Dentistry Essay

Dentistry is a branch of healthcare unlike any other and I sincerely yearn for a larger role within it. Day after day, people come into our practice in pain or frustration and they leave with their problems solved. The dentist doesn't just write prescriptions that may, or may not mask what a patient is dealing with. Instead, they sit with the patient, teach them about their problem, and explain all the practical solutions. The dentist educates the patient on how to keep this problem from re-occurring in the future, and then they use their knowledge and dexterity to fix the issue, oftentimes that very day. Everything I've just described correlates with why I would love to become a dentist. I'm a brilliant, dexterous, and compassionate

person

After a lifetime of considering various healthcare professions, and a visit to a thought provoking dentist, I finally had an answer to what kind of healthcare professional I wanted to be. Dentistry was the answer. Initially, I thought the hours appeared great, the work itself seemed manageable, and the profession was one that could provide for my small family. Little did I know how much I would absolutely fall in love with this career.

Soon after, I started shadowing in a few practices. The more time I spent in dental offices, the more I realized how much I desired to be a dentist.

Eventually, I found out through shadowing that dental assistants weren't required to go through any standardized programs or schooling. With little money to pay for an official assisting program, I went to my computer and started emailing every dental office looking for help in the Phoenix area. I explained that I had little experience in dentistry, but if they could provide training, I would be willing to work for free until the office deemed me worthy of compensation. That email got me a job at Southern Vista Dental Care, and working for this practice has allowed for me to become extremely well-rounded in the dental

I know very clearly now that I want to be a dentist, but I lacked this foresight during my undergraduate coursework.

If I had come up with a career choice a few years sooner my GPA would've looked much different. After retaking the DAT last year, it is my hope to make myself a stronger dental school candidate by completing a Master of Arts in Biomedical Sciences at Midwestern University. This is a rigorous nine-month program to which I've been matriculated that I plan on having completed by next spring.

It can be a little nerve racking to start down new paths, especially when those paths have very stressful reputations. I remember how nervous I was to assist with my first patient. She was a teenage girl scared out of her wits to be at the dentist. The Doctor laid her chair back and beads of sweat were dripping down this poor girl's face. She grasped my hand preparing for the worst as the doctor grabbed his syringe. To my surprise the grip she had on my hand never tightened, and after the needle came out of her mouth, she admitted she hadn't felt a thing. If this girl had nothing to worry about, I knew I had nothing to worry about either. Likewise, I know this next year, and possibly the next five if matriculated, will be stressful