Dentists are medical practitioners who provide patients with oral hygiene advice and training, as well as precautionary and recuperative treatment. They treat a wide variety of illnesses that affect not just the teeth, but also the gums and the entire mouth. A dentist's main objectives include performing inspections of the mouth's rough and softer tissues and also the neck and head section, medicating oral illness, collecting radiographs, making recovery schedules, maintaining clinical notes, working closely with consultants, and sometimes participating in the profession's management. General dentists may operate for the Healthcare system, for privately run corporations and local firms, or through their practice. Specialized roles in dentistry facilities are frequent, and some dentists often work as lecturers at dental medical universities.

Eligibility Criteria

• Must possess at least 50% aggregate from a recognized institution in 12^th, from any board PUC/CBSE/ICSE/ISC, etc. However, the cut-off margin varies with the selection process of different colleges.
• Should procure a valid score in entrance exams such as INI CET, AIPGDEE, NEET MDS, NEET, etc. Different colleges offer their entrance exams if you don’t have a satisfactory score in JEE or other competitive exams – colleges like NMIMS, Symbiosis International University, XUB, Andhra University, LPU, etc. Every state offers its entrance exam as well.
• One must earn a degree in B.Sc/BDS or a Diploma to become a Dentist. This is a basic qualification you must require to enroll in this line of work.
• An MSc/MDS in Dentistry can also prove to be helpful while looking for a higher degree and better learning.

Tasks to perform

• To assess oral hygiene, identify infections or anomalies, and prepare suitable procedures, inspect jaws, teeth, and associated tissues with dental devices, x-rays, or other medical equipment.
• Confirm the diagnosis and cure of infections, fractures, and deformities of the teeth, gums, and associated dental systems, as well as offer preventative maintenance care.
• Handle facets of the company such as hiring and overseeing employees, as well as documentation and compensation requests.
• Through oral devices, remove annoying lining borders and correct occlusions.
• Precautionary oral hygiene, the origins and prevention of dental conditions, and oral sanitation programs are also topics on which you may inform or educate the patient.

Knowledge required

• Biological Knowledge — Awareness and a brief understanding of the working principles behind different genera and species of animals and plants, their interaction with the environment, relationship with the ecosystem, etc.
• Medical Expertise — Brief understanding of procedures and methods to identify and attend to injuries, diseases, disorders, etc. This also includes alternate treatments to offer to the subject, symptoms seen, drugs used to reduce or cure sickness and offer preventive measures to reduce its circulation.
• Chemical Dexterity – Able to understand the chemical structure and composition of substances available in the environment. Includes the understanding of changes, interactions between different substances, methods of production, and safe disposal of toxic substances.
• Legislation and Administration — Understanding of treaties, legal manuals, judicial proceedings statutes, government legislation, judicial appointments, agency policies, and the constitutional legislative structure.
• English Grammar — Familiarity in English Grammar, the form, and substance of the English language, along with the context and pronunciation of words, principles of grammar, and language.

Skills required

• Surveillance — Keeping track of and reviewing your own, other people's, or organizations' results to make changes or take disciplinary measures.
• Critical Analysis — Learning and identifying the strengths and weaknesses along with providing solutions and countermeasures to reduce the impact of potential problems.
• Task Management — Solving entails recognizing specific challenges and evaluating relevant knowledge to create, analyze, and execute approaches.
• Influence — Inspiring and persuading people to change their behavior and support a certain product, brand, or organization to increase sales.
• Strategic Thinking — Evaluating the possible expenses and advantages of various decisions to recognize the best one.

Job roles offered

Once you procure the required qualifications for becoming a Dentist, a myriad of options are open to you. There are multiple projects you can undertake throughout this line of work, and there are many other fields you can branch out to as well.

• Endodontists: Endodontists detect and mitigate intense dental discomfort, greatly enhancing the effectiveness of the health of their customers. They are dental technicians who work for the inner surface of teeth, which mainly includes root canal therapy and operation, and account for fewer than 3% of dentists. In private practice, endodontists routinely operate during regular business hours. Often offices will hire an endodontist for a few days each month, giving the doctor a lot of versatility in terms of their total volume of work. Many endodontists have associations or other equity interests in their practices, and if they can establish a successful practice, they can make a good living. Root canals and other specialized treatments used to repair tooth enamel and preserve missing teeth are performed by endodontists. They also work on teeth when possible. The “root canal,” an overarching word that encompasses many operations, is the most common endodontic service. Boring into teeth and washing the tissues inside is used in noninvasive root canal treatment.
• General Dentist: A general dentist tests patients by looking at them and using instruments and devices including oral lenses, tools, and X-ray machines. He scans for gum disease and bruises that need to be repaired right away. He also watches for symptoms of deeper concerns, such as wear, minor defects in the lacquer, and chips, as well as early signs of potential risks. He looks for lesions, pustules, imperfections, bad breath or recession, and joint cracking and grinding in the teeth, upper lip, tongue palate, and temporomandibular joints, which are present on both sides of the head in front of your face. An irregular bite, tensing and scratching dental problems, and oral cancer are only a few of the serious health conditions of the mouth and sensitive areas that can be detected and treated early with an inspection.
• Family Dentist: Having everyone receive dental treatment from the same dentist also allows the dentist to become familiar with the entire family as well, along with perhaps some of the unique challenges a patient may face from being a part of a particular family. In addition, some dental conditions tend to be genetic in nature. By treating all members of a family, a dentist may be able to spot dental issues more quickly because they know several others in the same family have the same dental issue as well. Aside from the ease of seeing everybody in the family see the same general dentist, there are other advantages of seeing everybody get care from the same company. While seeing the same dentist, parents will demonstrate to their children that dental care can be pleasant instead of a frightening activity. Instead of depending on highly misleading conjecture from their offspring, parents should closely research the different procedures and therapies used by a dentist.
• Treatment Coordinator: A treatment coordinator completes or helps with the completion of the physician's therapeutic arrangements. They are in control of the overall patient population and strive to provide no customers with unfinished recovery arrangements. When you know that the priority in the dental profession's development period, once the patient has been brought in is care approval, this is a critical situation. Medication cannot be made until it is purchased. When the value is discussed, it always falls apart at the front desk because the staff is not prepared to deal with a physician's grievances and the different obstacles that may arise. Another scenario is where the physician sells medication to patients, with a payment check, and the client decides not to pursue medication. This is the ideal situation because it gives the physician some flexibility in their schedule.
• Periodontist: A periodontist is a surgeon who specializes in periodontal disease avoidance, evaluation, and recovery, as well as restorative dentistry placement. Periodontists are also skilled in treating dental inflammatory conditions. Periodontists undergo comprehensive instruction in these fields, which includes three years of further schooling after clinical training. They are specialized in implementing surgical periodontal operations and are acquainted with the most up-to-date methods for identifying and managing periodontitis. Periodontists are often called upon to handle particularly difficult periodontal instances, such as those with serious periodontitis or a complicated medical record. Optimization and tooth intending as well as bone substrate puncture, are among the therapies offered by periodontists.

Career opportunities

Dentists can opt for various fields of work in the companies listed below:

• DreamWeavers InfoCom Pvt. Ltd.
• Alpha Medical Coding Solutions
• Clove Dental
• Snazzy
• Toothsi
• Apollo Hospitals
• Falconarium Realty Solutions Private Limited
• Sabka dentist (Total Dental Care Private Limited)
• Oasis Dental Care
• Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic

Colleges offering courses

• Maulana Azad Institute of Dental Sciences, New Delhi
• Mansarovar Dental College, Hospital and Research Centre, Bhopal
• PT Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Rohtak
• Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Mangalore
• AB Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, Mangalore
• Faculty of Dental Sciences, M.S. Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences, Bangalore
• Army College of Dental Sciences, Secunderabad
• Bharati Vidyapeeth Dental College and Hospital, Navi Mumbai
• PMS College of Dental Science and Research, Thiruvananthapuram
• St. Gregorios Dental College, Ernakulam