What are the pros and cons of being a dentist?

• You get to help people. This is one of the major pros of being a dentist; not only do you get to help people, but you provide them with a valuable medical service that can improve their lives, relieve them from pain, and keep them orally healthy.

  Dentists typically do yearly or bi-yearly oral checkups on patients and treat patients who are experiencing pains in their mouths or some form of injury. Dentists seek to relieve pain and develop long-term solutions for patients with chronic mouth issues.

  Performing this kind of work is often met with gratitude from patients and a feeling of purpose and fulfillment for the Dentist.

• As a dentist, you can start your own practice. Many dentists are able to start their own practice during their careers in dentistry. This is a pro because it means you get to be the head dentist in charge if you start your own practice.

  Being the owner also means you get to make your office's schedule, and you have the freedom to organize your work however you would like. It also means you get to hire staff, so you can seek out qualified people who you want to work with, and you also get to develop and implement dental policies you are a firm believer in.

  Starting your own practice can give you clout in your local community, as you are providing a very important medical service.

• Competitive salary. One of the most obvious pros of being a dentist is the amount of money you can earn. Most dentists have considerably high salaries. The national average salary in the United States for a dentist is $236,787 per year. This is a very high salary compared with most other professions.

  Dentists also typically receive great benefits like health insurance, retirement plans, and loan assistance. The high-paying nature of their job means that most dentists have no trouble buying homes and supporting families very comfortably.

  They usually have enough extra income to pursue somewhat expensive hobbies, or go on really nice vacations, domestically or internationally.

• Being a dentist is a stable job. Job stability is another common pro of being a dentist. The dental field usually has a high demand for dentists. Every community needs oral health doctors, and larger communities need several, meaning that a dentist is likely to be able to find work or even start a practice almost anywhere.

  Most aspiring dentists are able to find work quickly after they complete the proper schooling and training. Generally, dentists are able to keep their jobs for a very long time.

Cons:

• The amount of time for dental school and training. This can be viewed as one of the cons of dentistry. Most dentists have to spend around seven to eight years in school and training before they can start working as a dentist. Most earn a bachelor's degree and then a DDS or DMD degree.

  Certain dentists also choose to take part in postgraduate education programs that help them to specialize in a specific field of dentistry. Although, getting a bachelor's degree and attending a post-graduate specialized program are both just options, not requirements for being a dentist.

  Attending dental school and obtaining either a DDS degree or a DMD degree are requirements.

• Dental school is expensive. Another con of going into dentistry is the cost of going to dental school. Dental school involves highly specialized education and training, meaning most dental school tuition is really expensive.

  Many dental school graduates will start their careers with very large amounts of student debt that they must pay back over time. However, considering the salaries dentists earn, this usually isn't too big of a problem as long as the new dentist can find a good job relatively fast.

• Being a dentist can be demanding physically. Dentists actually have physically demanding work in certain ways. They often have to perform the same sorts of tasks in a very repetitive fashion, which can sometimes result in the wrist, hand, arm, shoulder, neck, or back pain.

  Most dentists have to bend over to work on their patients, and sometimes they have to hold these positions for hours on end. They can stretch during these procedures, of course, but there is no denying that many dentists get chronic pains from the procedures they must perform.