DENTISTS, Would you do it all over again?!


Question: If you had to do it all over again...would you? I'm about to apply for dental school and I would like to hear an opinion from an experienced dentist. Any tips or comments would be greatly appreciated!


Answers: If you had to do it all over again...would you? I'm about to apply for dental school and I would like to hear an opinion from an experienced dentist. Any tips or comments would be greatly appreciated!

Dentistry as a profession can be a very rewarding career but you need to be aware of some problems.
The biggest difficulty is dealing with stress. People come to the dentist and are generally somewhat tense to completely terrified. This feeling of stress wears off on you (if you are a caring individual) and so is a constant through the day. It is usually low grade but once or twice through the day gets to be more severe. Can you deal with that?
The second problem is dealing with the business end of dentistry. Everyone complains about the cost of going to the dentist but few understand the money pressures of the practice. With office rent, equipment purchase, lab bill, supplies and salaries, most dentists are able to take home 20 to 30 % of what they charge. The patients only see the total amount of the bill and think you take all of that home. It is not true. I think of my financial experience as being under a faucet running money and I am trying to catch some of it but it just runs through my fingers.
Problems with perfectionism. In dental school you are taught to strive for the highest standard of care possible. This generally carries over into your practice and you strive to do your best. This can be hindered by difficult patients who cannot cooperate (small mouths, behaviour problems, etc) or time pressures. Sometimes you just cannot do as good a job just because you are feeling poorly that day. All of these interfer with doing that perfect job and it can tear at you that you are not the perfect dentist you were taught to be.
There are rewards, however. Seeing good work come back years later and being able to look in the mouth and know that you did it and it is good is very satisfying. Rehabilitating someone who has a poor smile and making them look good again is one of the real highs of the job.
Are you picky about the work you accomplish? Are you good at manipulating small things? Are you somewhat artsy and like making things? This could all indicate that you have some aptitude for the job.
Visit with your own dentist, ask to come work there on a volunteer basis to learn what it is like. Get a feel before you commit to a lifetime career which might or might not be right for you.
My father was a dentist and he would come home from a hard day at work and would tell us he did not care what type of career we chose, just do our best, but if we had any brains at all, we would not go into dentistry...I became a dentist and dental professor, my brother is a dentist, one sister married a dentist and the other sister works as a dental assistant. We must not have had any brains!
I hope you make the right decision and enjoy your career whatever it may be.

I am not sure I would start again today as I think we are headed for socialized dentistry because fees have become so rediculos that most people in US can not afford to go. Be advised that dentistry is the number one killer of all occupations [stress because of fear]. I always made a good living & did twice as much work as the average dentist did, but it was hard & i quit at 59!! Doc W

i'm 4 years out of dental school and let me tell you, it is excellent! it's no joke that it's stressful at times and some patients can wear you down. the problem patients are totally cancelled out though when someone cries over how pretty their new teeth are.

i do get a little sore at times and dealing with 7 female employees everyday has its moments. also, i really don't like hearing how people hate the dentist all the time but you learn to let these types of problem roll off your back.

the money is great and the hours are perfect. and it's great to be respected by the community and having a job that legitamately helps people is always rewarding. oh and i love working with tools and having a job that offers me a challenge daily.

the only job i might wish i had gone for would be cosmetic surgery instead. the problem with that is rather than running a successful practice, right now i'd be just about to get out of residency, broke and overworked.

i wouldn't worry about socialized dentistry because most countries that offer it still have private dentistry. and england which does offer socialized dentistry (NHS) is a total disaster. just watch this list for questions and comments about the state of affairs of that program. it's hilarious. even if it was to go socialized here in the states, then i would jsut change my approach and find another way to be successful.

i say go for it and i'll bet you are saying the same thing to other young people in 10 years.
good luck.





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