How tough is becoming a dentist?

Question

How long does it take and how tough is getting into dental school?

Answer 1

it aint too hard.. i studied on the internat for a few weeks and now i do extraction oin my friend s on all the time. plus i have a textboobk about teethts.

Answer 2

After high school, you would need to do a four-year bachelor's degree before applying to dental school.  An honours degree (usually with a thesis) is usually best, but some dental schools will allow students to apply after two years as long as they have all the prerequisite classes.  To do this though, you had better have all A's on your transcript.

After your first degree (usually four years), then you apply to dental school.  The admissions process consists of the DAT (Dental Aptitude Test), an application and an interview.  The DAT tests you on everything from the basic sciences (which include math and organic chem if you're in the US), reading comprehension, spatial reasoning, and even a soap carving section to test manual dexterity.  It is about six hours long.  To give you an idea of how competitive it is, 800 people applied in my year, and 56 were accepted.  Our academic average was 88% (midway between A and A+), and I won't give you our DAT scores because they won't mean anything to you, but they were in the top percentiles.

Keep in mind that almost everyone who applies has good grades and scores, so you will need to set yourself apart in the interview by showing that you are well-rounded, genuinely interested in the field for good reasons, and sincere (ie, not spewing bs that you think the interviewers want to hear.)  This is also where you will have to show that you have done some research into a career as a dentist and know what you're getting into...and not just there because you think it's an easy job with prestige that makes lots of money.

Dental school itself is four years long.  The first two years are preclinical, which means they teach us EVERYTHING in excruciating detail.  We are essentially doctors specializing in the oral cavity region, so we learned anatomy, physiology, microbiology, biochemistry, histology, genetics, pathology, etc.  On top of all that, we had lab classes where we learn how to drill and restore teeth, make crowns and bridges, dentures, waxups, etc and ALL the theory behind it.  Lectures started at 8 am every day and finished at 5, but most days we were at school until after 10 pm working on lab stuff or practicing in the sim-clinic.

In our final exam period, there were 13 exams, ranging in value from 60-100% of our grade.  That doesn't include all the practical exams we had, which were very stressful.   Each written exam usually covered 300 pages of textbook material, including minute details like "what wavelength is composite resin cured at" and "how many dentinal tubules are located near the DEJ-" Details that when you're reading, you would tend to gloss over to focus on more important topics pulled from the volume of reading.  So unless you have a photographic memory, your grades will probably drop into the 60's or 70's despite all your labors, which is very frustrating and discouraging.

In short, dentists are not "tooth technicians" but doctors, and the road isn't easy.  You have to really want it, and expect to work HARD all along the way.  (I sound negative in this post, but it really is worth it in the end.)  If you're looking for something faster or easier, you may want to try dental assisting instead..Or even dental hygiene, which is a bit more in depth, but a LOT easier than dental school.

Good luck, and e-mail me anytime (I'll give you my msn if you want ) if you want to chat more about it! :)

Answer 3

As hard as becoming an MD.  You will have to intern and do a residency.

Answer 4

Iam so to studing to be a Nurse. ANd i dont know how tough its going to be but I would Recommend you To go to Google and search for that information. I Know that some doctor it take 1o years of schooling. I Hope i helped you Good Luck!

Answer 5

http://education-portal.com/how_to_becom...