Becoming An Orthodontist

An orthodontist is a very important job. They impact people in so many ways from simply giving someone braces so that the person can have a straight smile to figuring out the reason a person is having jaw pain. In order to become an orthodontist it takes an extremely committed person because of all the time and work that it takes. The actual job is not the only part of being an orthodontist that takes a lot of time and commitment. Schooling to become an orthodontist also takes up a lot of time and is very competitive so, in order to become an orthodontist you must be very committed. An orthodontist does a lot of different things everyday. They deal with anything from simple retainers to speech impediments. An orthodontist is a great career

Joseph Thompson in “How to Become an Orthodontist,” in order to practice orthodontic procedures the person must be licensed with a DDS (Doctor of Dental Surgery) or a DMD (Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry). The DDS and DMD are the same degree. In order to be licensed with one of these degrees, the degree must be received from a dental school and an exam must be passed. Also in order to become an orthodontist the person must understand orthodontic appliances and growth patterns of the teeth (Cosgrove 162). According to Elizabeth Layne in The Schooling to Become an Orthodontist, a personal quality needed in order to be an orthodontist is patience because the orthodontist will be working with people of all ages. This means the orthodontist may have to work with young children that are scared and won’t sit still. This would require patience to not get aggravated with the child and to be able to stay patient and calm the child down. Another quality that an orthodontist needs to have is good communication skills. The reason an orthodontist should have good communication skills is because they will have to communicate with and be kind to many people every single day. Becoming an orthodontist will take a long amount of time and it also takes a good person that is very dedicated to become

If the person decides that they don’t want to be an orthodontist they can just be a normal dentist. If the person sticks with becoming an orthodontist, according to Dr. Gino Pagano in the article “Life After Dental School: Preparing For and Ultimately Purchasing Your Own Practice” it is highly recommended to apply for GPR’s. A GPR is a program that provides special training by the help of a specialist. After this, find an associateship to work for. Doing this will help get experience on how a business is run. It is okay to not stick with one practice because working for different practices is just more experience but, if the orthodontist/dentist does not want to run their own practice then he/she needs to find a practice that is liked and stick with it (“Life After Dental School: Preparing for and Ultimately Purchasing Your Own Practice). After finding an associateship ,if prefered, it is time for a partnership or ownership. If wanted, owning a practice is an option. In order to own a practice knowing how to manage money is a must. It costs over $500,000 to start a dental practice so it is definitely needed to know how to manage money. Keeping depts to minimum is the number one thing that should be focused on. Another must is being responsible. Owning a practice is a lot of work from managing money to hiring employees (“Starting Your Own Dental Practice: Keeping the Debt Loans to a