Dentistry is an excellent choice if you’re looking for a career where you can use your intelligence and skills to make a difference in people’s lives. Studying to be a dentist takes 6–8 years of study, and it prepares you for a career that allows you to meet and work with multiple people. According to Orthodontics.com, being a dentist is the ninth-best job in the U.S. Keep reading this blog to learn why!
Learning the Many Opportunities
Most dental schools will send their students to work in a dental practice during their final year. During dental school, you’ll also have an opportunity to learn about the many specialties of dentistry. For example, general practice dentists examine and treat patients of all ages for routine dental problems. Pediatric dentists work with children and teens, while endodontists specialize in diseases of the gums.
Helping People Regain Their Smiles
One of the largest dentistry specialties is orthodontics. Orthodontists help people with crooked teeth or misaligned jaws to regain the proper placement of their teeth and jaws. These dentists often use braces to help their patients. Statistics show 50-75% of people could benefit from going to an orthodontist.
Changing Your Patients’ Lives
Dentistry is one of the many careers that have an opportunity to improve the health of the people you work with. As a dentist, you and the other members of your team will provide dental education and guidance to your patients. You can relieve someone’s pain by pulling a tooth, restore their smile by brightening their teeth, or help someone regain the ability to eat again by giving them dentures.
Earning A Good Salary
Working as a dentist is a great job because of the many ways it makes a difference in the lives of your patients. But it’s also great because you’ll have a job that earns a good salary. Statistics show dental salaries are in the top 8% of U.S. salaries. Although financial security shouldn’t be the only reason for taking a job in the healthcare field, it’s a relief to know you won’t have to struggle financially.
Experiencing Job Flexibility
When you’re just beginning to work as a dentist, you may be the “junior” dentist on a team, and your schedule will be set by the dental practice manager. However, with experience, you’ll be able to have more freedom with your schedule and to set your own hours. You’ll be able to get a job in whichever place you’d like to live. If you want to own your own business someday, being a dentist will allow you to work toward that goal.
Provide Dental Education
When your patients are in your office, you’ll have a perfect opportunity to provide dental education tailored to your patient’s needs. You can use the information from the patient’s dental exam to give them tips to improve their dental health. By using a kind and caring approach to what you say, the patient will be more open to improving their dental health. As a dentist, you’ll be part of a team that works together to provide dental care to your patients.
Making a Difference
With your dental skills, you can reach out to people in your community as a volunteer. If you go back to school, you could earn an advanced degree and become a dental instructor. You could be part of a group of dentists participating in a clinical trial, which could change the future of dentistry. Some dentists work overseas to provide free care to patients living in areas without dental care.
When You’re a Dentist
Dentists have many opportunities to make a difference in their patients’ health. You’ll make enough money for a comfortable life, and be able to choose where you live and work. According to Dentistry Today, one-fifth of American adults haven’t seen a dentist recently. Maybe you’re the dentist they’re waiting for!
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