Become an Orthodontist or Oral Surgeon?!


Question: I am a sophemore in Hish School. I am thinking of becoming both, but would it be better, and more profitable if i just stuck with oral surgeon. How "smart" do you have to be to become either one. How long does it take to become ortho? Oral surg.? Are there colleges or dental schools that can speed up this process? How much does each field make? What should i major in in college?
Would you make more money working for a hospital or in your own practice? (i would assume own pract., just making sure though)
How come people who have their own practice don't work on weedends? (sort of off topic)


Answers: I am a sophemore in Hish School. I am thinking of becoming both, but would it be better, and more profitable if i just stuck with oral surgeon. How "smart" do you have to be to become either one. How long does it take to become ortho? Oral surg.? Are there colleges or dental schools that can speed up this process? How much does each field make? What should i major in in college?
Would you make more money working for a hospital or in your own practice? (i would assume own pract., just making sure though)
How come people who have their own practice don't work on weedends? (sort of off topic)

but would it be better, and more profitable if i just stuck with oral surgeon. i don't know anyone who is an oral surgeon AND an orthodontist. that's a little much.

How "smart" do you have to be to become either one. you have to be very very very smart to be any type of doctor. dentists are doctors too remember.

How long does it take to become ortho? Oral surg.? to become a general dentist usually takes 8 years of college and costs over $100,000. then each specialty is i believe 4 additional years each. so you do the math.

Are there colleges or dental schools that can speed up this process? i doubt it.

How much does each field make? google it. it depends on location too.

What should i major in in college? applied science

Would you make more money working for a hospital or in your own practice? it depends. owning your own practice, especially when you first start is really expensive.

How come people who have their own practice don't work on weedends? a lot of them do work on the weekends, but since they are their own boss they can set their own hours. they spent a lot of times working evenings and weekends when they just started out, now is their time to relax!

Orthodontists make big $$$. For everything else, just google it.

I recently graduated college and applied to Dental school (unsuccessfully) so I did a little bit of research. Normally, dental schools require a bachelors degree (4 college years), some will accept you after 3 years and a focused fourth year associated with them (Tufts on the east coast). Dental school is typically four years (U of Pacific is three years). To specialize into ortho or oral surgery is after that but must be determined during your four years in dental school (sort of like picking a major in college). If you do decide to specialize it may be up to three more years of school and a residency before you get out on your own.
As far as a major in college, they don't typically care as long as you fill the required classes (bio, chemistry, organic chemistry, anatomy, etc.). Some schools even prefer a diverse background like a business major or even art.
It doesn't matter how 'smart' you are. If you don't put the hours into studying and getting A's in college classes it won't matter. One of the best ways to prepare (and make yourself look good to admissions) is to observe a dentist. All this means is watching your own dentist do his job. Make a log of the hours you spend - they will ask!
Keep in mind the world of dentistry is changing all the time, think of the changes in cosmetic dentistry (bleaching, invisalign, veneer's). Don't worry too much about what your specialty is until you find out what you enjoy or what you are good at. Median salary for oral surgeon is about $242K/year, orthodontist $115K/year.
I have no idea about private versus w/ a hospital. Good luck, my advice is to talk to your dentist and observe as much as possible, if you can find a cool dentist they'd probably love to talk to you about it.

going to dental scol is a challange no matter what field youenterino. I ave been a dental asst for 212 years, working with all fields of dentistry. Oral surg. is the most difficult, youmust be very good in knowing your anatomy and phisology of the entire body, but most importantly of the head and neck. In the ortho field you are limited to doing the same thing everyday, day after day, and not giving ijections to chrildren, Andmost orthodontists forget tha at a certain age you need to retire, the go on forever. Whateverfield you choose its going to make you money, but strt out with working for someone until you get thehang of what it's allabout and then venture out to make a great name for yourself. GOOD LUCK IN ANY AVENUE YOU CHOOSE!!!!!

Orthodontist. They make WAY more money than you think. Even though it goes to supplies and to pay his assistants, they make bing $$$. Besides, being an Oral Surgeon, something can go seriously wrong and you have a higher chance of being sued. Well, some people are open on weekends, usually not Sundays because it's EVERYBODY's off day. Unless your a cab drive( my cousin's friend's husband is a cab drive...he is never home) You have to go to undergrad school(Something like UC Berkley), then a school for dentist, then 2 more years to be an orthodontist. You ahve to be SMART for both jobs. You have a less chance of being sued when you are an Orthodontist.





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