Stressed about what to do and where to work when you graduate? After dental school, what career options are out there? Do we all have to become dentists and therapists working in clinical settings from 9-5? In this short article, Dr Sam gives an overview of what options are available after you graduate, and describes how your dental qualifications are able to open the door to numerous career pathways apart from working as a clinician.
When I went through dental school, I went through with blinkers on. I was naive, and wasn’t too aware of the world around me. I entered dentistry with the preconceived notion that I would graduate and work as a private dentist doing cleans, fillings and extractions. My parents also thought the same, and although they never said the words exactly, I grew up in an Asian household. I knew there was pressure on me to do well in uni, graduate, and become the stereotypical “dentist” that would make them “proud”. It would be a fairly well-paid job, respectable and reliable - the foundations of a good career in their eyes.
Relatable?
There’s so much more in the world of dentistry. What I’ve learnt over the years is that with the dental education you receive, you aren’t just pigeon-holed into becoming a clinical dentist or therapist. So here’s some of the other non-clinical career paths available once you graduate with your degree, some of which I have tried myself:
Sales
You may not primarily be a hands-on person. You may realise you don’t like the sight of blood or drilling into someone’s tooth. Instead, you may be a great talker and have amazing interpersonal skills, or love hitting targets. There are a lot of dental companies that would love a dentist or therapist to help sell their equipment or materials, or even hold talks to educate other dental professionals. You can sometimes only teach a non-dental person so much when it comes to the intricacies of dentistry and the equipment/materials required, so there are a lot of companies interested in dental professionals to help them with dental sales and education to fellow professionals.
Academic: Teaching, lecturing and tutoring
You may be someone who is very knowledgeable in all aspects of dentistry, but you find the clinical world of dentistry boring, unfulfilling or stressful. You may have physical limitations that prevent you from working full-time clinically. However, you love sharing knowledge with others. You love speaking to and with other professionals and you have a passion to teach. There are many dental companies and education providers (universities, tafes) that are looking for dental professionals to lecture and teach both students as well as professionals, in regards to various dental topics.
Research
Similar to academia, you may not be interested in clinical dentistry, but also may not want to get in front of a large crowd of people either. You, instead, may have a huge passion for science and research. Many dental professionals go into a research role, either with academia or privately with dental companies to help test and develop new dental products and equipment and help advance the dental profession, whether it be a new toothpaste, restorative material or piece of equipment.
Business, sales and mindset coaching
If you’re a business-minded person and love looking at figures and how dental businesses operate, you may want to start consulting or coaching. There are a lot of dental professionals out there that graduate and open a dental clinic (business), but need help to develop the business side of things, whether it be coaching staff or developing systems and processes to help the business perform better.
You may also love psychology and mindset, or have a passion for sales and communication. There are consultants that advise dental professionals on business, sales/communication, marketing, as well as mindset, and help a lot of people improve the non-clinical side of their career.
Clinical advisory and advocacy
- dentolegal
- retail/commercial products
- advocacy to government and dental bodies
Dental professionals can also be advisors for many things. Many dentists I know obtain dual degrees, and become dento-legal advisors to help indemnity companies liaise and work with dental professionals seeking legal advice.
Similarly, I know a lot of dentists who first graduated with other degrees like Pharmacy and now work with dental or oral care companies to advise them and help develop their products.
You may also have a passion to advocate for the profession as a whole, or love politics and policy. There are roles within associations or government bodies to help achieve positive change for the profession and public.
I hope the above opens your eyes a little to the big world of dentistry out there. Don’t be afraid to chase your passions and don’t let your degree define your dental career. Good luck!
Author Bio
Dr Sam Koh is a Melbourne-based dentist, graduating from The University of Melbourne with First Class Honours. As the Director and Principal Dentist of Dental Boutique Mornington, his special interests are in Cosmetic and Implant Dentistry.
Dr Koh has been awarded a fellowship from the International Academy of DentoFacial Esthetics in New York, holds a fellowship in Orthodontics and a fellowship from the Pierre Fauchard Academy in London.
Dr Koh is a proud founding member of the Colgate Advocates for Oral Health: Editorial Committee. He is also a KOL for Colgate Optic White and clinical advisor for several dental companies.
