The practice of dentistry requires a broad range of highly specialized skills. Some are taught in dental school, while some must be brought to the profession as an innate characteristic of the dentist. If you believe you might make a good dentist, take a look at some of the skills needed for this demanding profession:
1. Manual dexterity. Dentists are required to perform delicate, sensitive procedures inside patients’ mouths. You’ll need to shape dental materials, pack amalgam into drilled-out cavities, and use dental drills and other appliances that take a steady hand and an aptitude for close-in work.
2. Visual memory. As a dentists, you’ll need to not only remember what different types of teeth look like and where they’re located, but you’ll need to be able to match colors when creating crowns and other dental components and recall what a patient’s teeth look like at every stage of their dental care.
3. Business sense. A dentists’ office is, above all else, a business, and a dentist must be able to deal with payroll, ordering supplies, overseeing billing, hiring and firing employees, and virtually every other aspect of running a small business.
4. Self-discipline. A dentist’s days are long, and they see a lot of patients – a busy dentist will have multiple patients seated in different examining rooms at the same time. If you become a dentist, you’ll need to be at work on time every day, do each procedure as efficiently as you can, and maintain a high standard of care no matter how you’re feeling or what’s happening in your personal life.
5. Good verbal communication skills. As with any healthcare professional, you’ll need to communicate effectively with patients and other employees of your practice. Dentists must explain procedures and home-care instructions to patients in a clear, concise manner, and need to be able to listen to patients’ complaints and read their body language to help diagnose and treat them.
6. A passion for your specialty. Most dentists are general practitioners, handling a wide variety of patients and dental needs. But many other dentists specialize, in one of nine specialities – Orthodontists straighten children’s, teen’s and adult’s teeth with braces or retainers. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons operate on the mouth and jaws. Other specialties include pediatric dentistry (oral health care for children); periodontists (treatment and preventive care of the gums and bone supporting the teeth); prosthodontists (replacement of missing teeth with fixtures like crowns, bridges or dentures, orendodontists (focusing on root canal therapy); public health dentists, oral pathologists (studying oral diseases); or oral and maxillofacial radiologists.
7. Aptitude for science. Dentistry involves a certain amount of hand’s-on medical care plus the ability to use sophisticated equipment, mix compounds together to make molds and repair teeth, and general medical knowledge to understand the working of the human body. If you’re in high school or college and thinking about becoming a dentists, you can prepare by taking courses in biology, chemistry, physics, health, and mathematics.
8. Good written communication skills. The ability to record notes in a patient's file for future reference is essential to your success in this profession. You must be able to properly record and document so other health care professionals have a starting point.
9. Leadership skills. As the dentist, you'll have to make decisions nobody else on your team is qualified to handle. As a result, the ability to step-up and take charge in every situation is essential.
10. Empathy. Treating patients is not always a pleasant experience for them. The ability to understand where the patient is coming from and make the situation as easy as possible for the patient is absolutely necessary to your success.
Dentistry can be a rewarding career, and if you have these skills, it may be the perfect career choice for you.
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