Employment of dentists is projected to grow about average for all occupations through 2014. Although employment growth will provide some job opportunities, most jobs will result from the need to replace the large number of dentists expected to retire. Job prospects should be good as new dentists take over established practices or start their own.
Demand for dental care should grow substantially through 2014. A large number of people will need complicated dental work, such as bridges. In addition, elderly people are more likely to retain their teeth than were their predecessors, so they will require much more care than in the past. The younger generation will continue to need preventive checkups despite treatments such as fluoridation of the water supply, which decreases the incidence of tooth decay. However, employment of dentists is not expected to grow as rapidly as the demand for dental services. As their practices expand, dentists are likely to hire more dental hygienists and dental assistants to handle routine services.
Dentists will increasingly provide care and instruction aimed at preventing the loss of teeth, rather than simply providing treatments such as fillings. Improvements in dental technology also will allow dentists to offer more effective and less painful treatment to their patients.
Dentists diagnose, prevent, and treat problems with teeth or mouth tissue. They remove decay, fill cavities, examine x rays, place protective plastic sealants on children’s teeth, straighten teeth, and repair fractured teeth. They also perform corrective surgery on gums and supporting bones to treat gum diseases. Dentists extract teeth and make models and measurements for dentures to replace missing teeth. They provide instruction on diet, brushing, flossing, the use of fluorides, and other aspects of dental care. They also administer anesthetics and write prescriptions for antibiotics and other medications.
Dentists use a variety of equipment, including x-ray machines; drills; and instruments such as mouth mirrors, probes, forceps, brushes, and scalpels. They wear masks, gloves, and safety glasses to protect themselves and their patients from infectious diseases.
Dentists in private practice oversee a variety of administrative tasks, including bookkeeping and buying equipment and supplies. They may employ and supervise dental hygienists, dental assistants, dental laboratory technicians, and receptionists.
Most dentists are general practitioners, handling a variety of dental needs. Other dentists practice in any of nine specialty areas. Orthodontists, the largest group of specialists, straighten teeth by applying pressure to the teeth with braces or retainers.
The next largest group, oral and maxillofacial surgeons, operates on the mouth and jaws. The remainder may specialize as pediatric dentists (focusing on dentistry for children); periodontists (treating gums and bone supporting the teeth); prosthodontists (replacing missing teeth with permanent fixtures, such as crowns and bridges, or with removable fixtures such as dentures); endodontists (performing root canal therapy); public health dentists (promoting good dental health and preventing dental diseases within the community); oral pathologists (studying oral diseases); or oral and maxillofacial radiologists (diagnosing diseases in the head and neck through the use of imaging technologies).
Dental hygienists remove soft and hard deposits from teeth, teach patients how to practice good oral hygiene, and provide other preventive dental care.
Dental assistants perform a variety of patient care, office, and laboratory duties. They make patients as comfortable as possible in the dental chair, prepare them for treatment, and obtain their dental records.
When patients require a special appliance to chew and speak well, their health care providers send requests to dental laboratory technicians.
After fabrication, medical appliance technicians test devices for proper alignment, movement, and stability using meters and alignment fixtures. They also may fit the appliance on the patient and adjust them as necessary. Over time the appliance will wear down, so technicians must repair and maintain the device.
Most dentists work 4 or 5 days a week. Some work evenings and weekends to meet their patients’ needs. Most full-time dentists work between 35 and 40 hours a week, but others work more. Initially, dentists may work more hours as they establish their practice. Experienced dentists often work fewer hours. Many continue in part-time practice well beyond the usual retirement age.
Most dentists are solo practitioners, meaning that they own their own businesses and work alone or with a small staff. Some dentists have partners, and a few work for other dentists as associate dentists.
Dentistry requires diagnostic ability and manual skills. Dentists should have good visual memory, excellent judgment regarding space and shape, a high degree of manual dexterity, and scientific ability. Good business sense, self-discipline, and good communication skills are helpful for success in private practice. High school and college students who want to become dentists should take courses in biology, chemistry, physics, health, and mathematics.
Dental schools require a minimum of 2 years of college-level predental education, regardless of the major chosen. However, most dental students have at least a bachelor’s degree. Predental education emphasizes coursework in science, and many applicants to dental school major in a science such as biology or chemistry, while other applicants major in another subject and take many science courses as well. A few applicants are accepted to dental school after 2 or 3 years of college and complete their bachelor’s degree while attending dental school.
All dental schools require applicants to take the Dental Admissions Test (DAT). When selecting students, schools consider scores earned on the DAT, applicants’ grade point averages, and information gathered through recommendations and interviews.
Dental school usually lasts 4 academic years. Studies begin with classroom instruction and laboratory work in basic sciences, including anatomy, microbiology, biochemistry, and physiology. Beginning courses in clinical sciences, including laboratory techniques, also are provided at this time. During the last 2 years, students treat patients, usually in dental clinics, under the supervision of licensed dentists. Some dental school graduates work for established dentists as associates for 1 to 2 years to gain experience and save money to equip an office of their own. Most dental school graduates, however, purchase an established practice or open a new one immediately after graduation.
Browsing Posts published in September, 2010
New OEM system just what the doctor ordered for Canadian-based BlueLight Analytics Inc
A spectroradiometrically calibrated USB4000 Spectrometer from Ocean Optics is helping dentists to use curing lights more effectively to harden the white resin composites used to fill cavities. The spectrometer is a key component of the Managing Accurate Resin Curing (MARC) system developed by Dr. Richard Price and researchers at Dalhousie University (Halifax, Nova Scotia) and commercialized through BlueLight analytics inc. Dr. Price has used Ocean Optics equipment in his laboratory since 2002 to measure the output from dental curing lights. The results of his research have been published in 15 papers internationally.
MARC measures the useful energy a simulated resin restoration receives from a dental curing light, a procedure that is affected by the location of the tooth, the type of resin used, the output of the curing light and the accuracy of the practitioner. Too much or too little exposure of the curing light to the restoration can lessen the lifetime of the filling and potentially damage the tooth. With the MARC system, which includes a laboratory-grade NIST-referenced USB4000 Spectrometer, dental researchers, educators, manufacturers and clinicians can more accurately measure the irradiance (in mW/cm2) and energy per unit area (in J/cm2) delivered by various curing lights in the hands of different dental professionals.
Slightly larger than a mobile phone, the miniature fibre optic USB4000 Spectrometer uses a 3648-element Toshiba linear CCD array detector and high speed electronics. For the MARC system, the spectrometer has been spectroradiometrically calibrated using Ocean Optics’ NIST-traceable light source (300-1050 nm). MARC also uses the CC3-UV Cosine Corrector to collect radiation over 180º field of view. This collection device helps mitigate the effects of optical interference associated with light collection sampling geometry – for example, the distance of the light to the restoration.
According to Colin Deacon, president and CEO of BlueLight, the potential impact of MARC is great, with 130 million restorations performed each year in the U.S. alone. Selection of the optimum spectrometer manufacturer for the project was critical. “We chose Ocean Optics because of its superior products and customer service,” said Deacon. “We tried some other manufacturers, but there is no question why Ocean Optics is the most widely used and respected manufacturer of miniature spectrometers in the industry.”
In developing MARC, BlueLight worked closely with Ocean Optics’ OEM Engineering Team, which helps OEM customers bring products to market faster and better optimized to commercial requirements. The team offers complete system design capability for OEMs from supply of fibre assemblies and light sources to sensor coatings and sample holders. Ocean Optics is ISO 9001:2008 certified and can support both integrated system and sub-system manufacturing needs.
EPA Will Propose Rule to Protect Waterways by Reducing Mercury from Dental Supplies Offices
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced it intends to propose a rule to reduce mercury waste from dental offices. Dental amalgams, or fillings containing mercury, account for 3.7 tons of mercury discharged from dental offices each year. The mercury waste results when old mercury fillings are replaced with new ones.
The mercury in dental fillings is flushed into chair-side drains and enters the wastewater systems, making its way into the environment through discharges to rivers and lakes, incineration or land application of sewage sludge. Mercury released through amalgam discharges can be easily managed and prevented.
EPA expects to propose a rule next year and finalize it in 2012. Dental offices will be able to use existing technology to meet the proposed requirements. Amalgam separators can separate out 95 percent of the mercury normally discharged to the local waste treatment plant. The separator captures the mercury, which is then recycled and reused.
Until the rule is final, EPA encourages dental offices to voluntarily install amalgam separators. Twelve states and several municipalities already require the installation of amalgam separators in dental offices.
Approximately 50 percent of mercury entering local waste treatment plants comes from dental amalgam waste. Once deposited, certain microorganisms can change elemental mercury into methylmercury, a highly toxic form that builds up in fish, shellfish and animals that eat fish.
Fish and shellfish are the main sources of methylmercury exposure to humans. Methylmercury can damage children’s developing brains and nervous systems even before they are born.
