right now i'm going into my last year of college for my B.S. in psychology and i'm thinking about becoming a dentist now. thing is i don't know all that much about what i need to do. i've done some research, but i'd like to hear what you guys have to say about it. thanks.

 

Why not do both at the same time? You'll already have your patients laying back in the chair, and you can convince them the pain isn't real as you drill out their teeth.

 

Dentistry...LOL

I guess I can help you

I went for a little over a year and dropped out to get an MBA/Inv. banking. Wasn't my cup of tea, but if you have any questions PM me

Your majoring in psychology, but have u taken all the prereqs and the DAT? There are specific classes you have to take in Bio Sci, O-chem, etc before you can apply. Then there is the DAT which isnt that bad at all.

I would say go tour a local dental school (UCLA, USC, Loma Linda) and check it out. ALso if you have a chance intern at a dental office. There is ALOT of precise handwork involved. I remember we had to start carving various different teeth from small wax blocks right away for Dental Anatomy. Then of course there was Operative where we worked on prepping teeth in our mock dummies. Thats the class where you use your handpieces to remove caries (cavities) from teeth. The instructors were rather scrupulous in their grading and one had to pass that before working on the patients in the school clinic

And don't be fooled...you still have to take many bio sci courses that med students do. For example, I had Gross Anatomy for the first two quarters and yes we worked on cadavers. It wasn't just limited to the head and neck; we worked the entire torso, head, and arms.

Many people might hastily jump into the profession b/c the "money", but its not that simple. Sure the average dentist has a good income, but there are other ways to earn just as much if not more if money if your main objective.

 

thanks for the info Archon007. you guessed right, money is a big part of why i would get into the field. pm me your other soultions that equal bucks

 

I dont understand choosing a profession just because of the money. What if you end up hating life 6 months down the road from doing something you don't like every single day? I'd rather make a nice comfortable income and love my job than hate doing something even if it makes me rich

 

Don't dentists have one of the highest suicide rates?

 

You need to take all the normal pre-med classes, BIO I&II, CHEM I&II, ORGANIC CHEM I&II, PHYSICS I&II, and 2 semester of English comp. And then you need to do well on the DATs.

Check out http://forums.studentdoctor.net/index.php? TONS of good info, it's mostly geared towards MDs but there is a good dental forum as well. If you want to know what it takes to get into dental school, you'll find out how on that site.

A good friend of mine is a dentist, watching him go through dental school and then continue his education has been an eye opening experience. Don't kid yourself, dentistry is NOT the quick and easy way to make money. Dental school is just as hard to get into as med school, and the curriculum at some schools is tougher. For instance, the first 2 years at UB you take all the same classes as the med students PLUS the dental specific classes.

But if you enjoy working with people, like working with your hands, and want to own/run your own business (practice), I say go for it! If I could go back and do it over again I probably would go to dental or possibly med school.

 

making lots of $$ sure can make a job more enjoyable!

 

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