What is a dentist? A dentist is a professional that pretty much everyone has been to at some point in their life. Dentist career are ubiquitous but most people just think that dentists poke around inside your mouth and check for cavities. The responsibilities of a dentist are far ranging and are more complex than just recommending that you floss more often. Before delving into what the job description of a dentist is, let’s look at how someone becomes a dentist. No, the old joke that all dentists are medical school drops outs isn’t true. Dentists work very hard for their position and have a rigorous course load to ensure they are not only well qualified for their professional but well versed in the fundamentals of oral health care.
Dentists become dentists after attending dental school. This is much like medical school for doctors and is open to graduates with a bachelor’s degree who have some form of relevant coursework that points towards a future in the dental hygiene industry. Typical courses when considering a crack at dental school include biology and chemistry concentrations. Working through dental school can be a grueling chore and often many applicants have trouble getting through the certification. Nevertheless, those that do graduate go on to become dentists, performing several years of residency at a dental practice.
What Does a Dentist Do?
So, what are the job responsibilities of a dentist? Restoring a patient’s teeth is one of their tasks. This usually means implanting crowns or bridges in order to fix up a patient’s mouth and teeth that may otherwise be cracked or damaged. This can come about through age, illness or injury. Dentists can also specialize in orthodontics. Depending on the dental practitioner, this level of specialization can differ. Some dentists opt to do strictly orthodontic work and become orthodontists. Anyone who has had braces are pretty familiar with this field. Orthodontics involves correcting the shape of the mouth to promote better oral health and to foster healthy tooth development in children.
Other dentist responsibilities include performing root canals, a tricky process that is labor and time intensive. This is where the steady hand of a dentist is relied on by the patient. Dentists can also fit patients with prosthetics, like dentures for those who have lost most, if not all, of their teeth. Gums also fall under the auspices of dentists. In fact, gums are just as important as teeth and dentists not only clean both the teeth and gums but can perform operations to fix decaying or necrotizing gums.
Beyond all of these duties, the main responsibility of a dentist is to promote good oral hygiene and health. This comes through advising patients on proper brushing techniques, recommending certain products that can tackle dental health problems and to even prescribe certain medications that can help patients with oral health concerns. Like any medical professional, a dentists first duty is to his or her patient and their wellbeing.