In this day and age, becoming a dentist is a great career choice. Dentistry is a respectable field and dentists make a good salary. And because teeth will always need to be cleaned and cared for, the field of dentistry is not hit as hard by the bad economy as other fields are. While things like personal training, expensive hair cuts, private tutors, and fancy meals are luxuries that are the first to go during bad economic times, dental care is pretty much a necessity.
So what do you need to do in order to become a dentist? You can start preparing for a career in dentistry as early as high school, where you can take science classes, such as biology, chemistry, and algebra. Focus on doing well in your classes in order to get into a good college.
Most dentistry students in the United States first get a bachelor’s degree. While your major is not that important when preparing for dental school, it is important to fulfill certain prerequisites, which are usually science classes such as biology, chemistry, and physics. In order to ascertain the prerequisite classes, talk to your school’s career counselor as well as your faculty adviser. You should research dentistry schools and get in touch with the schools you would be interested in attending to find out exactly what classes they would like you to take. But do be aware that if science is not a subject you prefer, you may want to reconsider you choice to attend dental school. Otherwise, be sure to work hard in college, do especially well in the prerequisite classes, and maintain a high GPA. High grades, especially in the prerequisite courses, will increase your chances of getting into a good school.
You will need to take a special test to get into dentistry school. This test is called the Dental Admission Test (the DAT for short). This test focuses on such things as your math and natural science abilities, as well as reading comprehension. For more information on the test, you can visit the ADA’s website at http://www.ada.org/prof/ed/testing/dat/. The test needs to be taken at least a year in advance of entering school, so if you want to enroll straight after college, you should take the DAT by your junior year. You should also begin applying to school a year in advance, so you may also want to do that your junior year.
Applying to dental school is similar to applying for college. You’ll need to include your test scores and your transcripts. You’ll likely need to do interviews as well, which it may be a good idea to prepare for.
So if you do well in college, on your test, and on your interviews, you’ll likely be accepted to a good school. Once there, you will spend about 4 years there, studying and learning the basics initially, then putting your learning into practice on actual patients while supervised. While in school and after, you will be taking various tests that you need to pass to obtain your license. Once you’ve graduated from school and obtained your license, you will be legally allowed to practice dentistry.
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