The field of dentistry is enticing because it offers so many fantastic benefits. Becoming a dentist allows you to make a significant impact in your community. You can help people improve their overall health, eliminate pain, and boost their self-confidence. Dentistry is one of the best well-paying fields in healthcare and a respected profession in the eyes of many people around the world. If you’ve been thinking about dental school but are still on the fence, here are five compelling reasons why you should become a dentist.
You Can Work With a Variety of People and Ages
One major reason why you should become a dentist is that you get to work with a variety of people of all ages. You can work in family dentistry and take care of both children, teens, and adults. Dentistry allows you to have life-long relationships with people from all walks of life. You can learn about various cultures and be there for people during the most significant events in their lives. You’ll get to share in celebrating their birthdays, holidays, births, weddings, graduations, and other important life events.
Each day as a dentist is unique because you get to work with new people with different dental challenges. A typical day in your practice could start by helping a family get routine exams done to get their children ready for school in the fall. Your next patient may be an elderly woman in need of dentures. The next patient you help might be a teen in need of braces or veneers, and another patient may need a tooth extraction or root canal. With the varying needs, you’re sure to stay active and kept on your toes the entire time you’re working in your dental practice.
It can bring you a great sense of satisfaction and joy helping an elderly client with new dentures or celebrating with a teen the day their braces are removed. You can experience a sense of pride for a job well done after each procedure. As a dentist, you can help a child or an adult overcome their fear of dental appointments. Many dentists work with low-income families that may not be able to afford dental insurance, providing them the care they need. By improving their oral health, you can help people with limited dental options live longer and happier lives.
Working to help people of minority cultures can be a great reason as to why you should become a dentist. Certain cultures can often be misunderstood or undertreated due to their socioeconomic status. You can impact the dental health of minority populations by choosing to make them part of your client base. You’ll be able to learn how to adjust your treatment options to work with varying religious beliefs and cultural perspectives. This can help you develop great empathy and understanding for people from all walks of life.
You Can Continue Research and Become an Expert in Specific Procedures
Another reason why you should become a dentist is that you may love to be intellectually stimulated. As a dentist, there is always something new to learn. Everything you do as a dentist is based on medical research. You can research the latest advancements in medications for treating adult diseases to improve your patients’ lives. This research can help you in educating your patients about disease prevention and things they can do at home to improve their oral health.
As a dentist, you may get opportunities to educate the public about dental care through conferences and seminars in your community. To become a top dentist in your field, you’ll continue your educational training long after dental school by reading trade magazines, conducting online research, and taking annual courses and training in new developments. If you have your own practice, you’ll have to stay on top of ways for growing and expanding your business. You’ll need to learn how to use new types of equipment and software for accurate medical records and handling insurance claims.
As you gain experience as a dentist, you can become an expert in a variety of procedures. You can work with new tools and technologies to assist a patient with a dental implant, braces, dentures, or other dental devices. Dentists can receive a tax credit for research and development in their own practice, which can be a great reason as to why you should become a dentist – especially if you love being intellectually stimulated. This tax credit is for working on complex procedures, creating new processes, testing prototypes, and using an in-house lab. This research helps lead to scientific advancements that can help people far into the future.
You can also learn through research in your own private practice. As you work with clients, you can tweak techniques to improve them to better serve your clients. You may discover that small adjustments when you move your hand can make certain dental processes easier and faster. You may encounter a client with a rare medical condition and have to figure out the best course of treatment. It’s possible that you can make your own scientific discovery while working in your practice that will impact dentistry for future generations.
You Can Make People Smile and Feel Good About Their Appearance
Approximately half of the population is dissatisfied with their teeth because they are discolored. Helping people achieve bright, beautiful smiles is an excellent reason why you should become a dentist. Cosmetic dentistry improves both the function and aesthetic appearance of the mouth and teeth. You can help boost their confidence with teeth whitening treatments and correct crooked teeth with braces or aligners. A lack of self-confidence because of appearance can unfortunately lead to depression, anxiety, and social isolation.
By helping people with their smiles in your dental practice, you can empower your patients to express themselves freely without stress or worry about the opinion of others. They won’t have to worry about the way they eat in public or how to pose for pictures with family and friends. The work you do can help people advance in their careers or help them find the love of their lives. Your patients can start enjoying their favorite foods again that they couldn’t eat because of dental problems. With proper dental care, your patients can avoid serious medical issues from developing that can significantly impact their life and shorten their lifespan.
The way you care for your customers during appointments can have a huge impact on how they feel about themselves. A few kind words can be comforting to a child who was bullied for the appearance of his teeth. Giving your patients news that their dental issues can be fixed can make a difference in their mental health. The way you treat your patients can help them overcome fears about going to the dentist. This can positively influence their decisions about cosmetic dentistry so they can be confident in enhancing their appearance.
Replacing missing teeth with dentures or implants can affect the jawline and help your patient look younger. If you’ve ever had a toothache before, you know how painful it can be. It can also be disfiguring to the face due to swelling from infection. You can help your patients relieve this pain and reduce facial swelling so they can be productive in their everyday activities. Your positive impact will ripple through the work your patients do to affect a positive change on others in their lives.
You Can Start Your Own Business
One of the best reasons why you should become a dentist is because you can be your own boss. You can choose your rates and the hours you wish to work. Four day work weeks are common for many smaller practices, which can help you from experiencing burnout. You get to have your own office space and specialize in a dentistry niche of your choosing. By owning your own practice, you can make more money than you would if you worked for someone else.
Having your own dental practice can help you reach your financial goals much faster. When you work for someone else, you’re given a set salary and can be terminated at a moment’s notice. You may also be required to sign a non-compete clause. If you get fired, it can limit your opportunities for future employment. As a business owner, you can build an asset that you can sell when you decide to retire.
The average salary for a dentist who works as an employee is around $167,000 per year. A dental practice owner typically makes $197,000 per year on average. If you specialize in orthodontics, you can make around $330,000 per year. It’s important to consider that you’ll have overhead expenses as an owner that you wouldn’t have as an employee. However, you can still make more money working for yourself than someone else.
Another reason why you should become a dentist with your own practice is that it gives you the ability to better control your own job security and operational control. By starting your own dental business, you can choose who you work with. You can either hire employees directly or acquire them through staffing services where you live. Having your own practice allows you to implement your own systems and provide services in your own unique style. You can choose the location for your dental practice and the type of equipment you’ll use to treat patients.
You Can Attain Responsibilities as Your Own Boss
Being your own boss is an enticing reason for why you should become a dentist. It can help you grow as a professional by attaining skills and responsibilities you wouldn’t have otherwise. You’ll learn how to train and manage staff and improve your abilities in communication and delegation of tasks. Dentists who own their own practices learn how to develop business accounting and management skills such as profit and loss statements and payroll reports. You can tweak your practice as you see fit to control costs and increase your overall revenue.
As your own boss, you’ll learn how to handle working under pressure to serve as many clients as possible. You can develop your computer literacy skills as you manage patient records and insurance claims. Your critical thinking and problem-solving skills will get a workout as you formulate treatment plans to treat specific conditions. Your customer service skills can get a boost from working with patients of various ages and cultures. You’ll also develop your marketing and social media skills as you look for ways to grow your practice.
Being your own boss can help you learn more about insurance, which will provide you knowledge that will help you better serve your patients. You’ll gain experience and knowledge about the various dental products for your clients to help keep them safe. By learning how to choose the right insurance, you can protect yourself from product liability lawsuits from defective products.
All of these skills and responsibilities can be transferred to other areas of your life, which is a good reason why you should become a dentist. By learning how to manage your finances as an entrepreneur, you can take better control of your household budget. You’ll learn how to effectively manage your time and juggle many responsibilities at once. Seeing the issues your patients go through will motivate you to be more proactive about your own health. You’ll improve the relationships in your own life from your experience with customer service for your patients.
Dentistry can be a challenging but highly rewarding career path. Before you start your journey, get clear on why you should become a dentist. Think about what will drive you to get out of bed each day to make you eager to get to work. If you love to learn new things, work with your hands, and take care of others, dentistry is a great field choice for you. Now that you know why you should become a dentist, it’s time to start your journey by enrolling in dental school today!
