programs Match the Promise

Dental Health in a Rural Community

Lorna – future dentist

My goal is to find a career that I can do in a rural area. Everyone needs healthy teeth; even in a small town. So I started researching information about dentists and comparing it to other jobs in the medical field like medical doctor, eye doctor, and dental hygienist. I also visited with my dental hygienist and dentist about their jobs. Both were very informative and gave me a good idea about the job responsibilities, the amount of work that comes with their jobs, and how to become a dentist. Dentists treat problems pertaining to a person's teeth, gums, and mouth. They also give advice to their patients on how to keep their teeth healthy. To become a dentist, I must be licensed in Texas. To become licensed, I will have to obtain a doctoral degree and pass State dental exams. The doctoral degree requires eight years of college. Four years spent getting a science degree and four years at dentistry school. I also used the Occupational Outlook Handbook to find more information about being a dentist. On average dentists make $158,310 per year. The job opportunities will increase 18% from 2014 to 2024. The number of jobs available in this career was last calculated in 2014 to be about 151,500 and will increase 26,700 by 2024. Being a dentist will be a good fit for me. There will be plenty of jobs available and I can make plenty of money and work in a small town.

Lorna's essay appears here as written, to preserve the young author’s unique voice and individual writing style. However, we have deleted personally identifiable information to protect the student’s privacy.