially when your clinical exposure third year is simply not enough.

 

[toothfairy85]

is this common? i would think that you wouldn't get time to do this with being so busy in dental school.

There are plenty of externship opportunities throughout the country. Many people do these summer after 3rd year.

 

[blankguy]

Best advice I got so far. "How do you become a good specialist? By becoming a good generalist first and foremost."

 

[Regmata]

It is rather naive of you to think that by the end of your third year, you will have accumulated enough experience/exposure to a specialty through your dental school alone. For example, at many schools, including the one you attend, you have only 2 weeks of rotation (6 clinic days) through OMFS during third year. How can only 6 days on an OMFS rotation be enough to decide?

To the OP - you will get a limited amount of exposure during your third year. If you are genuinely interested in a specialty, seeking out extra exposure can help you in deciding. In addition, if you shadow outside of the dental school (highly recommended), you will see how that specialty is practiced in the real world - which is often way different than how it is done in a dental school setting.

It is rather shortsighted of you to assume that I meant the OP should only gain experience while in school through required activities. I don't think that pre-dental experience is altogether necessary. Once a person has some exposure to dentistry via dental school, there are numerous opportunities to gain experience in a specialty field. It is up to the applicant to seek out those opportunities and take advantage of them. As for the third year, is that not when dental students begin to narrow down post-grad options and begin to focus on their application process?

 

[JamieMac]

For what its worth...I was asked if I planned to specialize during an interview. My response was something along the lines of: Hopefully, I will get a better perspective of the various specialties while in d-school, and decide which, if any, I have an interest in at that time. My interviewer then strongly recommended that I spend some time shadowing specialists prior to d-school due to the environment being totally different.

 

[Regmata]

Maybe I should have made my position on this more clear. It is a good idea to shadow at specialist's offices as a predent to get exposure to the various dental fields. In my opinion, trying to build up your post-grad application as a predent is a waste of time. Get some exposure as a predent, but make the real decision and get the majority of your exposure while in dental school. The experiences will be more beneficial to you once you have some experience and a better understanding of the life of a dentist.

 

[sarah_bellum]

To answer the original poster's question, I shadowed general, endo, peds, OMFS, pros, perio, and public health dentists prior to my application.

Of the specialties I saw, I was most interested in perio. I thought the procedures were interesting and diverse. It may not be as lucrative as others, but I thought it seemed like the coolest of the lot.

To be fair, though, I'm keeping my mind WIDE open during dental school. Hopefully, I'll have put myself in a position to pursue whatever specialty (or lack thereof) that I find most exciting.

 

[caloriefree]

Thanks a lot for all your answers. This is a little off-topic... If a specialist does his/her procedures for years, doesn't his/her skills in GP procedures deteriorate? For example, if one does ortho procedures only, doesn't he not develop skills in other areas or the previously acquired skills deteriorate? Not that it really matters, but I'm just curious.. and if that is so, isn't one's competency in GP procedures not as important if one is going into a specialty?

 

[toothfairy85]

Once you are a specialist, you must practice within the scope of that specialty. You cannot practice general dentistry if you become a specialist.

 

[Regmata]

Specialists only perform procedures within their specialty. Their skills as a GP are necessary to get them the grades that allow them to get a specialty slot. A specialist will also need a good understanding of dentistry and the practice of a GP, since they all go hand in hand. An orthodontist doesn't need to keep up with his or her drill and fill skills though.

 

[makushin]

Once you are a specialist, you must practice within the scope of that specialty. You cannot practice general dentistry if you become a specialist.

Either that's not entirely true, or the prosthodontist I shadowed is is breaking the 'rules'. He had a hygiene dept. and I saw him doing general dentistry in addition to dentures.

 

[caloriefree]

Once you are a specialist, you must practice within the scope of that specialty. You cannot practice general dentistry if you become a specialist.

Is it unlawful to practice general dentistry as a specialist or people just choose not to, since it will be less money? I mean, you have had the same training in dental school as other GPs who are practicing out there.

 

[armorshell]

Either that's not entirely true, or the prosthodontist I shadowed is is breaking the 'rules'. He had a hygiene dept. and I saw him doing general dentistry in addition to dentures.

What, like doing an endo? Prosth is so much more than just dentures

 

[UCSF2012]

Best advice I got so far. "How do you become a good specialist? By becoming a good generalist first and foremost."

blankguy's the poster child for GP. he'd break my heart if he even thinks of specializing.

 

[Slutskya]

I'd like to specialize in prosth. I currently work in a prosthodontic office as an RDH. I really enjoy this specialty area. It is so much more than dentures. Patients nowadays are mostly getting implants with a fixed or removable overdenture. A prosthodontist sees oncology patients prior and post radiation and chemotherapy. They basically are really good at doing full mouth reconstructions. The aesthetic restorations are nearly flawless. This is my area of interest.

 

[sublimeu4ea]

Is it unlawful to practice general dentistry as a specialist or people just choose not to, since it will be less money? I mean, you have had the same training in dental school as other GPs who are practicing out there.

As far as I know, it is "unlawful". I worked with an orthodontist who told me that when you specialize you are no longer allowed to practice General dentistry. He cannot pull teeth, he cannot give fillings, or place crowns. He referred to it as a way to keep people from specializing and then going back to general... thus proving that specializing is indeed what they what to do.

However, many general practice dentists now a days do an Advanced Education in General practice degree and take a more specialized approach to things like perio, prost, and endo while staying a General Practitioner and not having to pick one specialty. As a general practitioner, you get to do a little bit of everything, but some people prefer to specialize without specializing.

I worked a couple of months for a GP that thought he was a god at perio and prost... he was crazy and couldn't keep patients to save his life. Then he had the audacity to talk down about the new perio specialist that moved in next door.

 

[sublimeu4ea]

Ortho, cuz it's clean

Or at least I tend to think so

What do you mean by clean? Braces are havens for gobs and gobs of food and plaque... Or maybe I just missed the sarcasm? Haha, wouldn't be the first time.

 

[Hysteria24]

What do you mean by clean? Braces are havens for gobs and gobs of food and plaque... Or maybe I just missed the sarcasm? Haha, wouldn't be the first time.

I’m no expert, but I’d have to say ortho is indeed “cleaner.”

Lesser to no blood exposure.
Less aerosols (tooth “dust” and saliva) in the air from drilling with high speeds.
You get the gist...

 

[sublimeu4ea]

I’m no expert, but I’d have to say ortho is indeed “cleaner.”

Lesser to no blood exposure.
Less aerosols (tooth “dust” and saliva) in the air from drilling with high speeds.
You get the gist...

Hmm, I guess that's pretty true. I mean there is definitely some blood, but it's not regular and it's minimal and well... I've never had to deal with an abscess in the ortho office, haha. There's a fair amount of dust when you remove brackets and file teeth, but in comparison you probably only do that a couple times a week. I guess I just never thought about it that way... makes perfect sense though!