The Fun Things About A Dental Education

By Author: Karen McDonagh
Total Articles: 75
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“In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun.
You find the fun and snap – the job’s a game!”

These are words spoken by the wise and charming nanny Mary Poppins, from the movie of the same name. She had the right idea about accomplishing tasks. A chore, an errand, a current life problem and even a career path need not be cloaked in tediousness or monotony. The key is in finding what makes or can make the matter at hand something exciting or something to look forward to, and things will more likely be worth doing.

Dentistry is a profession that most of the time is cloaked with much apprehension just because compared to other more “liked” professions or jobs, it is not talked about as much. Most of the time, people just associate dentistry and dental professionals with tooth aches and terrifying procedures or treatments in a dental clinic with intimidating tools. One can thus see why people will assume that dentistry is not fun. Though, finding what makes a dental education fun and sharing it with others may change what people perceive it to be.
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One of the fun things with a dental education is that the student gets to study and train to be a doctor by profession without putting in the more rigorous hours and years required to attain a medical doctor degree. Yes, a dental professional is a doctor, but one that specializes in the oral cavity, just like there are doctors that specialize on the skin or the heart or the feet. The word “doctor” is even in the letters that a dental professional attaches to his or her name after graduating and passing the dental board exams – DMD (Dentariae Medicinae Doctor), DDS (Doctor of Dental Surgery) or DDM (Doctor of Dental Medicine). This title grant recognizes that a student who becomes a dental professional did undergo medical study and training, but with specific emphasis on the oral cavity.

Another fun thing about a dental education is that it teaches a person how to be of help to another person by “fixing” their smiles. Many patients these days are conscious about appearances because society has set up a high standard for what is beautiful. Being trained as a dentist gives knowledge of the things involved in achieving a nice smile – both from a functional standpoint and an artistic standpoint. As an example, most persons will notice if someone has a crooked front tooth. Some might even suggest for the person to just have the tooth removed. A dentist, however, will be able to assess if the tooth need not be removed but just needs a prosthetic treatment to make it more esthetic while preserving its functionality as part of the oral cavity. The patient will have a nice smile and still be able to bite a sandwich properly with an original set of teeth – all thanks to the dental professional’s help.

When already in clinical practice, the fun thing about a dental education degree is its flexibility. There is flexibility as to where a practitioner may want to set up a clinic because most of the time they need not be associated with a particular hospital. A dental professional may choose to set up clinic or join a practice already established in an area that suits his or her other interests, such as near outdoor garden or within vicinity of city attractions. There is flexibility in the work schedule or hours because dental professionals usually only work office hours and are not on-call for middle of the night emergencies, unless the dental practitioner has signed up to be in a hospital’s emergency call list. Otherwise, with the choice of work hours, a dental professional can be out of the clinic and in the gym or golf course or shopping mall before other people get out of the office. There is flexibility in the career path a dental graduate may take. Aside from the option of working in a private dental clinic, a practitioner may choose to enter public service, military service, to be an instructor in a dental school, a businessman of dental equipment or materials, an owner of a dental lab where dentures or dental restorations are produced and many other options. Being in the dental profession becomes fun, exciting and limitless because of the flexibility in many of its aspects.

Knowing what one can do with a dental education, the options attached to this career choice and the person one can be through it gives the dental profession a new light. Instead of being looked upon as sadistic, boring or limited, it is easy to see how enjoyment and fun thing can be found in the dental profession if one gives it a chance.

Karen McDonagh is a proud contributing author and write articles on several subjects including Dental CPD. To gather more information please go to Professional Education for Dentists .