Welcome to the hottest health profession!
You provide the effort and this website will provide you the resources to
help getting there easier.
As pre-dental students, we came across a huge problem finding information
about dental school. Granted, there were many sources available, but to
our dismay we realized that there was not one single resource that explained
the process of preparing for a dental school application thoroughly. Yes,
there were resources written by Ph.D's that were not up-to-date or explained
in a different view point than that of a traditional applicant.
Another problem we encountered was when we became interested in learning
more about dentistry and went to school advisors for answers, most of them
had no clue about the admissions process. They had ample knowledge about
Medical admissions however it was evident that there was a huge disparity
of differences.
 The
demand for dentists is huge. The opportunities are endless and slowly people
are realizing the benefits of pursuing dentistry over medicine. In the future,
we believe, that competition will be at an all time high. Competition for
seats in dental admissions will soon meet, if not exceed medical school.
Some schools are already beginning to see higher statistics for their entering
dental school class than their medical school class. These trends will become
increasingly apparent in the near future.
In the next 10 years about half of the currently 150,000 working dentists
are projected to retire, leaving a huge gap that needs to be filled. Some
states are already seeing a huge decline in dentists with some areas experiencing
retirement of 10 dentists for every one new dentist entering the workforce.
For the past two years, we have been compiling, discussing, and researching
all aspects of the pre-dental lifestyle and wanted to present to fellow
pre-dental students, advanced standing students, and current dental students
a complete guide for their reference. We believe we can fill a huge void
with this publication and students can depend on it as their main resource.
We wish to thoroughly explain all aspects from an applicant's standpoint,
since we just recently completed this process. We wish to utilize many resources
including a section that uses work of various successful applicants "resumes"
and application essays to give a good idea of any student that is interested
in this field to have a good resource and an idea of how to start this demanding
and rigorous process.
We have heard it all about how scary dentists are, how they love to torture
people, and how high their suicide rates are. These rumors are just one
thing: RUMORS. Dentistry is one of the hottest professions in the United
States and this can be proven by comparing the lifestyles of dentists and
other health professionals. According to the ADA the average general dentist's
net income from primary private practice was $158,080.
The average specialist's net income was $240,580 . "Whoa!! Dentists probably
work 100 hours a week," you might say. Well, according to the American Dental
Association the average workweek of a dentist is 32 - 35 hours per week!
That is almost half of a typical physician's workweek which is almost 60
hours a week. Over 90% of dental professionals own their own practice; hence
have autonomy and less stress. So all in all, this profession doesn't look
all that scary does it??
However, just like everything that is worth having in life one must be willing
to sacrifice for it. Becoming a dentist is nothing different. You must have
passion, belief, and plan of attack. You must be willing to give up long
hours and be persistent. Dentistry, unlike other professions requires a
lot out of the individual who wants to embark on this journey leading to
dental school and beyond. A dentist needs to be organized, an entrepreneur,
good with his/her hands, artistic, a leader, and a compassionate individual.
All these qualities are a must in order to become a successful dentist.
Dentistry has changed a lot in the past few decades. The main goal of dentistry
has become more of a preventative and cosmetic aspect. Whereas several decades
ago, people would go to a dentist only when they experience discomfort or
extreme pain, today the average person goes (or should) go to a dentist
at least twice a year for a routine check up. Extracting a tooth is the
last resort.
 The
goal is to save one's permanent dentition so it can last a lifetime. In
third world countries it is not uncommon to see people having all their
teeth extracted before the age of 50, however in the United States there
is a new trend to save the permanent dentition. Elder citizens go through
various lengths to avoid wearing dentures. Now technologies such as implants,
veneers, root canal therapies, and orthodontics have revolutionized the
saving power of dentists.
As the baby boomer generation begins to retire and expand, dentists will
have a plethora of patients on their hands. With the population and oral
health awareness growing exponentially and many dentists retiring there
always will be more work than all the dentists can handle.
Another thing to consider is that the earning power is in the hands of the
dentist. This depends on the amount and speed at which a dentist works,
and how much effort they put into marketing and gaining more patients.
We wish you all complete success in your dental endeavors.
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