Dentistry is the branch of medical science that deals with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the teeth, gums, jaws and other related structures of the mouth. It includes the repair as well as replacement of defective teeth in order to cure and infuse confidence in the person.

Dental practice generally includes filling cavities, treating gums related problem, removal of the decayed teeth and the nerves of the teeth as well as replacing lost teeth with dental plates. Gold, silver, amalgam or cements with fused Porcelain Inlays are often used in order to fill the visible gaps in teeth. They may even treat teeth with fluorides in order to prevent and control tooth decay. Preventive dentistry is very significant, as it deals with the frequent examination of a patients teeth at regular intervals. It has the benefit of detecting and treating a disease before it starts troubling the patient seriously.

There are a number of career options in dentistry. This includes private practice that could be done in the form of solo practice, associateship and solo group practice. There is also retail dentistry, consultation dentistry, oral pathology, oral and maxillofacial radiology, endodonctis, orthodonctis and pediatric dentistry.

Private Practice

a) Solo Practice: Solo practice calls for an acute sense of responsibility for managing and planning every detail related to dental office and practice. There are certain factors that need to be kept in mind before establishing a solo practice, such as location, prevalent economic condition of the community, size of the community, relative number of patients and the availability of specialists in that particular area.

b) Solo- group Practice: Solo group practice is the variation of solo practice. In this kind of practice where two or more dentists share day-to-day operations among them. Dentists share specific operational and equipment charges, but possess complete discretion power over their specific practices.

c) Associateship: An associateship is an agreement that deals with the hiring of dentists by an established practice owner or owners. It creates a relationship between employer/employee with financial reimbursements in the form of salary and/or bonus. The employee- dentist agrees to work for a specified period, using the already established facilities, equipment, supplies and staffs.

Retail Dentistry: Retail dentistry refers to the dental services that are delivered in a commercial retail form. They can either be dental operations located inside large retail departmental stores or practices that make use of retail type management and marketing techniques.

Consultation Dentistry: Consultation dentistry deals with dentists who are employed by insurance companies as consultants. These posts are mainly part- time and salaries are based on per case handled, which is negotiable with the employing bureau.

Oral Pathology: Oral pathology involves the microscopic examination of tissues that are suspected to be abnormal and/or pathologic. Through the use of developed diagnostic methods and abnormal condition of oral and perioral tissues are identified, diagnosed and treated in order to improve the health of the patient.

Pediatric Dentistry: Pediatric dentistry refers to the practice and imparting of knowledge about the comprehensive, preventive and therapeutic oral health care designed especially for children ranging from infants to adolescence.

There are immense possibilities of growing fast in the field of dentistry. At the same time, it requires patience and sincerity on part of students to achieve success. One can develop both personally and professionally in the field of dentistry.