Top Challenges for Dentists
Our Ground Breaking Analysis about the Top Challenges for Dentists
So many of us have heard this - 'You are a dentist, you must be minting money!' For a running clinic with a successful practice, this probably rings true. But how many of us have this picture-perfect scene in our lives? What are the Top challenges for Dentists?Do all dentists really earn well? How much does a fresher dentist earn per month? These are some of the questions a lot of young dental graduates wonder about. Nearly more than 26,000 dentists graduate from 300 dental colleges every year in India. As the number of dental students graduating every year is increasing, the demand for dentists required per unit population is decreasing alarmingly. To top it all the dental awareness among the public also doesn’t seem to improve at an exponential rate.Existing problems and Top challenges for DentistsOften, we come across patients previously treated by the roadside ‘so-called dentists’ or ‘quacks’ as they find the prices charged by professional dentists sky-high. There are no strict rules or punishments for such quacks.Working hours are long and most of the clinics don’t even provide a weekly off to their employees. This results in a lot of hard work, usually at a meager salary which is usually insufficient to financially run the whole month comfortably. Some places pressurize the dentists to generate income which eventually forces them to resort to unethical practices, making the patients lose confidence in the dentistry profession. All this only increases the frustration of the young aspiring dentists.5 years of toiling away in dental school seem unfruitful to a lot of freshly graduated dentists as traditional dental school teachings are outdated compared to updated materials and techniques in clinical practice. Clinic management and soft skills are not taught at graduation or post-graduation level that comprises of one and more part of Top challenges for Dentists. This results in young dentists end up losing confidence and feel dejected. All of a sudden, their dream bubble post fresh graduation bursts and reality seems bitter. Not as rosy as expected anymore! There are a number of newspaper articles today stating suicide cases of young frustrated dentists - Top challenges for Dentists, articles titled poor pay drives dentists to BPOs and alternative careers.Earlier the career trend was to garner a job as a teaching faculty in dental colleges and carry on with private practice as well. A massive chunk of dentists aspired to specialize in the specialty of their choice and take clinical practice a notch higher. But of late, teaching faculty jobs have diminished to practical nil and the key issue faced by young dentists in order to start a clinical practice is the requirement of adequate funding and space.Apart from the financial crunch, there are many added barriers which makes a dentist think twice to start an independent practice. Some individuals may not be permanent to a place. Hence, will not be in a position to start their own practice. A lot of graduates do not have the confidence to start their own practice. To acquire the required skills and experience, they necessarily need to work under a senior specialist. Even attending various continuing dental educational programs tutored by a senior specialist helps. Apart from this, there is a lot of competition as every lane has at least 10 full-fledged practicing dental surgeons.Free for members
Keep reading — it's free
The rest of this article is open to DentalReach members. Create a free account, or sign in, and every article on the site opens in full.