Jump to content
Premed 101 Forums

how much dental school can suck


Guest TheChosenOneDDS

Recommended Posts

Guest Hugo69

I totally agree with TheChosenOneDDS

 

When I started dental school I thought it would be a joke, like how much can you learn from 32 teeth? Only to realize the fear tactics the institution places on you to make you study and pass. The stress is tremendous. In the begining you feel excited to learn dentistry but by the end of 4th yr you just want to get the F*ck out of this place. Its the whole environment, you see the same people day in day out, instructors making you jump through hoops just to exercise their own lack of qualifications, and always having to worry if you will make it through to the end. So for those who are thinking that dents will be way easier to get the Dr. in front of their names, I would reconsider. You're studying just as hard as the med students but on top of that you better bring your handskills to the table when it counts the most. Think of the Dat carving stress and multiply that by 1000 when you're in the simulation clinic cutting that one tooth that is gonna allow you to pass or fail the course which could result in you being kicked out of dental school. Within the past 4 yrs that I've been in dental school, I've seen 1-2 people every year get kicked out b/c they can't cut teeth or have to repeat a year. And with total cost of education per year totaling to about 32k, you better dig deep and find out if dentistry is for you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest shesallDAT

Hey guys...

 

I think you've sufficiently scared most of us pre-dents now! :P But do you guys have any specific advice (aside from practice, practice, practice) that can prevent us from being amongst the 'clinically impaired'? Tips, tricks, etc? Unfortunately I don't really know what specific questions to ask ... :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Hugo69

My advice is to get into dental school first. Getting into dental school may seem like a huge challenge but getting in is not impossible. To be successful in dental school you have to have the personality where you don't rely on a cookbook approach. For example, when they teach you for the first time to cut a cavity prep it will be very hard to see anything b/c of the small space of the mouth and 50 other students all crammed around the instructor. So you have to just be willing to try things out for yourself and see what works best. Handskills can be learned over time, the only problem is that dental school wants you to learn it in a limited time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Hugo69

Boards were tough. The american students found it easy only b/c they just finished the american boards the wk before or so. Hopefully we all pass b/c it will be a @#%$ to study for that again (if you studied :P )

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest sensodyne

I shadowed my family dentist for about a week before and I saw him do a variety of procedures. One time, I saw him prep for a crown and was amazed how he didn't nick the adjacent tooth. I'm sure for him that's a cake walk, but it was still impressive watching him at work. I guess I'll have to learn all that in the next 4 years. He also told me that dentistry is not for everyone. The girl who got the major entrance scholarship for his class quit the profession after 4 years in practice. I plan to shadow him some more before I make the final decision to go into dentistry.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Tonick

Hey Hugo, I may end up attending a U.S school, but I want to practice in Canada. So when you refer to "american students", are u referring to Canadians studying in the U.S that are writing the Canadian boards?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest BeEasyy

well, I dunno about the income issue either, so if anybody has legit stats, can u compare the incomes in US and Canada also? thanx.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Tonick

I've heard that the avg. dentist in the U.S nets anywhere from about 120-150K $USD/year working

35-40 hrs a week. It really depends on working hours, patient pool, and how affluent your patients are. Overall I think dentists make less in Canada due to taxes, but in the states you're more likely to get sued for malpractice for no real reason!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest LestatZinnie

i know of two students graduating this year who're going to work in the states for salary of 100k USD. i think 80-100k usd in the states first year out is not uncommon.

 

in canada the avg for first year out is anywhere from 40-70k, based on associateship. don't think there are many salaried positions in canada except for government which pays starting around 80k and goes up with experience. you can probably reach 6 figures after 2-3 years in canada.

 

of course there are always exceptions of people who make way more and people who make less. the latter usually those who work in metropolitan, very saturated areas where competition is high.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest BeEasyy

Lestat and Kellyl...So overall, if earning $ is of major motivation to someone (amongst others), based on what u describe dentistry seems to be a rather unsuitable profession, eh? (Contrary to common beliefs)

 

I suppose even paying off the $150K debt with earnings that u described is a pain in the bot. It would take somewhere around 10 years... Although money is not a major issue for me personally, given the lofty tuitions and the number of years one spends to get the degree, I expected a little better return. I mean like 40K for an associate, no matter how unexperienced, is just ridiculous. :rolleyes

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest kellyl20

BeEasyy: but $500-$800 per day translates into $120K - $192K per year, which is after expenses but pre tax. Where is this $40 K coming from?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest BeEasyy

Well according to LestatZinnie the worst case for an associate in Canada can be as low as $40K, which is pretty lame!

 

In regards to the $500-800 figure, I know you have dentist relatives and you are in close contact with dentists in general. So Im wondering if this $500-800 per day figure is from a case that you personally know, and if yes, could you describe the office in a bit more detail? I mean for e.g. did the dentist bought over an already stablished dental office from a retiring dentist or s/he set up a new office from scratch? Is the office in metropolitian area or suburb area? And whether the dentist is a specialist or a general dentist?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Aplusdent

What does it mean to be salaried and work for the government as a dentist??? Is this a good option or do you have a limit to the income you make?

 

40k sounds extremely lousy.....the average engineer makes around 50k right out of undergrad...what the heck....we go to school for 8+ years and make less??? WTF....and i know it's not all about the money, but if I have to pay off tons of debt and if I ever want to open my own practice then I'll have to be making a lot....plus raising a family in the future....the states are lookin' mighty fine right now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Tonick

You gotta really research practicing in the U.S. To practice in the state of New York it is now mandatory to do a one year G.P residency after D-School (I was told this at NYU and Columbia). I hope this doesn't cause a wave effect throughout other states and Canada.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...