The dental industry is so lucrative that in 2017, the global dental market earned 30 billion US dollars. After all, when someone’s teeth need fixing, they can’t do it all by themselves – thus the need for dentists who know better how to get the job done. When you first had your teeth fixed or cleaned by a dentist, you may have found their work so appealing to you that you wanted to follow in their footsteps. You might be wondering though how you can make it as a dentist in the dental industry.
Go to Dental School First
Even if you know so much about dental problems and anything else that has to do with the dental industry as a whole through sheer research and reading every dental textbook you can find, it doesn’t mean that you can already start practicing as a dentist. You’ll first have to go to dental school.
However, dental schools don’t just accept anyone who wants to become a dentist but doesn’t meet the bare minimum qualifications. You should, therefore, get yourself a Bachelor’s degree in any field at a college or university of your choice as long as it offers courses in Biology and Chemistry. You should get high grades in both subjects for you to become accepted into dental school.
While in your third year in college, you should take the Dental Admissions Test as administered by your country’s dental association. You should get either a high or passing mark in it for you to be accepted in dental school.
Once you’ve completed your Bachelor’s degree and passed the Dental Admissions Test, you can start applying for admission to a dental school that you think is right for you – as long as your country’s dental accreditation organization has accredited it. You wouldn’t want to waste a few years of your life in a dental school only to find out that the institution isn’t accredited to teach dentistry, would you?
Complete Your Doctorate Degree in Dental School
After having gotten yourself admitted to dental school, you’ll have to pursue either a Doctor of Dental Surgery (or DDS) or Doctor of Dental Medicine (or DDM) degree there. Whichever among the two doctorate degrees you choose is fine. As a DDS or DDM student, you’ll get to take several specialized courses that have to do with the field of dentistry.
Pass Both National and State Licensure Exams
Finishing your doctorate in dental school doesn’t mean that you can already start working as a dentist. You wouldn’t want to end up behind bars after your country’s dental association found out that you’re fixing people’s teeth without having any license to do so.
To get your license to practice dentistry, you’ll have to take two sets of licensure exams, one countrywide and the other statewide. The countrywide licensure exam is a written test but the statewide licensure exam is where you’ll get to apply in real life everything you’ve learned in dental school – as it requires you to perform dental treatment on test patients.
Get a Job as a Dental Associate
After finishing dental school and passing both national and state licensure exams, it’s time for you to gain working experience that you’ll need once you decide to set up a dental practice of your own (more on that later). If you know someone from your stay in dental school or Columbia Dental LV who’s an established dentist, you should ask them if you can become their apprentice – or what the dental industry calls a dental associate. By undergoing an apprenticeship under the auspices of an established dentist, you’ll get to learn more about how someone who has succeeded in the field of dentistry does things.
Set Up Your Private Dental Practice
When you feel that you’ve learned enough from an established dentist as their dental associate, you can thank them for teaching you everything you need to know about dentistry and then start your very own dental practice.
As a dentist engaging in private practice, you’ll get to set your desired working hours. However, it also means that getting patients to visit you lies entirely in your hands.
Choose a Location Where People with Dental Problems Can Visit You
Becoming a dentist can be a blessing and a curse at the same time. But the fun part of having a dental practice is when you get to conquer every challenge that may arise. One of those challenges, as already mentioned above, is selling yourself and your services to people with various sorts of dental problems.
Before officially launching your private practice as a dentist, you should scout for a location where you’ll set up your dental clinic. The ideal location for your dental clinic should be one where many people pass by so that patients can easily find you. It could be near a shopping mall or a school. You’ll want to set up your private practice near the latter if you want most of your patients to be children.
Employ the Right Staff
Think convenience when planning your dental clinic. Not only is the location important, but you want your customers to feel appreciated and well taken care of when visiting your office. This is why it is important to take time in recruiting all the right people to work with you. Get a receptionist who will make clients feel welcomed (even when they dread going to the dentist!) and hygienists who are fully qualified to assist you. Having a great team will help you thrive as a dentist and your business thrive in a world where there are several others offering the same services in your area.
Build a Website for Your Dental Practice
Some of your patients may stumble upon your dental clinic after passing it while taking a walk or driving. But most other patients you may have could quite possibly have found out about your private dental practice after searching the Internet for a clinic where they can have their dental problems fixed.
So aside from opening a brick-and-mortar office where you can practice your chosen medical profession, you should also create a website for your dental clinic where anyone whose teeth need fixing can find out more about you, the various services that you offer, and how they can reach you in case they have questions to ask you. You’ll want your dental clinic website to be at the top page of search results for dentists in your area, so you should get it optimized for local searches. For more information on how to accomplish that, you can go to theseomarketingcompany.com/seo/dental/ and apply the search engine optimization tips there to your dental clinic website.
Conclusion
Making it as a dentist is a long and arduous path. But you don’t have to blindly navigate your way within the dental industry as long as you read the guide above that aims to orient you on what you should do before you can become a full-fledged dental professional. Dental problems won’t fix themselves after all.
