E-Portfolio Term Project Paper

Sheerin Farahbakhsh
BUS 1010-409-Su16
Professor Phillip Nelsen

Job Description
Details about the day-to-day duties of a dentist are as follows (this can vary
with each dentist):

Diagnosing oral diseases.

Promoting oral health and disease prevention.
Creating treatment plans to maintain or restore the oral

health of their patients.

Interpreting x-rays and diagnostic tests.
Ensuring the safe administration of anesthetics.
Monitoring growth and development of the teeth and jaws.
Performing surgical procedures on the teeth, bone and soft
tissues of the oral cavity.

Below I will discuss about what day to day duties Dr. Knowlton has. This
career has many big responsibilities. There was this time when we had a
patient who needed to have a filling done. As I read through his medical
chart, nothing stood out so we followed with our usual routine. The dentist
gave the patient local anesthesia, and then he stepped away for a minute to
let the anesthesia set in well. I stayed behind to talk with the patient, and
began writing in his chart about the procedure we were about to perform. I
turned my back from the patient for a second. I then realized he had stopped
talking. I turned back around to see if everything was okay which is when I
realized that he was seizing. I immediately asked someone to get Dr. Dillman
to let him know what was happening. As he walked into the operatory the
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E-Portfolio Term Project Paper

Sheerin Farahbakhsh
BUS 1010-409-Su16
Professor Phillip Nelsen

patient had stopped seizing and the patient didnt remember anything. It
was like it had never happened, and I was the only one who had witnessed it.
At the time I dont believe I was prepared with the amount of knowledge as I
have now to handle that situation. Looking back now I was pretty lucky that
nothing more serious happen. I am not sure how prepared someone can
really be when experiencing something like this for the first time, but as a
dentist you have to be prepared for anything, and the worst. Something Dr.
Dillman used to always tell me is Dentistry is the perfect career because
you get to be a doctor, but you dont have to watch people die.

General Career Path for a Dentist

An individual seeking to pursue a career as a dentist will usually complete a
4-year degree before applying for a dental school. Not all students who apply
for a dental school will have a 4-year degree, some will apply after three
years of college. Although the majority of dental schools require a 4-year
degree. The bachelor degree that you pursue doesnt have to be specific in
the sciences. You are, though, required to have certain courses completed in
order to apply for some schools (higher math, science, art, technical writing
ect.) Those course vary which each school, but theyre mostly pretty similar.
Here is a list of some of the pre-dental courses for the University Of Utah
School Of Dentistry:
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E-Portfolio Term Project Paper

Sheerin Farahbakhsh
BUS 1010-409-Su16
Professor Phillip Nelsen

Biochemistry
Biology
Chemistry (General, Inorganic)
Chemistry (Organic)
English Composition/Technical

Writing
Physics
Physiology
Microbiology

3 Semester Hours
6 Semester Hours
8 Semester Hours
6 Semester Hours
6 Semester Hours

6 Semester Hours
3 Semester Hours
3 Semester Hours

This is pre-requisite coursework, and then there are course that they
recommend students to take. It is not required to get a degree in a science,
but you could integrate this course work with your degree. Another thing to
consider is having a degree that allows you stand out from the pool of
applicants. Youre next step, after youve completed the required
coursework, is to take the DAT which stands for the Dental Admission Test.
The scoring ranges from a 1-30. The average DAT score is around an 18.
Dental School takes is four years, and then you have the option to do a
residency prior to starting a practice. If you would like to further your
education in the dental field and specialize, depending on the specialty, it
can take up to two more years of school.
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E-Portfolio Term Project Paper

Sheerin Farahbakhsh
BUS 1010-409-Su16
Professor Phillip Nelsen

Average Salary
The average salary has a lot of components to it. Own practice, work
for another practice, specialties. Below is a chart of wages for those
practicing general dentistry.

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for this occupation:

Employment
(1)

100,080

Employme

Mean

Mean

nt

hourly

annual

RSE (3)

wage

wage (2)

1.7 %

$82.86

$172,350

Wage
RSE (3)

1.1 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

50%
Percentile

10%

25%

(Median

75%

90%

)
Hourly Wage

$32.84

$52.42

$73.42

(5)

(5)

Annual Wage (2)

$68,310

$109,030

$152,700

(5)

(5)

Career Outlook

E-Portfolio Term Project Paper

Sheerin Farahbakhsh
BUS 1010-409-Su16
Professor Phillip Nelsen

I chose this career because it is medicine. Medicine is constantly

evolving, and is something that will never go away. It is going to just
continue to advance, and that is the fascinating part of it all. We dont have
all the answers. There is always going to be someone that has a toothache,
and in need for a dentist. The growth rate projected for a general dentist,
from the year 2014 to the year 2024, is set to be 18%, the average for all
occupations is 7%. There are a lot of dentist that are up and coming, but
being a female in the year 2016 has its perks.

Bio of Someone in the Profession

Education David Knowlton decided to follow in his fathers footsteps and
become a dentist. His dad worked in a Dental Lab which is now located
across the street from Davids practice. He attended the University of Utah
and before he finished his associate degree he took the DAT test (Dental
Aptitude Test), received a good score, and applied for dental school in
Omaha, Nebraska. After getting in, he learned that the U of U did a program
with the dental school he had recently been admitted to which would save
him about $20,000 $30,000 in tuition, though, he would have had to wait
another year to begin school. After deep thought David and his dad came to
the conclusion that he would re-make that money back pretty quickly once
he graduated, and that he should head to dental school as soon as possible.
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E-Portfolio Term Project Paper

Sheerin Farahbakhsh
BUS 1010-409-Su16
Professor Phillip Nelsen

Dr. Knowlton graduated with high honors from the U and graduated dental
school 4 years later.

Though, he never specialized, as he wishes he would have, David still

performs procedures such as; dental implants, oral surgery, root canals,
places braces, et cetera. If you are familiar with dentistry you would know
that this isnt something you see very often. In dental school they teach you
everything in every field but not as in detail as they would if you specialized
so David just kept practicing what he had learned. His exact words were Not
only would it drive me crazy to do general dentistry every day, but it would
be boring to not expand my ability. To me he recommended if I could
specialize, then to do it. Those that specialize are a bit more successful.
David doesnt ever regret following in his dads footsteps. He enjoys too much
of what he does, and the experiences he has with his patients. His least
favorite part about the job is not having good management. In the past he
has had trouble with this, though he tends to hire the right people for the job,
because bad management means bad environment/work flow. Something we
both agreed on and got excited about was that we both LOVE extractions. I
have never extracted a tooth obviously, but when I was an assistant working
for Dr. Dillman I absolutely loved assisting in for that procedure. Even though
Dr. Dillman enjoyed the easy ones that would pop right out, (dont get me
wrong I did too because itd put him in a good mood) I would enjoy the ones
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E-Portfolio Term Project Paper

Sheerin Farahbakhsh
BUS 1010-409-Su16
Professor Phillip Nelsen

that broke and became complicated. He would usually be frustrated and very
upset, but Id secretly be loving every moment.

Overall probably one of the most beneficial things I was able to take from
learning about his education was that this whole time I believed you needed
a bachelor degree to apply for a dental school. It is required for some schools
it, but for others schools you dont. I just may be applying for dental school a
lot sooner than I had expected. If I can save me a few years and money why
not!

Day to Day I already sort of had a basic idea of what his day to day job
consists of but a few things that he does on his own are taxes, manages the
bills, and meets with an accountant every now and then. His more day to day
tasks consist of procedures, and making sure everyone is doing their job
right. Procedures consist of cleanings, extractions, fillings
(composite/amalgam), root canals, crown preps, braces, and many others.
There is never a fixed time for each procedure. One can either be really easy
or become extremely complicated. It all varies with due to many reasons, EX:
An extraction can either take a quick 5 minutes or longer than an hour if the
tooth breaks and becomes complicated. Dr. Knowlton is the owner of his
practice so he gets to control his schedule, though he doesnt want to lose
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E-Portfolio Term Project Paper

Sheerin Farahbakhsh
BUS 1010-409-Su16
Professor Phillip Nelsen

money. He explained to me in a basic way how he manages the decisions on

scheduling. It costs money every day to have the door open, about $10 (I am
only using random numbers for this hypothetical situation) so if that ten
dollars all goes to bills and paying his assistants he has to make at least $15
to pocket some money and continuously gain his money back. Like all of us
have had, he has the days when he is making double what it costs to keep
the door open or not making anything. This information was extremely
beneficial to me so that way I can start thinking of ways to be able to keep
my door open.

Pros and Cons of the Dental Field

PROS

CONS

Allows for a family.

The work doesnt come how with

you.
There will always be a need for

dentists.
This career choice allows you to

The cost of dental school.

The length of dental school.
The pre-requisite courses.
Competitive Field

move up.

Why This is the Career for Me

When I was around the age of eight, there was this girl who had moved
into our neighborhood and the moment I saw her smile was the moment that
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E-Portfolio Term Project Paper

Sheerin Farahbakhsh
BUS 1010-409-Su16
Professor Phillip Nelsen

I decided I wanted to give everyone a smile as big and beautiful as hers. As I

got older I became a certified dental assistant and worked full time as a
dental assistant. After about a year of working with the owner of the practice
full time, and working with a female dentist on the weekends I decided that it
was time to go back to school and become a dentist myself. I hope to
someday start off with a small practice and build it up from there. My
ultimate goal is to create a non-profit providing care to those who dont have
access to the services they need to have good oral health. I am fit for this
career because I have the passion and dedication for it. I have a good
intuition for a person and their needs, and I think that fits great with
dentistry because no one likes going to the dentist!

E-Portfolio Term Project Paper

Sheerin Farahbakhsh
BUS 1010-409-Su16
Professor Phillip Nelsen

Citations
Dentists: Doctors of Oral Health. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ada.org/en/aboutthe-ada/dentists-doctors-of-oral-health

Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) Program. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://dentistry.utah.edu/admissions/dds.php

Dental Admission Test 2016 Guide. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.ada.org/~/media/ADA/Education and
Careers/Files/dat_examinee_guide.ashx

29-1021 Dentists, General. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291021.htm

Summary. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/dentists.htm

Summary. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/dentists.htm

Summary. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/dentists.htm#tab-4

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