Common misconceptions - Dentist Video Transcripts
Video 1 Transcript
I was a dentist for the Navy for five years after I graduated dental school. Some common misconceptions that I've heard from people about military dentistry is, one, you're very restricted on what you can do. That's not true. I had pretty much full clinical autonomy when I was treating patients as a Navy dentist. I didn't have to only use amalgam or metal fillings. I almost never used amalgam. I, you know, saw the patient, I diagnosed what needed to be done and I took care of it. I was able to do surgery. I was able to do root canals. Anything that the patient needed that I felt comfortable doing, I could do.
Video 2 Transcript
A common misconception about dentistry is the actual process of doing the work. Most might think that dentistry is a fairly easy task to perform but the contrary is the real story. Dentistry is tremendously demanding physically and mentally. Physically in that you're working in such tiny little spaces and you have to perform under great accuracy of course with much detail. Mentally trying to accomplish the best possible outcome under less than perfect ideal circumstances.
Video 3 Transcript
A common misconception is that if you don't like blood you can't be a dentist, and I'm sure there's some truth to that, but when I first shadowed an oral surgeon and he was doing a surgery where they took bone from the knee or from the leg and grafted it up, and when he was harvesting that bone to place here and the person was half sedated, I just about passed out and couldn't handle it. There is some blood in dentistry, but there is a real ability to to move past the fear of that and it can be okay. Another common misconception is that being a dentist and you'll be rich. There is potential for good earnings. There is also high student debt that needs to be considered, and also where you practice and how you practice impacts your income, so you need to be wise in making those decisions.
Video 4 Transcript
One of the biggest misconceptions of being a dentist is that you always have to look in gross mouths. Luckily, you often will have a hygienist clean their mouth first before you have to look in it. And also, contrary to popular belief, most mouths aren't that gross. Most people take okay care of their mouths. And when you do find a mouth that definitely has a lot going on, you're there to help them. And I think it's a pretty good feeling when you can help the patient know what to do to get their mouth clean and more presentable. So I don't think it's as bad as most people think about being a dentist and looking in mouths all day.
Video 5 Transcript
Probably the biggest common misconception about dentistry, being a dentist, is the lifestyle schedule. Yes, you work four days a week, or you can work four days a week and have a comfortable living doing so, but you do have to spend those four days looking in someone's mouth. So as long as you are enjoy that sort of thing, and you spend the time to make sure that's something that you really want to do. Do not go into dentistry for the wrong reasons of just for the income and the lifestyle, because you do have to enjoy what you're doing. Working in a mouth can be a stressful environment, so if you spend time observing in dental offices, make sure it's something you enjoy. That would be the best thing to do.
Video 6 Transcript
I would say that the most common misconception about dentistry in general is that patients are going to be really nervous or have high anxiety and things are going to be really stressful and you're going to be causing pain to people. While there certainly are patients that have high anxiety from bad past experiences, usually when they were a kid, most patients do really well at the dentist and that's because we've had an advancement in dental technology that's that's allowed for a lot more pleasant visits and more predictable treatment. So I would say that that's the most common misconception.
