Term Research Paper

Dentistry
Kevin Lynch
Business 1010
July 8th 2016

Job Description:
A dentist can easily be defined as someone who is a medical health care
professional who specialized in oral and dental hygiene health of their
patients. From this you see that dentist to all sorts of things form that involve
anything with the mouth or our oral hygiene. Most dentist typically examine
the dental and oral hygiene of patients, from this they will either offer them
advice on how they can better their teeth and their dental hygiene. Or they
will carry our dental surgeries and other tasks that need to be done on a
patient. When being a dentist you have many machines and technologies
that help you with your job. These machines and equipment could be any of
the following: using and operating X-Ray machines, using the drills to drill
into peoples teeth, using and becoming familiar with all of the utensils
needed to clean the patients teeth, and many many more. With all of the
technology advancements in this day in age dentist need to always be up to
date on any new research or developments in the industry to help them and
their practice. Dentist also need to be able to keep up to date records of their
patients dental standing and structure. The structure of the teeth may be
how someone or the dentist can Identify someone. Most commonly people
see the dentist after a dental hygienist has cleaned their teeth, in which the
dentist then checks for things like cavities and anything that could cause
further damage in the future. Many of the simple skills that are needed when
being a dentist are first and for most communication. A dentist needs to
communicate to an individual what they need to do to better their teeth and

oral health. If a dentist cant explain it in simple terms, then the patient will
never understand how they can improve on their oral health. Dentist also
need to show patience toward everyone they meet. With the clients
especially they need to be patient with how they are progressing in their oral
health. The need to be able to work long hours. Most dentist work a normal
work day, like 9 to 5 however there are some dentist that will often work
longer hours and weekend hours, thus they need to be able to be on their
feet the whole time. Dentist need to be able to work well with their hands
and mind. First with the hands they need to be able to work with peoples
teeth in small areas. They dont have a lot of wiggle room when it comes to
peoples teeth thus they need to know how to utilize their hands to the
fullest. The second is the mind. As a dentist you see everything upside down.
You are looking into a mouth the wrong way, therefore you need to train your
mind to be able to think and operate like that. All in all to be a dentist you
need to help others understand oral health, how to keep it update, how to
have the best teeth. You need to inform them treatment plans that are best
for them and their teeth.
Career path:
The path to being a dentist is an interesting one, I would know because Im
on it right now. Most would think that to be a dentist you would go to college
and start getting a degree in dentistry, however there is no such thing. To be
dentist you do not need to obtain a bachelors degree. However, most dental
graduate school prefer to see a bachelors degree in something. The most

important part about becoming a dentist is being able to pass the Dental
Admission Test or known as the DAT. The DAT is very similar to the MCAT, for
medical school, before you can even get into graduate dental school you
need to be able to pass this exam. The DAT is conducted by the American
Dental Association (ADA) for applicants seeking admission to dental school.
The DAT Program has been in operation nationally since 1950. The DAT is
designed to measure general academic ability, comprehension of scientific
information, and perceptual ability. The DAT is administered year round at
test centers operated by Prometric Inc. While all dental schools require
applicants to participate in the DAT Program, test results are only one factor
considered in evaluating applicant admission potential. Validity studies have
shown that test scores in conjunction with academic records are useful in
predicting performance in dental school. The relative importance of these
predictors in the admission process is determined by each dental school.
(The American Dental Association, 2016) Some of the things that are
included on the DAT are as follows. Cell and Molecular Biology, which will
include anything form developmental biology, to genetics. You will also need
Chemistry, everything from general concepts to organic chemistry. So all in
all the test in mostly science based things testing your knowledge of how
well you understand it. Therefore, it is very common to have dental students
major in something like chemistry, or biology therefore they are ready for the
DAT when it is their turn to take it. Once they are done with a bachelors
degree they then take the DAT. After taking the DAT they apply to dental

schools all across the nation. Dental school is 4 more years of schooling in
which you will learn the basics of dentistry. This is where you learn things like
how to operate on humans and learn about teeth and so one. Dental school
is hard to get into just like medical school. Some of the easiest ways to get
into dental school is to work in a dental office. One of the biggest things they
look at is how many hours people have in a dental office. This can be very
impressive to some or if you have the lack of hours then it is not impressive
at all. During Dental school they do not want you working, but strictly
studying for school and working on being a dentist. After completion of
Dental school, you can either go further to specialize in something like an
oral surgeon or something. But most stop after four and then start practicing
a dentist.
General Education/ Certificates needed
As I mentioned above there is not a specific bachelors degree needed, some
dont even have one, but most dental school give would like to see a
bachelors degree in some sort of science, this is to help with Dental school.
You will need to be able to graduate from dental school. Once you have
graduated from dental school you are then need to register with the GDC in
order to practice as a qualified dentist. Those are the things need to be able
to become a dentist and have all the right paper work, degrees, certifications
you name it.
Salary

Most of the dentist you see are self-employed and do rather well. With the
proper degrees and certificates dentist can make anywhere from 110,000 to
200,000 dollars in a year, the average dentist in the state of Utah makes
anywhere from 110,000 to 140,000. Other states dentist makes much much
more, because of the need of dentist in the area.
Bio of Tim Leishman
Tim Leishman in my cousin, he is a dentist. Most of the things in know about
dentistry I know from Tim. Tim first found that he like to work with peoples
teeth as he worked in a dental office in Lehi Utah. He worked for Stone haven
dental and worked as a dental assistant. Tim was a dental assistant for along
time as he went to school at BYU. Tim ended up working for Stone haven
dental for about 3 or so years. He graduated from BYU with a major in
biology. The next step for him was to apply for dental school. He finally found
a match and got accepted in to the Arizona state dental school. Tim is
currently still in school with only year to go, but is loving every second of it.
Tim impressed the Dental school with how many hours he had in a dental
office, thus showing how familiar it all was for him. As a result form my
interview with him I understood more about how to prepare for dentistry
school. He gave me things to do and so look out for as I apply. Tips like
always updating you hours you worked in a dental office to dental schools
and so on thus showing the schools you are consistently getting better.
Pros and Cons

The pro of the dentist industry are simple, you get to be your own boss, and
make your own hours, the Pay that they receive is very beneficial and will
support a family of a good size. The advantages also include you children will
never have to worry about any oral health due to your profession
The cons are that dentistry school is very expensive and long, it can be up to
100,000 dollars in debt a year at dental school. This is also a very
competitive field and lots of people are going into it, thus you need to excel
at it.
The fIt
I believe that I am a very good fit for this. I love teeth and helping people
smile. I love the way that the dentist makes me feel, and makes me smile. I
think I have a good opportunity to become a dentist as I am competitive with
my grades and so on. I feel like I meet all of the qualifications that are
needed at this point, of course I need to go to dental school and finish my
bachelors to help me be more qualified for the position.

Sources:
Bureau of Labor statistics, Us Department of labor, Truity .com .2015, Article from
website, July 8, 2016
DAT Guide, American Dental Association, 2016, PDF file ,July 8, 2016

Interview, Tim Leishman dental student, June 10 th 2016,

Occupational out look handout, 2016 edition, dentist, internet, December 17 th 2015,
July 8, 2016
Prospect jobs, AGCAS Editors, Prospects, January 2016, website July 8, 2016
Study.com, study.com, January2016, website, July 8, 2016
Target jobs, 2016, website July 8, 2016