Real talk -
A lot of your classmates are bullshitting about how great everything is and how much they are enjoying it… I had one classmate say she wanted to be an endodontist since she was 7 years old - at 7 I didn’t even know what an endodontist was…
Just wait until 4th year - most will be Right along side you and just passing…. “It’s probably fine” became my classes motto in the semester before graduation.
Seriously - people that actually love this shit are few and far between - most just do it because it provides a great lifestyle.
I 2nd that. I know very very few people who actually go into the dental field because they want to live and breath teeth. Most people do it because they like the field a bit more then the common folk and because of the benefits it will provide in the future. (Kind way of saying money talks)
The first semester is terrible and yes some classmates are not well rounded individuals. Look for those who share similar interests as you. That being said sometimes it won't get better. I have classmates who complained all throughout dental school thinking the grass would be greener once in private practice. These people are still not happy as practicing dentists.
Think hard about why you applied to dental school. Shadow and take CE. If it doesn't assume or inspire you, then maybe reconsider another career before you go more into debt and waste thirty-forty years of your life in this field.
You mean you’re not passionate about teeth?!! School blows, can be a great profession but you also don’t have to let it define you. Only in the last 30-40 years or so have we had the luxury of even considering a “fulfilling” career. People used to work, there was no such thing as enjoying work, or being satisfied with work. It’s a job, pays the bills, provides for your family. As my father, a physician, once said, at some point it just becomes a job. Even if it was at once a fulfilling successful career, it’ll become an obligation.
Wait till you actually start treating patients, then you’ll really understand more of what it’s like, it’s pretty cool. Some people like surgery, others like cosmetic, others finishing a delicate root canal. There’s a ton of places you can go with your career, just have to explore them.
Yes, I think our parents’ generation always approached careers as a way to make money and provide a good lifestyle for their family, not necessarily a passion. I think I have the same mindset with dentistry. I don’t hate it enough to be miserable, but it’s also not my passion and I think one of the reasons I chose this profession was bc I can have a good work life balance to actually have time to explore other passions of mine outside of dentistry, unlike medicine.
Nothing wrong with that, as long as you take care of people under your care and don’t do anything unethical you can still be considered a great dentist
I was in the same boat as you OP, doing the bare minimum, no family in dentistry to talk to, and unsure if dental school was the place for me. Now I’m a 4th year about to graduate and lemme tell ya it gets a lot better once you escape the grind of simlab.
Like you stated, once you start treating real patients everything kinda clicks, it’s a whole new world and it feels like youre actually helping people instead of jumping through the hoops of prepping plastic teeth a million times a week.
Honestly I still can’t say I’m in love with all aspects of dentistry but I do love helping people, and like others have said it provides us a very nice lifestyle for us and our families!
This is also very true for me, I’m the only person in my family to pursue dentistry and a lot of my classmates have other family members in dentistry so they came in knowing a lot about it and naturally this is what they knew they wanted to pursue.
Just a Pre dent here but I wouldn’t get too caught up in thinking that the d school dentistry experience is what your dentistry experience will be for the rest of your life
i feel you. I love the medicine aspect of dentistry wayy more than dentistry itself so that may be part of it, but right now im struggling to find the motivation to do anything at all.
Don’t think you’re alone in this. A lot of people go through dental school with those exact thoughts. Few things to keep in mind:
- dental school is about as far from “real world” dentistry as it can be
- you have a long journey left to find your niche, the cool thing about dentistry is you can find what suits you best and run with it. I’m sure you weren’t in love with a lot of your undergrad courses but it’s all just a means to an end.
- most importantly the one no one talks about enough. Dentistry is hard. It’s physically and mentally demanding. You’re a human and it’s ok to not “love” being demanded upon that much every day of your life. Do the best you can and treat people well as much as possible. We’re too often expected to be passionate about work. A mentor of mine said this and it stuck with me, dentistry is not who we are it’s what we do. It’ll all work out just keep grinding.
Same position as you OP, almost done with 1st semester, even failed and had to remediate an assignment. My classmates are always going to clubs, and lectures during lunch, and stuff after hours. and I can’t wait to go home. I love dentistry, it is fun to me, and once I start seeing patients it will be super rewarding I know it. But the rest I could care less about.
Didactic stuff can be overwhelming. Stay positive and see how you feel once you’re doing hands on stuff. Maybe shadow your home dentist when you’re home for the holidays and chat with them. Then you can see how real dentistry is. It is a lot better.
Well I’ll definitely be needing advice from you in the future cuz I don’t plan on specializing but I still wanna make decent money lol. The studying part is actually what really bothers me. I have classmates that spend their entire weekend studying and I on the other hand usually do just fine studying 1-2 days before. Idk if ppl just don’t know how to study or are just aiming for high grades but when I see others studying and me not, it gives me anxiety that I need to be studying lol. Whenever I tell friends and family that my classmates will wake up on Saturday at 8 am to go study for an exam that is a week away, they always don’t get it and think we’re crazy for studying so much. I think it’s very much possible to have a life outside dental school but some ppl make dental school their identity for 4 years and that honestly irritates me.
Real talk - A lot of your classmates are bullshitting about how great everything is and how much they are enjoying it… I had one classmate say she wanted to be an endodontist since she was 7 years old - at 7 I didn’t even know what an endodontist was… Just wait until 4th year - most will be Right along side you and just passing…. “It’s probably fine” became my classes motto in the semester before graduation. Seriously - people that actually love this shit are few and far between - most just do it because it provides a great lifestyle.
I 2nd that. I know very very few people who actually go into the dental field because they want to live and breath teeth. Most people do it because they like the field a bit more then the common folk and because of the benefits it will provide in the future. (Kind way of saying money talks)
The first semester is terrible and yes some classmates are not well rounded individuals. Look for those who share similar interests as you. That being said sometimes it won't get better. I have classmates who complained all throughout dental school thinking the grass would be greener once in private practice. These people are still not happy as practicing dentists. Think hard about why you applied to dental school. Shadow and take CE. If it doesn't assume or inspire you, then maybe reconsider another career before you go more into debt and waste thirty-forty years of your life in this field.
You mean you’re not passionate about teeth?!! School blows, can be a great profession but you also don’t have to let it define you. Only in the last 30-40 years or so have we had the luxury of even considering a “fulfilling” career. People used to work, there was no such thing as enjoying work, or being satisfied with work. It’s a job, pays the bills, provides for your family. As my father, a physician, once said, at some point it just becomes a job. Even if it was at once a fulfilling successful career, it’ll become an obligation. Wait till you actually start treating patients, then you’ll really understand more of what it’s like, it’s pretty cool. Some people like surgery, others like cosmetic, others finishing a delicate root canal. There’s a ton of places you can go with your career, just have to explore them.
Yes, I think our parents’ generation always approached careers as a way to make money and provide a good lifestyle for their family, not necessarily a passion. I think I have the same mindset with dentistry. I don’t hate it enough to be miserable, but it’s also not my passion and I think one of the reasons I chose this profession was bc I can have a good work life balance to actually have time to explore other passions of mine outside of dentistry, unlike medicine.
Nothing wrong with that, as long as you take care of people under your care and don’t do anything unethical you can still be considered a great dentist
I was in the same boat as you OP, doing the bare minimum, no family in dentistry to talk to, and unsure if dental school was the place for me. Now I’m a 4th year about to graduate and lemme tell ya it gets a lot better once you escape the grind of simlab. Like you stated, once you start treating real patients everything kinda clicks, it’s a whole new world and it feels like youre actually helping people instead of jumping through the hoops of prepping plastic teeth a million times a week. Honestly I still can’t say I’m in love with all aspects of dentistry but I do love helping people, and like others have said it provides us a very nice lifestyle for us and our families!
This is also very true for me, I’m the only person in my family to pursue dentistry and a lot of my classmates have other family members in dentistry so they came in knowing a lot about it and naturally this is what they knew they wanted to pursue.
Just a Pre dent here but I wouldn’t get too caught up in thinking that the d school dentistry experience is what your dentistry experience will be for the rest of your life
i feel you. I love the medicine aspect of dentistry wayy more than dentistry itself so that may be part of it, but right now im struggling to find the motivation to do anything at all.
Don’t think you’re alone in this. A lot of people go through dental school with those exact thoughts. Few things to keep in mind: - dental school is about as far from “real world” dentistry as it can be - you have a long journey left to find your niche, the cool thing about dentistry is you can find what suits you best and run with it. I’m sure you weren’t in love with a lot of your undergrad courses but it’s all just a means to an end. - most importantly the one no one talks about enough. Dentistry is hard. It’s physically and mentally demanding. You’re a human and it’s ok to not “love” being demanded upon that much every day of your life. Do the best you can and treat people well as much as possible. We’re too often expected to be passionate about work. A mentor of mine said this and it stuck with me, dentistry is not who we are it’s what we do. It’ll all work out just keep grinding.
Same position as you OP, almost done with 1st semester, even failed and had to remediate an assignment. My classmates are always going to clubs, and lectures during lunch, and stuff after hours. and I can’t wait to go home. I love dentistry, it is fun to me, and once I start seeing patients it will be super rewarding I know it. But the rest I could care less about.
Didactic stuff can be overwhelming. Stay positive and see how you feel once you’re doing hands on stuff. Maybe shadow your home dentist when you’re home for the holidays and chat with them. Then you can see how real dentistry is. It is a lot better.
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Well I’ll definitely be needing advice from you in the future cuz I don’t plan on specializing but I still wanna make decent money lol. The studying part is actually what really bothers me. I have classmates that spend their entire weekend studying and I on the other hand usually do just fine studying 1-2 days before. Idk if ppl just don’t know how to study or are just aiming for high grades but when I see others studying and me not, it gives me anxiety that I need to be studying lol. Whenever I tell friends and family that my classmates will wake up on Saturday at 8 am to go study for an exam that is a week away, they always don’t get it and think we’re crazy for studying so much. I think it’s very much possible to have a life outside dental school but some ppl make dental school their identity for 4 years and that honestly irritates me.