Dentists who work in established offices are often assigned hours, but may be able to provide their schedule preferences within predetermined office hours. For example, a dentist may request to work certain hours and days of the week to establish their preferred regular schedule. Perhaps the biggest potential benefit of transitioning to owning your own practice, whether you're developing an individual practice or partnership, or buying a dental office, is that you have the flexibility to create your business the way you want it to be managed. You are in control of your own destiny.
You can set your own schedule, see the type of patients you want to see, use whatever materials and methods you want, and ultimately develop an office that fits your needs and desires. As a dental associate, your employer will likely determine your schedule based on your needs. If you want the freedom to set your own schedule, an associate position doesn't always include that luxury. You are largely in charge of your own destiny.
You create your schedule, your equipment, and even choose which patients can stay in your office. When you own your own business, you have the power to make decisions about most of the factors that affect your day-to-day life. If you don't like something, most of the time, you can change it. According to the American Dental Association, most dentists earn a college degree before starting their dental studies.
To achieve those higher production ranges, you'll need to attend longer appointments every day for several procedures in the same patient or quadrant dentistry. When you own a dental office, you may also be responsible for hiring and managing your employees, in addition to being a dentist. As you start high school, take extensive math and science classes, especially advanced placement courses in chemistry, biology, and physics if you're thinking about becoming a dentist. Because you are essentially an employee, the owner's dentist usually gives you the hours that benefit the office the most.
However, when you are an associate, it usually means that there is a proprietary dentist working in your office. Regardless of whether you feel called to be an associate dentist or an office owner, you'll share a common goal: to increase the list of patients who visit your office repeatedly. You may want to consider a career in dentistry if you are fascinated by dental science and communicate well. This can mean something as small as using the cement or impression material used by the proprietary dentist, even if you have a different favorite, and it can mean following a schedule that isn't ideal, such as having all new patients undergo hygiene when you'd really like to see them.
In addition to offering diagnostic evaluation and preventive oral health care, dentists repair and extract teeth. Experienced dentists may charge higher fees and go to private practice after developing a strong reputation and faithful follow-up. If you're an ambitious guy who's financially motivated to work hard, the associate dentist position may not be the right place for you. The average annual salary for dentists is more than four times higher than the average annual salary for all occupations.
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