I want to be something involving teeth.?

Question

At first I just wanted to be a dentist, then I wanted to be a orthodontist, now I want to be a dental hygienist then go to peace corps and when I get back either just work or actually become a dentist or orthodontist. Any help? With anything would be nice.

Answer 1

Be a dentist or orthodontist, being a hygienist is repetitious & u'll end up w/ carpaltunnel syndrom.

Answer 2

You can apply for scholarship to do dentistry under ministry of defence, i guess (at least, that's how things work here). To be an orthodontist, you HAVE to be a dentist first.

Things go like this - first, have a degree in dentistry. Then, do masters majoring in orthodontics. If you take ministry of defence scholarship, you'll be tied to a contract to work with them in a certain period. You can join peace corps then.

So, basically you'll get to do everything that you wanted. It's not that necessary to choose either one of them because you can choose all three of them, right?

Answer 3

Ok...if you can successfully complete Dental College then by all means do so...If you got involved with the Peace Corps or other volunteer health groups, you can provide a greater range of needed services...As an Orthodontist you would find that time constraints would prevent you from accomplishing much unless you took up residence in the place you found the problems...Also, orthodontics in remote areas is not an as much an issue as is general dentistry or dental issues requiring surgical intervention...become an Oral Surgeon to deal with those issues.....Good luck and I wish you well.

Answer 4

There are a lot of different things you can be within the dental field!  Hygienists deal with oral hygiene, and assistants help the dentists during procedures and often take care of the equipment in the office.  There are also technicians, who work in a lab and make crowns, bridges and dentures, but don't get to see patients.  

Becoming a dentist also leads to great opportunities.  You could practice as a general dentist, or you can specialize.  Orthodontics is a specialty...which means that you go to dental school first, and then apply to another program after you graduate.  Dental school and practicing gives you a good idea of what you like and what you want to do more of.  Other specialties  include:

Dental Public Health

Endodontics (root canals)

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

Oral Medicine and Pathology (experts in histology and diagnosing things that may be a bit more obscure)

Oral & Maxillofacial Radiology

Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics

Pediatric Dentistry

Periodontics (Deals with the gums and bone tissue)

Prosthodontics (Crowns, bridges, implants and dentures)

You should look into programs in the peace corps.  I have a few peers in dental school who have their entire tuition paid for by the military, providing they serve over the summer and for a few years after they graduate.  Maybe the peace corps has something similar.

To be a dentist, you will need a university degree first, whereas you can go directly into dental hygiene after high school.  Becoming a general dentist usually takes 8 years of university, and you can add an extra 2-4 if you specialize.  Dental hygiene is a two year diploma program...but if you think you might end up going into dentistry anyhow, spending the extra two years may not be worth your time.

Here is a suggestion-Get your bachelor's degree first (4 years).  Make sure you take all your prerequisite classes.  After that, you should apply for BOTH dentistry and dental hygiene.  If you get into dental school, then go for it and contact the peace corps at the same time.  If you don't, then you will have dental hygiene to fall back on and strengthen your application in the meantime if you decide to apply again later.

Good luck!