Congratulations on making such a wise choice! Dentistry is both a rewarding and challenging profession and you can look forward to a long and stable career, you can also form lifelong bonds with your patients as well as the team and people you work with. It’s an opportunity to be a valuable part of the community and make an impact.
Like any profession there are pros and cons to your chosen career. After you’ve qualified as a dentist, what can you expect?
Here are a few pros of being a dentist, there are many more as you will discover.
An Essential Profession
Dentistry is a highly respected profession. A dentist is a vital part of any community just as equally as a Doctor’s surgery. A good dentist, along with the dental surgery is always in demand. You have the ability to forge lifelong relationships with your patients, and even treat two or even three generations of the same family!
Ability to Help People
Dentistry is a service oriented profession. You will spend all of your time helping other people which is extremely rewarding to you as a dentist. You can make significant improvements in people’s lives by restoring their smile, teeth, self-confidence, self-image, and ability to eat and even speak properly. There’s also instant gratification for you when you are able to relieve the pain from a toothache or place a beautiful crown which enhances the aesthetics and function of a patient’s teeth. As well as more long term treatments, straightening an otherwise crooked or misaligned set of teeth and seeing your patient smile as they see the results of your work. There can be nothing more rewarding than seeing a happy smiling patient leave the surgery.
Many people also have a fear of the dentist, this can be for many reasons, a previous bad experience, the fear of not being in control or for many the fear of needles. Learning to help people overcome their fears is extremely satisfying.
Job Stability
Dentistry is an extremely stable career. Oral healthcare is always necessary and always in demand and as people live longer the demand for dentists will only increase in the future resulting in more jobs available and a very stable profession. Treatments in dentistry are always advancing so there is always something new to learn, making treatments more comfortable and less invasive for your patients.
Income
You can expect to earn a good salary as a dentist in the UK. Eventually as a dentist you may think about owning your own practice then you can work as much or as little as you’d like and run your practice however you’d like which of course will influence how much income you make.
Balanced Lifestyle
A career in dentistry can provide you with a balanced lifestyle between your work, family, and social life. If you own your own practice then you can choose how much you work in a week. Most dentists work full-time, but some will work only 3 days a week or some will work more than full-time by working evenings and even weekends.
Self-Employment
Dentistry allows you to be your own boss if you choose to do so by owning your own practice. You can determine how you want your career in dentistry to be. You may want to specialise in a particular field or add more specialised treatments such as Facial Aesthetics.
Qualifications.
To be a Dentist, you’ll need good A levels with Chemistry & generally Biology, followed by an approved degree in dentistry such as a BDS or BChD. Training typically involves at least five years in dental school, followed by a further one or two years of supervised practice. Once this is completed, you can register with the General Dental Council and start practising.