Career in dentistry?

I'm 29. I have a BA in political science which I haven't found extremely useful, and don't want an advanced degree in it or law, so I've been considering a career change. How long would it realistically take to do my schooling and become a dentist. Do you have to totally restart on an undergrad level before going into dental school? Or could I do the lower-level science classes at a community college and then go into dental school?

I don't mean to trivialize the field. What I'm attempting to do is gain info about several career fields and be realistic about what my chances are of moving further in that career before I delve further into those that are the most appealing and/or realistic. Dentistry has been in my mind for a while along with a couple of others. I'm just trying to get an idea.

I'm a dentist.

First off, you are not trivializing the field. It is not unheard of for people to become doctors after having been elsewhere career-wise. In fact, of all the doctorate-level health professions, I'd venture to say that dentistry is the most common one for non-traditional applicants like yourself.

The average starting age of medical students is around 23. The average starting age of dental students is around 25. This is very telling. On average, dental students have two additional years out of college than do medical students. Many--probably a third--of my classmates were over the age of 25 during our first year. We had one 40 year-old, and two 30+ year-olds.

What is so attractive about dentistry is the fact that you can practice right out of school (although in all honesty, having done a year of post-graduate training and seeing how much more there is to learn, I would not recommend it). To become a general dentist, you need only 4 years. This is very reasonable in comparison to the 7 years you need to become a primary-care physician (e.g internist, pediatrician, ER physician, family physician).

So, what does it take? Getting into dental school is very much like getting into medical school, both in terms of course requirements and numbers. If your undergraduate grades were less than a 3.2, expect to fight an uphill battle (unless you have spectacular DAT scores).

You'll need the pre-med/pre-dental courses (year of physics, biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, math, English/writing). You may also need a biochemistry class, among others. Check with the individual schools. You can take them at a community college, however, if you do, you need to ace them. B's from a community college won't do.

You'll also have to prepare for and take the DAT,which you should do AFTER you've taken biology, organic chemistry, and general chemistry (physics is not covered on the DAT). Preparing for these sections of the test without having taken these courses would be exceedingly difficult. The DAT is a very tough test.

Finally, some dental experience would help (although this pales in comparison to your "numbers" in terms of importance). Dental schools will want to know that you have a good reason for wanting to be a dentist.

So, how long will this take? That depends on what courses you already have under your belt and how fast you can take the prerequisite courses you still need. If you have taken none of them, expect to spend a couple of years prior to entering dental school.

Keep in mind, though, that although it will take work on your part, the reward is there. After finishing dental school, I spent one year in a residency. Upon entering private practice for the first time, I started with a six-figure salary.

Good luck.

Do you have any 鈥渋nterest in Dentistry鈥?or any idea what the 鈥淒entist role鈥?really is? It sounds like your just jumping from one career to another because the last degree didn't quite pan out. Don鈥檛 get offended, but this is a field that not everyone just 鈥済oes into鈥?you have to have the motivation to complete training and continue with it long after you become a doctor, also the compassion for people, and the desire to do this type of work. Maybe you should do some research in this field before pursuing it. Check with your own dentist and tell him of your intent to become a dentist. Perhaps he will let you come in and observe for a few days so you can have a better perspective of this field of work. There are some that are enthusiastic about dentistry afterwards, and others who can鈥檛 hit the door fast enough. You have to consider that you treat people from all walks of life and can鈥檛 pick and choose the ones who have good hygiene. It would be better to find out now before changing your career rather than later. If it鈥檚 for you, you鈥檒l know it immediately. Good luck and hope you join us in the dental field.

Additional Information: I didn't mean any harm by my remarks to your question, and hope I didn't discourage you in any way. A lot of people think that "this" is for them, when all they see is the money, degree and the prestige of being a doctor. Never a thought as to the actual work involved. I think Katherine gave you some good advice as to the cost of Dental College, GPA, and obtaining your prerequisites at a University as well as applying as soon as possible. Good luck and I hope you make a decision that you'll enjoy the rest of your life, one that will allow you the opportunity to help others in maintaining their dental health for their life time.


I also find it amazing to see that Nebula D is actually being supportive of Dentistry in any fashion, since all I've seen here is criticism, arrogance, negativity and actual defamation to other dentist, orthodontist, oral surgeons and especially endodontist and the parents of patients. If this attitude is displayed at an actual office, I wouldn鈥檛 have to wonder why there were no patients.

Like all doctors now unless you want a large school bill and then go onto a profession that is loosing earning power be my guest. Go be a scum bag lawyer and make big bucks.

I graduated last year from dental school. You need to take your pre-reqs. Go to the dental school website, to see what they require. I went to IU. www.iusd.iupui.edu. If you navigate throught that site it will give you a basic idea what you need to have. I think you would probably have to go to a university to get your pre-reqs but I could be wrong. It is pretty competitive. I don't think I could get in if I applied this year. The average GPA for the incoming class was over 3.6. It is a lot of money for tuition. I went in state and I am 170K in debt. The out of state students are close to 300K. Hope this helps.