wateraddict Posted June 1, 2016 Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 Given the saturation in metropolitan markets, as well as soon to be saturation in smaller cities, is the cost of dental school justifiable anymore. There is no advocacy for its constituents by the CDA, allowing foreign trained dentists to enter the market every year. I am considering pursuing dentistry, but I am starting to think more along the lines of the thinking in this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgdNTzul27k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pauls Posted June 1, 2016 Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 There is an uneven distribution of dentists in Canada. There is more of a concentration problem than saturation. The rural areas will continue to experience shortage of dentists and it wont change for many years to come. My brother is a dentist in rural Alberta and he is making a very comfortable living working only 30 hours a week. Also, 33% of dentists are over the age of 55 which is double the national average. I think when they retire, a lot of room will open for us future dentists. So I believe as long as you are willing to relocate to rural areas and work very hard, save 15% of your net income, dont buy a house before buying a practice and pay for toys in cash only (minimize credit card debt), then you'll be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knrosh93 Posted June 1, 2016 Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 This question is asked literally every year lol. It's the same with all other jobs... Everything is getting saturated. I've also heard that as long as you avoid major cities like Toronto, you still make great money. But of course everything depends on how you operate and stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BScDMD Posted June 1, 2016 Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 If you're in it for the money then it isn't worth anything Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotlinebliiing Posted June 1, 2016 Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 ^ I agree that you should definitely not SOLELY be in it for the money. But it is definitely an influencing factor. Things like income affect so many aspects of your life (your socioeconomic status is the number one social determinant of HEALTH), so I wouldn't say that being in it for the money is so wrong. It's also a viable concern to be worrying about how much you'll be making; due to the student loans that need to be paid off, and other life situations that may be arising. It's not as simple as money should not AT ALL be an influence. If all jobs and services were paid equal, I'd guarantee you a lot of people wouldn't be interested in certain professions that are now so competitive to get into Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotlinebliiing Posted June 1, 2016 Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 Even for people who are def in it for money. I just feel it's ignorant to say that it wouldn't be worth anything for them. There are some people out there that for whatever reason chase money, and that makes it worthwhile for them. To each their own. I understand the schooling process is gruelling but that really has no effect on the outcome. At the end of the day, you have to pay a price to get where you want to be. And if people are willing to make that elective, calculated decision live comfortably... then it's not upto us to say it wont be worth it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiranfromthe6 Posted June 1, 2016 Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 Very well said! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcs.tmng Posted June 1, 2016 Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 Even considering the cost of the degree, the cost of practice, the market saturation... bruh... you still have better job prospects than the large majority of people in Canada and still will find yourself in the 98th percentile income wise even after taxes and expenses... If you're really in it just for the money, healthcare is a good field, but it's really not the best for cash driven individuals bih bye Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BScDMD Posted June 1, 2016 Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 Hotlinebliing - you make some very good points. Let me take a step back and answer/ explain myself more throughly. I originally answered rashly because the question itself annoyed me and I'll tell you why: every time I tell someone I'm a dental student they're response 90% of the time is "oh, wow, you're gonna make so much money", and the response to my med friends is more towards the "good for you, you're going to help so many people" type of thing. In the eyes of the public, dentistry is a money making machine, which usually paints the profession as greedy and self-interested. And yes, I won't argue with anyone that potential income is one of the factors considered when making a decision as big as what your profession will be - having said that - if you stop considering dentistry as a profession because the market in larger cities is becoming more saturated (like anything else) then dentistry itself (the work that you do and the help that you provide to the community) doesn't mean much to you. I've never heard pre-meds ask whether whether going into med is worth it if physicians are making less money. Of course it's worth it! If you're in it for the work and improving your community then it's absolutely worth it. But, for some reason, undergrads doubt whether dent is "worth it"? I find that pretty insulting to the profession. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotlinebliiing Posted June 1, 2016 Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 That's better. Well. It is hard to deal with a distorted public image, but that's not so much in our control. I know it's hard not to paint "undergrads"/general public with a broad brush. I'm only starting first year now, but from what I can imagine, the patients you'll actually deal with will understand and appreciate your role in society, if you do a good enough job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BScDMD Posted June 1, 2016 Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 You're right, we can't directly control the public image and your patients do appreciate you - but when an individual (in this case I'm presuming a pre-dent) asks the question whether dent is "worth it" then it not only minimizes the profession to basically retail but it also feeds right back into the public image that hurts the profession. So, at an individual level, if dentistry is "not worth it" because the market has become more saturated then I stand by my original statement that to that individual dentistry isn't worth anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BScDMD Posted June 1, 2016 Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 And as a 3rd year dental student I can assure you that these "oh you'll be loaded comments" get old quickly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotlinebliiing Posted June 1, 2016 Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 Those comments never really resonated with me at all personally but I hear you. i guess we can agree to disagree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookiemonster99 Posted June 1, 2016 Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 Hotlinebliing - you make some very good points. Let me take a step back and answer/ explain myself more throughly. I originally answered rashly because the question itself annoyed me and I'll tell you why: every time I tell someone I'm a dental student they're response 90% of the time is "oh, wow, you're gonna make so much money", and the response to my med friends is more towards the "good for you, you're going to help so many people" type of thing. In the eyes of the public, dentistry is a money making machine, which usually paints the profession as greedy and self-interested. And yes, I won't argue with anyone that potential income is one of the factors considered when making a decision as big as what your profession will be - having said that - if you stop considering dentistry as a profession because the market in larger cities is becoming more saturated (like anything else) then dentistry itself (the work that you do and the help that you provide to the community) doesn't mean much to you. I've never heard pre-meds ask whether whether going into med is worth it if physicians are making less money. Of course it's worth it! If you're in it for the work and improving your community then it's absolutely worth it. But, for some reason, undergrads doubt whether dent is "worth it"? I find that pretty insulting to the profession. +1 I think it's due to the lack of education in regards to oral health. Most people don't understand the importance of it until it's too late and don't listen to dentists when we tell them there's something serious going on and just brush it off. For example: periodontal disease,it's actually an infection that causes bone loss but no pain! (mostly) and people don't realize it because there's no pain until it's too late. If you had an infection anywhere else in the body chances r there's going to be pain and swelling and that's when people start to care more. Yes there are aggressive treatment plans and there are ones that aren't invasive but that is also the problem with the dental profession. There's areas of grey that can be argued for both sides. Should I drill that decay out and fill it? Or try re-mineralizing it first? Hmm this tooth is decayed badly, should I crown it? Is this tooth savable? Should i extract and recommend implant? There's so many areas of grey and that's the problem! They are not necessary wrong just different approaches Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uoftdentalstudent Posted June 2, 2016 Report Share Posted June 2, 2016 I'm going to be in about 160k in the debt hole when I graduate, so I think potential income is an important factor to consider when deciding on a profession, as it would be wise to get a return on investment for all the hard work you put in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nachoolibre Posted June 2, 2016 Report Share Posted June 2, 2016 For those of you who've graduated and are working, do you make minimum payments towards your debt or are you making large payments to pay off the debt asap? The reason I'm asking is that I know a couple of GDs that have been practicing for more than 15 years and they still haven't paid back their student loans but rake in tons of money. Their reasoning is that its good to carry debt but I'm not quite sure why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateraddict Posted June 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2016 They might have used their LOC before graduation to buy a condo or a car. For cars you can probably get better financing than prime, this is assuming back when they graduated the interest rate was only prime on the student loans. Maybe they bought a house in a rural area where they aren't overly expensive with their LOC. If they're just paying interest though for the sake of paying interest and not using the capital for investment purposes that's really stupid and it would reduce their credit score if anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateraddict Posted June 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2016 They might have used their LOC before graduation to buy a condo or a car. For cars you can probably get better financing than prime, this is assuming back when they graduated the interest rate was only prime on the student loans. Maybe they bought a house in a rural area where they aren't overly expensive with their LOC. If they're just paying interest though for the sake of paying interest and not using the capital for investment purposes that's really stupid and it would reduce their credit score if anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateraddict Posted June 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2016 look I can understand damn well doing a career you love, but you have to realize everyone's economic situation is not the same. I get the feeling some of the people that say don't worry about the money have been fed with a silver spoon. Personally I wouldn't pursue medicine or dentistry if it didn't guarantee at least 100k in earnings after all my training is done. I am not one of those people that is uber passionate about science, but I enjoy working with people and helping solve problems for people. That being said there are a lot of careers that do this in a different aspect of life, financial planner for instance. I'd argue helping a family get out of debt might be even more rewarding than what a GP/GD do for their patients, unless they discover a life threatening illness. I just hate when people say don't pursue a career for money, I guarantee you if the salary of doctors or dentists dropped to around even 80k, which is still a respectable salary in my option, most people would never enter med or dental. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateraddict Posted June 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2016 Also debt is real and don't assume interest rates won't fluctuate. Mark Cuban who is a billionaire said he would be fearful graduating with 40k in student loans, obviously he's referring to an undergrad where the earning potential is less, but that being said you can use linear interpolation and realize 200-300k debt for a caree that promises a potential salary in that range is just as scary. Especially since some dentists and doctors might never break the 200k barrier. Don't say it won't happen there are GPS would make less than 200k, as well as dentists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcs.tmng Posted June 2, 2016 Report Share Posted June 2, 2016 Whadaya wan' us to tell ya, fam?? Go do a trade, start a business, live on welfare, become a politician, change fields, star a new undergrad, go to grad school, change to a country where your salary and cost of practice suits you more! How much debt you fell comfortable with is a personal matter. A DDS/DMD graduate still ends up in national top earners stats and employability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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