Dentistry as a Career

Dentistry has been an extraordinarily popular discipline in recent years. The dental profession has developed itself as a profitable practice that is in charge of the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of illnesses, ailments, and conditions of the oral cavity. The human essence of the profession, as well as the desire to assist persons suffering from oral disorders, influenced the decision to pursue it. Furthermore, the fact that it necessitates commitment and hard work proves to be a task that I was able to take on. The career choice would provide an effective opportunity to engage and interact with various individuals from various backgrounds as well as reiterating the relevant ethical considerations.

Behrents, Rolf G. "Who is an “Orthodontist”? Reprise for 2015." American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics147.5 (2015): 525-528. The article explains that a dentist is required to have a perfect understanding of the human body with a specific insight to the mouth. The author explains that most dentist usually take up general medicine before specializing in dentistry. He writes that the studies usually involve classwork as well as laboratories where the students are taken through practical to help them integrate and understand the various dental aspects. The article is important to the study since it gives a detailed account of the education requirements for the students.

Stafford, Gary L., Farrokh Nourzad, William K. Lobb, and Jason R. Beall. "The economic costs and benefits of dental education: an empirical analysis." Journal of dental education 78.11 (2014): 1497-1507. The publication explains that one may decide to major in chemistry, biology or another science during the bachelor’s degree before venturing into dentistry school. The author writes that to be a dentist in the United States, one needs to complete at least two years of pre-dental education. During the last 2 years, students treat patients, usually in dental clinics, under the supervision of licensed dentists (Stafford, 6). Applicants in the USA are required to take Dental Admission Tests before they are accepted to the school. The nature of competition in the school means that the scores need to be high for one to be accepted. The relevance to the study is seen in the ability of the article to explain important educational requirements for the dentists.

ArRejaie, Aws S., Amal M. Nawasrah, Soban Q. Khan, Faraz A. Farooqi, Roqaiyh Somali, and Wejoud F. Al-Mudani. "Patients’ perception toward various dental treatments provided in the internship program." Saudi medical journal 35.12 (2014): 1513. The study reiterates that that dentists are required to undertake intensive internship programs where they are able to practice under strict supervision. The article highlights that the process involves the students being taken through various dentistry programs that help them enhance their independence during practice. The authors also highlight that the students may also take up volunteer work in hospitals while they are on holiday to make them be acquainted with relevant hospital environments. They can act as helpers to the professionals to improve their insight as well as understanding that comes with working in such an environment. The meaningful nature of the article is developed in the reiteration of the importance of the need for internship programs.

Doumani, Mazen, Adnan Habib, Abrar Alhababi, Ahmad Bashnakli, Enass Shamsy, and Mohammad Zakaria Nassani. "The internship dentists self confidence levels during root canal treatment procedures." International Journal of Dental Research 5.2 (2017): 121-124. The study highlights the importance of internship programs in dentistry. The authors explain the need for such programs to help boost the confidence levels of the students and enable them to effective engage the industrial frameworks. They cite the need for the students to be engaged in a healthy environment which is able to improve their understanding of the professional perspectives. Additionally, the article calls for the need to practice in a busy environment where they can understand varied attributes and concepts that help enhance their overall objective in dentistry. The authors highlight issues related to root canal treatment procedures to emphasize their grasp of the topic.

Allareddy, Veerasathpurush, Satheesh Elangovan, Romesh P. Nalliah, Nithya Chickmagalur, and Veeratrishul Allareddy. "Pathways for foreign-trained dentists to pursue careers in the United States." Journal of dental education 78.11 (2014): 1489-1496. The article introduces important issues related to the accreditation of foreign dentists. The individuals’ pursuant of their careers is usually marred by various requirements which may not be easy to achieve. The authors write that some of them are even required to go back to dental schools depending on their country of origin. The sensitive nature of the issues emphasizes the importance of the article in this study.

Blair, Roger D., and Christine Piette Durrance. "Licensing health care professionals, state action and antitrust policy." Iowa L. Rev.100 (2014): 1943. The report explains that the nature of the accreditations, however, differ from state to state. The authors in their article write that majority of the states require a dental degree, written and clinical exams. The nature of the exams is determined by the various state board and may be reviewed periodically depending on the health situations and the existing trends and developments in the state as well as in the industry. Their article is important as it explains the importance of various ethical codes of conduct that regulate the nature of the practice and makes sure that dentists who go against the code have their licenses revoked or suspended depending on the nature of the breach. In some states, the dentist is required to have Basic Life Support or cardiopulmonary resuscitation certification before getting the license to practice.

Abdelkarim, Ahmad, and Donna Sullivan. "Perspectives of dental students and faculty about evidence-based dental practice." Journal of Evidence Based Dental Practice 14.4 (2014): 165-173. The publication explains the various perspectives of the dental students and medical practitioners regarding the evidence based practice in dentistry. Recent developments have seen the adoption of evidence based practice in medicine. However, the dentist sector has showed reluctance in taking up the practice. The article gives a two side understanding of the version with the students explaining the need for evidence based practice while the practitioners emphasizing on sticking to the status quo. This makes it efficient to the study and its objectives.

Napeñas, Joel J., Omar Kujan, Paolo G. Arduino, Suma Sukumar, Sheila Galvin, Marinka Baričević, John Costella, Rakefet Czerninski, Douglas E. Peterson, and Peter B. Lockhart. "World Workshop on Oral Medicine VI: Controversies regarding dental management of medically complex patients: assessment of current recommendations." Oral surgery, oral medicine, oral pathology and oral radiology 120.2 (2015): 207-226. The report cites the cases of medically complex patients. The various controversies surrounding them has made it difficult to enhance the required forms of practice in dentistry. Moreover, the increasing need to incorporate them in the health society makes the article viable for the study.

Sasso, Anthony T. Lo, Rebecca L. Starkel, Matthew N. Warren, Albert H. Guay, and Marko Vujicic. "Practice settings and dentists’ job satisfaction." The Journal of the American Dental Association146.8 (2015): 600-609. The authors explain that the average salary for a Dentist is $125,174 per year. The figure is seen to be above most of the paygrades in the country. However. Dentists feel that their input is not reflected in the salary as they highlight the need for effectiveness and increase in the prices to enable their overall effectiveness. The author highlights that various states such as New York and Texas are seen to offer the best job satisfaction.

Munson, Bradley, and Marko Vujicic. "General practitioner dentist earnings down slightly in 2014." Health Policy Institute Research Brief. American Dental Association. March (2016). The authors cite the high cost of living in these areas, therefore, making the dentists fail to enjoy their income. It makes it difficult to ensure the long term efficiency of their salaries. Additionally, it is also increasingly difficult for the states to allocate money to the health sector, thus, demoralizing dentists in some states. This is explained in the study and makes the article important and relevant to the study

Dentistry, thus, is seen to be an important career that directly influences many lives. The sector has managed to establish effective regulations that have ensured the adoption of required practices through close consideration between the state and the various public institutions. Additionally, the stiff regulations for dentists in the country means that the dental schools are able to graduate efficient practitioners that help propel the health sector in the country. However, there is need to address concerns and controversies raised to help increase the efficiency of the industry. The achievement will help increase job satisfaction and morale of the dentists in the country.

Works Cited

Abdelkarim, Ahmad, and Donna Sullivan. "Perspectives of dental students and faculty about evidence-based dental practice." Journal of Evidence Based Dental Practice 14.4 (2014): 165-173.

Allareddy, Veerasathpurush, Satheesh Elangovan, Romesh P. Nalliah, Nithya Chickmagalur, and Veeratrishul Allareddy. "Pathways for foreign-trained dentists to pursue careers in the United States." Journal of dental education 78.11 (2014): 1489-1496

ArRejaie, Aws S., Amal M. Nawasrah, Soban Q. Khan, Faraz A. Farooqi, Roqaiyh Somali, and Wejoud F. Al-Mudani

Behrents, Rolf G. "Who is an “Orthodontist”? Reprise for 2015." American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics147.5 (2015): 525-528.

Blair, Roger D., and Christine Piette Durrance. "Licensing health care professionals, state action and antitrust policy." Iowa L. Rev.100 (2014): 1943.

Doumani, Mazen, Adnan Habib, Abrar Alhababi, Ahmad Bashnakli, Enass Shamsy, and Mohammad Zakaria Nassani. "The internship dentists self confidence levels during root canal treatment procedures." International Journal of Dental Research 5.2 (2017): 121-124

Munson, Bradley, and Marko Vujicic. "General practitioner dentist earnings down slightly in 2014." Health Policy Institute Research Brief. American Dental Association. March (2016).

Napeñas, Joel J., Omar Kujan, Paolo G. Arduino, Suma Sukumar, Sheila Galvin, Marinka Baričević, John Costella, Rakefet Czerninski, Douglas E. Peterson, and Peter B. Lockhart. "World Workshop on Oral Medicine VI: Controversies regarding dental management of medically complex patients: assessment of current recommendations." Oral surgery, oral medicine, oral pathology and oral radiology 120.2 (2015): 207-226

Sasso, Anthony T. Lo, Rebecca L. Starkel, Matthew N. Warren, Albert H. Guay, and Marko Vujicic. "Practice settings and dentists’ job satisfaction." The Journal of the American Dental Association146.8 (2015): 600-609.

Stafford, Gary L., Farrokh Nourzad, William K. Lobb, and Jason R. Beall. "The economic costs and benefits of dental education: an empirical analysis." Journal of dental education 78.11 (2014): 1497-1507