So you want to be a dentist.
You love teeth and want a career with a great lifestyle and high earning potential.
Let’s debunk the public perception myths and give it to you straight.
This is the reality of dentistry.
Dr. Jubbal, MedSchoolInsiders.com.
Welcome to our next installment in So You Want to Be.
In this series, we highlight a specific career within healthcare, such as dentistry, and
help you decide if it’s a good fit for you.
You can find the other specialties on our So You Want To Be playlist.
If you want to vote in upcoming polls to decide what future specialties we cover, make sure
you’re subscribed.
If you’d like to see what being a dentist looks like, check out my second channel, Kevin
Jubbal, M.D., where we’ll be covering a day in the life of a dentist in the future.
Dentistry is the field of medicine focused on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention
of conditions, disorders, and diseases of the teeth, gums, and jaw.
Although many dental issues are largely preventable, they’re also incredibly prevalent.
According to the 2019 Global Burden of Disease Report, untreated tooth decay in permanent
teeth is the most common health condition in the world and is estimated to affect over
3 billion people annually.
As such, dentists play an integral role in global health.
Although dentists are best known for cleaning teeth and filling cavities, their scope of
practice is much wider.
Dentists perform a variety of procedures, from the routine to the complex.
This includes minor surgeries of the teeth and jaws as well as other conditions such
as temporomandibular joint, or TMJ, disorder.
That being said, the specific conditions you see on a day-to-day basis will depend heavily
on your geographic location, area of focus, and practice type.
This brings us to an important method of differentiating a dentist’s practice: private practice vs
dental service organization vs public service.
Private practice is the most common practice type among dentists.
Although earning potential is often higher in private practice, it comes with the additional
financial and administrative burdens of running a business.
Next, there are Dental Service Organizations or DSOs.
These are corporations that oversee multiple dental clinics.
Dentists working in these clinics are employees and tend to see higher volumes of patients
than their private practice colleagues.
That being said, patient volumes will vary from practice to practice based on the size
and structure of the specific DSO.
Lastly, some dentists work in public service.
This includes working for the military, in prisons or underserved areas, or in the academic
setting.
In general, dentists working in the public service setting will earn less than their
colleagues in private or DSO practices.
Let’s clear up some misconceptions about dentistry.
First, there’s the belief that students only go into dentistry because they weren’t
“smart enough” to get into medical school.
This is false.
Although getting into medical school is more difficult than getting into dental school
- which we discuss in our competitiveness of medical school vs dental school video - there
are distinct pros and cons to each career path.
There are countless reasons why someone may choose a career in dentistry over a career
in medicine.
Next, people often perceive dentistry as a cushy, lifestyle profession.
Although it’s true that most dentists own their own practice and work typical 9-5 business
hours, they also have to deal with the financial and administrative burdens of running a business
meaning there’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes that you don’t see.
In addition, people see what dentists charge for various services and procedures and think
that they’re rolling in money.
This isn’t necessarily the case as there’s also a significant overhead that comes with
running a business.
The number of new dentists going into private practice has also been steadily declining
in recent years as the dental specialty becomes more saturated in some areas and as Dental
Service Organizations take over an increasing number of practices.
To become a dentist in the U.S., you must complete four years of college followed by
four years of dental school.
There are some fast track programs lasting five to seven years where you can earn your
bachelor’s degree and your dental degree at the same time; however, these are less
common.
During college, you will need to complete the required prerequisites for dental school
and take the Dental Admissions Test, or DAT.
According to the American Dental Education Association, the general requirements for
dental school are two semesters of biology with lab, two semesters of general chemistry
with lab, two semesters of organic chemistry with lab, and two semesters of physics with
lab.
Some dental schools may require additional courses, however, including English, anatomy
and physiology, microbiology, and biochemistry.
Next, you’ll have to take the DAT.
This is a four-and-a-half-hour test consisting of four sections: survey of the natural sciences,
which includes topics from biology, general chemistry, and organic chemistry, perceptual
ability, which assesses an individual’s ability to perceive object dimensions and
mentally manipulate objects in space, reading comprehension, and quantitative reasoning.
Analogous to medical school admissions, your GPA and DAT are the two most important metrics
in determining your competitiveness for dental school.
Although there are certainly candidates who get into dental school with low GPAs or DAT
scores, they are the exception - not the rule.
That being said, many dental schools use a holistic approach to reviewing applicants
and assess things like experiences and personal attributes as well.
After dental school, each state has its own requirements for dental licensure.
Depending on where you plan to practice, you may have to complete additional requirements.
In terms of competitiveness, getting into dental school can be incredibly challenging.
In 2021, there were 11,800 applicants, out of which only about 6,300 became first-year
dental students, which is a matriculation rate of about 54%.
In terms of hard metrics, the average dental school applicant in 2021 had a GPA of 3.45
and a DAT score of 19.7, and the average dental school matriculant had a GPA of 3.59 and DAT
score of 20.7 - which is around a 75th-80th percentile score.
After completing dental school, there are currently 12 options for additional subspecialization
that are recognized by the American Dental Education Association.
We’ll cover the most common ones briefly.
For a more comprehensive list, check out our blog post - link in the description.
Orthodontics is the dental subspecialty concerned with the diagnosis, prevention, and correction
of malpositioned teeth or jaws.
These are the specialists that you’d typically go to for braces or other malalignment issues.
Advanced dental education programs in orthodontics generally take between 2-3 years to complete.
We covered orthodontics in a previous So You Want to Be episode - link in the description.
Endodontics is the dental subspecialty concerned with the inside of the tooth including the
dental pulp and the tissues surrounding the roots of a tooth.
These dentists are best known for performing root canals and other procedures to help patients
retain their natural teeth.
Endodontic program lengths vary; however, the average is around 26 months.
Oral and maxillofacial surgery, or OMFS for short, is the subspecialty of dentistry that
focuses on the surgical management of the face, jaw, and oral cavity.
There are two pathways to becoming an OMFS after dental school: the four-year program
and the six-year dual degree program.
Both will certify you to practice as an oral and maxillofacial surgeon; however, the six-year
program will also grant you a Doctor of Medicine degree, or MD.
We’ve covered OMFS in a previous So You Want to Be episode.
Prosthodontics is concerned with the replacement of natural teeth with fixed or removable appliances,
including dentures, bridges, and implants.
The average prosthodontics program is roughly 3 years long.
Periodontics is concerned with the gums and underlying bone and tissues that support the
teeth.
Most periodontal programs are 3 years in duration; however, program lengths can vary.
For the full list of dental subspecialties, check out the full post over on the Med School
Insiders blog - link in the description.
There’s a lot to love about dentistry.
To start, the majority of dentists own their own practice.
This means you have complete control over the quality of your work, the types of insurance
that you take, and how many days per week you want to work.
That being said, there are some drawbacks to owning a business which we’ll get into.
Dentistry also offers the ability to give people immediate relief from their pain.
Someone can be in excruciating pain due to an infected tooth and you can give near-immediate
relief by extracting the tooth and starting them on pain medications and antibiotics.
In addition to pain, you have the opportunity to help people improve their smile – which
is a common insecurity for many people.
A recent 2022 poll of over 2,000 Americans found that nearly two-thirds of people don’t
like how their smile looks in photos.
As a dentist, you have the ability to improve someone’s self-confidence in mere hours.
If you enjoy working with your hands, dentistry also has plenty of procedures to keep you
busy.
There are also no life-threatening emergencies within dentistry.
Although the work can still be stressful, you don’t have to worry about someone’s
life being in your hands.
Lastly, the average dentist earns roughly $189,000 per year.
Given that the majority of dentists own their own practice, earning potential has a high
ceiling.
That being said, if you decide that you no longer want the burdens of running your own
practice, there’s always the option to work for a DSO as well.
While dentistry is an awesome profession, it’s not for everyone.
To start, there is a large opportunity cost associated with becoming a dentist, albeit
smaller than going the physician route.
On average, it takes about eight years after high school to become a dentist in the United
States.
That’s four years of college followed by four years of dental school to earn your Doctor
of Dental Surgery, DDS, or Doctor of Dental Medicine, DMD.
In addition, the average debt per dental school graduate in 2020 was approximately $305,000
with many students having significantly greater loan burdens.
For reference, the average medical student graduates with approximately $250,000
average medical school debt,in total student loan debt.) in debt.
That translates to a higher loan burden and lower average income as a dentist compared
to the physician route.
Even for high-earning dentists, it can take several years, sometimes even several decades
to repay these student loans.
Furthermore, there’s been a trend in recent years of decreasing insurance reimbursements
and increasing overhead for private practices.
As such, running a profitable dental practice in certain higher-cost-of-living areas can
feel near impossible.
This is perhaps why we’re seeing a decrease in the number of dentists who own their practice.
According to the American Dental Association, approximately 85% of dentists owned their
own practice in 2005, compared to only 73% in 2021.
Despite the large number of dentists who own their own practice, dental school does not
train you how to run a business.
As such, there can be a steep learning curve associated with running a business and managing
employees.
This is further compounded when you consider the significant loan burden that many students
graduate with and the financial pressures of running a profitable business.
Although you can work for a DSO, these jobs tend to see high patient volumes which can
contribute heavily to burnout.
Dentistry is also a much more physically demanding job than you might think.
Hunching over patients day in and day out regularly causes chronic back and neck issues.
When you consider that a dentist’s salary is based on seeing patients and doing procedures,
the longevity of their career is heavily dependent on their physical health.
Lastly, the amount you make will be heavily dictated by the type and number of procedures
you do.
If you don’t do enough procedures or enough high-profit procedures, you may break even
or potentially lose money for the day.
In short, just because you physically went to work doesn’t mean you actually made money.
How can you decide if dentistry is right for you?
If you want a career that gives you the opportunity to combine science, creativity, and entrepreneurship
into one, dentistry has you covered.
You should be passionate about teeth and willing to spend long hours each day, hunched over
a chair if it means helping your patients have healthier, more attractive smiles.
And if you want a job that won’t make you work nights and weekends, dentistry won’t
make you choose between work and family.
Huge shout out to Joyce the Dentist for helping me with the creation of this video.
She has an awesome YouTube channel covering everything you need to know about the dental
profession so be sure to check her out.
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Thank you all so much for watching!
If you enjoyed this video, check out So You Want to Be an Orthodontist, or another specialty
in our So You Want to Be playlist.
Much love and I’ll see you guys there.