Becoming a dentist later in life

I am 36 just got accepted this cycle. I finished my all prerequisites last summer. I also got a higher DAT score than average, AA24 TS 25. I do not think you are out of mind, just take all prerequisites and apply. If you think saturation in job market, everything will be saturation.

Do well in prerequisites and DAT. Good luck

I don’t think it’s worth it. I’m 29 now, and already feel years behind my peers. You will be ~37, with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, making $120k, working like a dog.

Depends, where do you plan on working, and if that area is saturated, are you willing to move in order to make a commensurate salary that can pay off the debts?

Strongly consider the HPSP if you do go. I wouldn’t want to be worried about possibly $700,000+ in student loans at age 40…

Big Hoss

I would never go back to dental school today unless I did the military/NHSC scholarships

I wouldn't go into dentistry. PS bank managers at wells fargo are now making 120k plus benefits. take that DDS degree and flush it down the toilet. You're telling me a bank teller can show up and smile and do their paper pushing really well and be promoted into a branch manager and make as much as a new grad w/o any professional schooling? What a joke we have become.

askadds said:

I wouldn't go into dentistry. PS bank managers at wells fargo are now making 120k plus benefits. take that DDS degree and flush it down the toilet. You're telling me a bank teller can show up and smile and do their paper pushing really well and be promoted into a branch manager and make as much as a new grad w/o any professional schooling? What a joke we have become.

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My friend got a computer information systems degree in from a no-name state school. He's working as a SEO manager in a major city banking 200k+ with no student loans and got more savings than me.

LFA20 said:

My friend got a computer information systems degree in from a no-name state school. He's working as a SEO manager in a major city banking 200k+ with no student loans and got more savings than me.

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LFA20, I believe you are currently doing a residency (ortho?) and you have no debt because you are in the military. Am I correct? Your friend has more saving because he is working. Once you start working, I think you will catch up with your friend. There's no guarantee that your friend will continue to have this good paying job in the future. There has been a lot of tech lay offs in recent months. It's not easy to make money nowadays.....only 18% of individual Americans make above $100k/yr.

I agree with most of the posters here. I don't think the OP should pursue dentistry at 31....unless he has saved enough to pay for at least half of the tuitions. Even taking prerequisite classes requires considerable amount of money.

I graduated at 26… took me a decade to get debt free with some money saved up.

It will take me another 10 years of saving to get out so about 45-50. 20 year career.

At 31 you will graduate at 35-36… take about 10-15 years to get debt fee and then another 10-15 to save up…

A lot of it depends on how much loans you have. If you are going into it with 500k loans then lol you will be drilling teeth at 70 years old.

Not worth it

Ivy.ch said:

I don’t think it’s worth it. I’m 29 now, and already feel years behind my peers. You will be ~37, with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, making $120k, working like a dog.

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Who makes 120k only?

Well. Looks like you guys scared the OP away.

I'm in my mid 30s about to start school. It's doable but only if you can keep the debt down to $250k or less IMO.

LFA20 said:

My friend got a computer information systems degree in from a no-name state school. He's working as a SEO manager in a major city banking 200k+ with no student loans and got more savings than me.

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Ironically, I spent this past year learning SEO and Google Ads for my own startup practice. I could probably make more from either of those skills, than I am making now as a dentist...

Cello said:

Ironically, I spent this past year learning SEO and Google Ads for my own startup practice. I could probably make more from either of those skills, than I am making now as a dentist...

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The problem is no one would hire you with the new skills that you has just learned. They want someone with a real job experience.

My nephew has just graduated from dental school .......has zero experience.....and his first job offers him $650 a day here in the saturated market of So Cal.

charlestweed said:

The problem is no one would hire you with the new skills that you has just learned. They want someone with a real job experience.

My nephew has just graduated from dental school .......has zero experience.....and his first job offers him $650 a day here in the saturated market of So Cal.

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What I'm seeing, is guys creating marketing companies, with no real experience, and selling their services to dentists. They are taking 20-30% of ad spend on Google Ads, and charging $1,000 in monthly SEO management fees without really doing anything (or worse, paying for backlinks on Upwork).

Cello said:

What I'm seeing, is guys creating marketing companies, with no real experience, and selling their services to dentists. They are taking 20-30% of ad spend on Google Ads, and charging $1,000 in monthly SEO management fees without really doing anything (or worse, paying for backlinks on Upwork).

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The hard part is to get the dentists to become the clients. Having good marketing skills is required. These guys already lose you as their client because you learn to do these yourself. It’s not easy to make money nowadays. That’s why there are less than 18% of the individuals who make over $100k/yr.

charlestweed said:

The hard part is to get the dentists to become the clients. Having good marketing skills is required. These guys already lose you as their client because you learn to do these yourself. It’s not easy to make money nowadays. That’s why there are less than 18% of the individuals who make over $100k/yr.

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So far, from what I've seen, the marketing companies that are good at marketing themselves to dentists tend to be the worst to work with. They seem to be built around getting dentist clients, not getting dentists patients. The ones that you find through word-of-mouth tend to be much better. Future tip for all of you pre-dents.

askadds said:

I wouldn't go into dentistry. PS bank managers at wells fargo are now making 120k plus benefits. take that DDS degree and flush it down the toilet. You're telling me a bank teller can show up and smile and do their paper pushing really well and be promoted into a branch manager and make as much as a new grad w/o any professional schooling? What a joke we have become.

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I mentioned an acquittance in another thread who go a BS in biology and started in a lab at pharma company that was making 150k/year. Just spoke to her and she is up for another promotion going to 180k + benefits including stocks.

SMH at 500k+ SL, dedicating those years and missing out on life, another 500-800k office loan + all the interest with the hopes of getting to 250k one day.

Waking up one morning and deciding to switch careers at any age isn't so bad; in and of itself, is not a cardinal sin. Having not had any science course could be a problem. Why not dip your toes in some science courses and see how you do. You may decide that science is not a language you are willing to tackle.