Dental Surgeon was considered as one of the least important surgeons among the health care professionals some couple of decades ago are getting their due recognition and importance in present scenario thanks to the emerging awareness about the oral dental care as well as cosmetic and other dental surgery i.e. beauty care more than the health care.
Everybody knows that the teeth are the part of the human body that, one acquires in the last (at the age of nearly one) and losses at the earliest (sometimes as early as 14 -15 years of age). But nobody ponders why it happens so. The real reason is that unfortunately teeth are not considered as an important part of the human body. One can say in a lighter vein that we have 32 teeth (a lot of spares to lose a few) whereas other parts are a mere one or two. To some extent, it is also true that one can survive without teeth but it is also a hard truth that one cannot live a HEALTHY life without teeth.
Now, these lighter thoughts have become the thing of past as masses have recognised the importance of teeth not only from the health point of view but also from a personality point of view. Teeth may not be directly as important but indirectly they are the most important part for a body to be a healthy as it is the part that starts the process of digestion in the body and that in turn help keeping the remaining body free of diseases.
Now that teeth are also been considered as important as any other part of the body the practitioner’s value has automatically increased. Earlier tooth-related diseases were not taken care of by professionals but now demand of professional has increased many folds. So there is a good scope for today’s younger generation to make their career in dental surgery to claim not only good monetary fortunes but also high respect in the society as a surgeon.
Dental Surgeon Eligibility
To be eligible for joining BDS course one should be 10+2 Class pass with Physics, Chemistry and Biology (PCB) as main subjects and for some prestigious institutions with at least 60% marks.
Dental Surgeon Required Skills
- Dental Surgeon requires a lot of hard work, dedication and concentration because his work has to be hundred per cent precise. A Dental Surgeon has to work in a very small area i.e. inside the mouth of a person.
- They should have discipline, patience, commitment to excel and self-confidence to do this work so precisely. If you have all these qualities in you then you are fit for being a dental surgeon as it is such a field that a mistake of yours can create havoc for the patient.
- Students should be able to communicate effectively with peers, staff, faculty, patients and patient family members, and other members of the health care team.
- They should also have the capacity to gather patient information needed for a diagnosis through adequate visual, tactile, olfactory and auditory senses.
How to become a Dental Surgeon?
One has to follow below-given steps for becoming a Dental Surgeon-
Step 1
Interested candidate has to appear in an entrance test conducted by the various state and Independent bodies like PMT, taken by Punjab Government and CBSE-PMT( pre-medical test) taken by the Central board to admit candidates in various medical institutions attached with it according to the rank of the candidate in the entrance exam.
CBSE PMT, conducted by the CBSE, is a highly-coveted national level entrance exam. It is conducted in two stages, the preliminary and the final exam. The exam is objective type and tests you rigorously in subjects like physics, chemistry and biology. Since negative marking is the rule here, the test is extremely competitive.
The separate test is conducted by some of the highly rated dental Collages.
These exams are generally held in the month of May-June and consist of Objective type questions on the subject of English, Physics, Chemistry; Biology though the number of questions and pattern may vary from test to test.
The results of these exams are generally out by June/July
Step 2
After completing this four years of BDS degree course in which one has to study like anatomy, biochemistry, physiology, toxicology, microbiology, pathology, anesthesiology, psychiatry and surgery etc. and compulsory training one can opt. for some job is private or state-run hospitals as a dental surgeon or go for privates practice after obtaining the necessary affiliation with respective medical councils or go for higher specialised studies in the respective fields.
Fees and Other Expenditures: Although varying from college to college, the total course fee for a BDS degree ranges from anywhere from few lakhs in a government college to around Rs 20 lac and even higher in private institutes.
Dental Surgeon job Description
Dentist job involves oral as well as the surgical health care of the teeth. Their job also includes cosmetic surgery of the otherwise haphazard grown teeth.
Dental Surgeon Career Prospects
There is a lot of scope for those who are joining dental surgery as a career in the present scenario. Apart from joining a private or government hospital as a surgeon, younger doctors can earn a lot of money in private practice as well and it only gets better once they win the trust of the patients and the goodwill is spread by word of mouth to attract more patients to the clinic.
With a boom in the healthcare sector and especially this segment of dentistry as a personal care there is a lot of scope for the younger aspirants.
Dental Surgeon Salary
Monthly salary of a new Dental Surgeon in a Government or a Corporate Hospital can be in the range of Rs.25000 to Rs.30,000 but a couple of years dedicated work and some experience along with a master’s degree could lead a dental surgeon to higher earnings. There is no upper ceiling to the earnings of a competent and capable Dental surgeon. One can also be a visiting doctor at several hospitals and charge by the hour or cases he handles per day.
