It's harder to get into medical school than it is to get into dental school.
Medical school is much harder to get into than dental school, as medical school also has lower overall national acceptance rates and higher average test scores and GPA requirements.
Medical schools have an acceptance rate of around 44.5% for U.S. MD applicants, while dental school acceptance sits higher at around 53,8%.
Accepted medical school students also average an undergraduate GPA of around 3.81, when compared to around 3.67 for accepted dental students.
Medical school applicants also take the MCAT, which also requires 300 to 500 hours of study and also covers complex psychological, social and physical sciences.
Dental school applicants also take the DAT, which requires around 200 to 250 hours of study and also focuses more on natural sciences and perceptual ability.
Medical schools also heavily emphasize extensive clinical hours, research, and broad community service and dental schools primarily look for strong manual dexterity evidence and meaningful shadowing of dental professionals.
Dental school demands intense hand-eye coordination and manual dexterity early on, which often also requires long hours in physical labs practicing microscopic procedures and many programs use strict letter grading systems instead of pass/fail grading systems.
Medical school requires memorizing a vast amount of whole body human physiology, that is followed by grueling clinical rotations and intense board exams such as the USMLE.
The dropout rate for dental school is also below 5% to 7%.
The reason dropout rates for dental school are so low is due to high debt, strict screening and high success.
Most, United States dental schools report graduation rates near 99%.
And admission teams for dental schools carefully choose the applications, which lowers the number of early departures and dropouts from dental school.
Students of dental school also carry large loan balances, which means leaving dental school means the student loans for dental school becomes due immediately.
Common reasons for dropouts from dental school include burnout, health issues and career changes.
Some dental school students realize they prefer a different career and a portion of dental school students also leave early to transfer into medical school.
Personal illness or mental health struggles lead to some withdrawals and heavy stress and long hours cause severe mental fatigue.
4 years of dental school cost on average of $188,000.00 to over $411,000.00 in the United States for the tuition and the mandatory fees alone.
Although the final amount for 4 years of dental school also depends significantly on whether the dental school you attend is public or private and whether the dental student qualifies for in state residency.
Private dental school can range from $354,984.00 to $411,560.00
Public dental school (In State Resident) ranges from $188,009.00 to $231,1980.00
And public dental school (Out of State Non Resident) ranges from $362,555.00 to $383,152.00
The most affordable way of attending dental school is through programs such as the University of Puerto Rico, which feature resident 4 year costs that are below $100,000.00.
And other highly cost effective public resident programs for dental school like Augusta University or UT Health San Antonio remain under $150,000.00.
The most expensive dental school programs are through premium private institutions that can easily exceed $450,000.00 just for the tuition alone.
And elite private options like the University of Southern California or (USC) or Midwestern University can also drive total 4 year dental tuition bills over $460,000.00
Although the tuition and the mandatory fees are just part of the equation into the cost of dental school.
For example, dental instruments and lab fees often cost $6,000.00 to $10,000.00 or more per year and also the living expenses like housing, food, health insurance, and personal transportation often add $20,000.00 to $35,000.00 or more depending on the city.
And when you factor in the living expenses and loan interest in the total cost to complete dental school, it often escalates costs to between $300,000.00 and $500,000.00 by graduation from dental school.
It is financially worth it to become a dentist and go to dental school as long as you keep your educational debt low and plan to own a dentistry practice, although dental school can be a risky financial burden if you take on more than $400,000.00 in high interest loans for the dental school.
Public dental schools cost around $240,000.00 to $320,000.00 total and private dental schools can easily exceed the cost of $400,000.00.
Most dental school students also graduate with $300,000.00 to $400,000.00 or more in student loans when also factoring in their living expenses and undergraduate debt.
And financial experts at Student Loan planner also note that massive debt leaves new dentists with a very small margin for financial error.
For general dentists, the average annual salary ranges from $150,000.00 to $210,000.00.
For specialist dentists like orthodontists and oral surgeons they can earn between $300,000.00 to $500,000.00 or more per year.
And owning your own dentistry clinic also often produces much higher income than working as an associate dentist for someone else.
Dentistry is good for job security, good work life balance and good for hands on work.
People always need dental care, which makes the field of dentistry stable and resistant to economic recessions.
Dentists also enjoy high schedule flexibility, with options to work part time or open an independent dentist office.
And the job of dentistry also combines science, art and direct interaction to relieve patient pain immediately.
There's also no age limit for dental school admissions and many non traditional dental school students begin dental school in their 40s and even 50s.
Although you must also weigh the financial costs, physical demands and substantial time it takes to go through dental school.
You must be willing to commit to the time and study for dental school.
For the Prerequisites and school, expect 7 years to 8 years total if you still need undergraduate prerequisites, the (DAT) Dental Admission Test, and 4 years of dental school.
If you start dental school at age 40, you will likely graduate dental school by age 47 to 48 years old.
And many dentists still practice their dentistry well into their 60s and 70s, which give you a 20 to 30 year dentistry career after graduation.
For the financial factors of dental school you also need to factor in the high debt and retirement timeline.
Dental school tuition and living expenses also often exceed $250,000.00 to $500,000.00 total.
And starting dental school later means less peak earning years to pay off large student loans while also simultaneously saving for retirement.
Working in dentistry also has physical and personal demands that you must also take into consideration.
Dentistry requires intense manual dexterity and can also cause chronic neck strain, back strain and hand strain over time.
And balancing family or financial obligations in your 40s alongside of rigorous dental coursework is also harder than doing it in your 20s.
And mature dental schools students also often possess superior discipline, time management skills and real world communication skills that patients and admissions committees value.
Dentists will always remain in demand so it can be a great career to get into even at age 40.