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Dentist - Career Profile |
Career OverviewDentists, like physicians, are cornerstones of the modern healthcare system. Their role as caregivers is defined and they, as a group of professionals, are well established within the wider community, both as general practitioners and as specialists.
Dentists who practice general care are trained to offer an array of professional services to maintain and repair the teeth and gums of adults, children, and the elderly. The goal of dentistry is to promote good oral health amongst the general population.
In general dental practices, most dentists have regular patients, for whom they perform basic check-ups to assess the condition of teeth and gums. Most patients visit their dentist every six months, as recommended by most dental health care providers.
During routine check-ups, dentists perform basic diagnostic procedures, such as X-rays, to assess whether there are any problems that require treatment, such as cavities, root canals, or gum diseases. Particularly in children, dentists will also assess teeth alignment and development.
Dentists will also check for chipped, broken, cracked, or worn teeth or fillings that require repair. As part of the routine check-up, dentists also interact with patients as their caregivers; they may take down patient histories and discuss the patient’s perception of any abnormalities relating to their teeth and gums, such as chronic or acute toothache.
General practitioners of dentistry treat a variety of dental problems. They treat gum diseases, such as gingivitis, they treat general tooth decay, and they repair or remove infected, impacted, chipped or broken teeth as required.
As most patients have anxiety about receiving dental care, most dentists are also experts in treating this kind of problem as well by communicating with their patients and offering specialist counseling to facilitate patient comfort.
Pain management also falls under the jurisdiction of dentists, who are trained and qualified to administer a number of different drugs that facilitate an ability to cope with pain. They commonly administer local anesthetics when they treat cavities or root canals. They may also use drugs to induce and maintain a state of unconscious whilst they perform a more complex procedure.
Despite the specialist equipment needed for the practice of dentistry, most practitioners work in private officers. Hospitals and dental colleges are two other common work settings for qualified dentists, although commercial manufacturers of dental equipment may also hire qualified dentists to serve as field experts and quality controllers.
Some dentists undertake advanced study and clinical training to become specialists in particular areas of dentistry, however, the job prospects for generalists and specialists alike is extremely positive. Dentistry is one of the highest paid fields of professional health care in the United States. The rate of job growth and the demand of qualified professionals are expected to remain the fastest and the greatest for some time to come.
Dentistry not only offers a rewarding career in health care, it is also one of the most advanced and fastest developing health care professions in existence.
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Career RequirementsTo practice dentistry, a minimum of three years undergraduate training is required. That said, most candidates in the United States study dentistry at graduate level, in keeping with trend that professional degrees, such as law and medicine, should follow a more liberal and a more general undergraduate study.
Prerequisites for dental courses include one year of biology and physics, and two years of chemistry, which must include the study of both organic and inorganic chemistry. Depending on the school at which a candidate intends to study dentistry, minimum requirements or recommendations may be established for the study of English, mathematics, advanced biology, and psychology. All courses in dentistry require candidates to take the Dental Aptitude Test and submit to an interview.
Four-year courses in dentistry are the standard in all professional dental schools in the United States. The curriculum includes one year of basic science study and three years of studying and practicing clinical sciences. Basic science courses feature anatomy, biochemistry, and physiology. The clinical science courses include endodonics, complete and partial dentures, operative dentistry, oral diagnoses, periodontics, crown and bridge work, and some advanced coruses in dental specialties.
Throughout the medical training, candidates receive clinical experience under the supervision of a qualified dentistry. Most candidates also undertake at least one internship before applying for a job or before undertaking to practice unsupervised in any capacity.
All dentists must be licensed by the state in which they intend to practice. They must graduate from an accredited dental school and they must also pass a written and practical examination.
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Job OutlookDental career prospects are considered to be fair. The fluoridation of water has dramatically improved the quality of teeth in younger generations. On the other hand, it may be premature to success that dentists will have a lesser role in the health care system in the future.
Oral health receives much greater emphasis now than in the past. Many people undertake to receive dental check-ups every six months to every year. Increased longevity is another factor that makes a decline in the need for dentists unlikely; advances in dentistry, such as implants, combine with increased life expectancy to determine that more people will require more advanced and complex care from dentists to maintain and retain their natural teeth in old age.
Dentists remain amongst the highest paid professionals in the health care industry. There also continue to be opportunities to teach, both full- and part-time, to undertake research, and to supervise in one or other areas of the field.
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Career TrackSeveral career tracks are open to dentists. Many dentists choose to practice as generalists and they may either join a dental practice, a hospital-based or community-based clinic, or they may establish a practice of their own.
Many dentists choose to undertake additional study, usually a minimum one year of additional training after graduating from dental school to become a specialist in one of the following areas:
- Dentofacial Orthopedics
- Endodontics
- Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology
- Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology
- Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon
- Orthodontist
- Pedodontics
- Periodontics
- Prosthodontics
- Public Health Dentist
In each of these areas, specialists are expected to enjoy considerable job security and above average levels of compensation for the foreseeable period.
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CompensationDentists typically receive between $75,000 and $200,000 as an annual salary, depending on experience, education, professional setting, and area of practice.
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