What to Know Before Becoming a Dentist

May 27, 2021

It is often challenging to be a dentist, but it is a rewarding job. There are pros and cons of any job, and dentistry is no exception. You will want to consider both the benefits and drawbacks before deciding if this is the right career for you.

You Will Take on a Lot of Debt

When you go to dental school, you will almost certainly need to take on some debt to cover your education. Depending on the school you choose, you could face several hundred thousand dollars in debt once you graduate. The good news is that you can get a private student loan from a private lender to cover the cost of your undergraduate education so you can save money during that time. You can research more to take your education to the next level. Still, don’t let the amount of debt stop you from following your dream of entering the profession. You will often make plenty of money to pay back your loans once you have graduated.

You Will Be a Business Owner

As a dentist, you might be the owner of the practice. If it is relatively small and you are the only dentist on site, you might find it hard to take vacations for a very long time. Even if you close it for a couple of weeks, you will still need to pay for its expenses. You need to pay for the daily expenses, even if you do not open the facility. That makes vacation time a costly thing.

As a dental practice owner, you will not get benefits from an employer since you will be self-employed. You will get only the benefits that you get for yourself. If you do not save and invest wisely, you might not be able to retire when you had planned to. You will have staff working for you as well. It is important to understand when to fire and when to hire staff members, and you will also want to understand how to keep them happy. It is sometimes difficult to deal with so many different personality types, so being able to balance multiple roles is critical.

It is Emotionally Demanding

Dentistry is a demanding profession, both physically and emotionally. You will have to deal with anxious patients, and no one is really there because they want to be. People do not like waiting and might get impatient if you are not able to see them as quickly as they would have preferred. Your patients might become unhappy with you if your schedule is thrown off.

There are a lot of variables you cannot control, but if something does go wrong, you will be the one paying for it. You want everything to work out well, and you will try hard for each patient, but it is not always possible to make everyone happy. There are some things that will always be beyond your control, so when they do go wrong, it will be up to you to keep everyone satisfied.

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