If you want to be a dentist would it be better to go into a physical science major(like chemistry) or go into pre-dental for undergraduate?

Hi,

I'm currently a practicing dentist in the bay area. I was actually a physiology major in college and that made it much easier to get the necessary classes that dental schools required in order to be considered for acceptance. Classes that Dr. Lin has mentioned above. The thing was, I actually liked physiology and was glad I majored in it. I would recommend that you actually major in what you would like to learn and pursue dentistry that way. If it's not a science major then you might have a little more extra science classes to take, but then you would end up with a well rounded education...which is always beneficial. Good luck!

I started college as a chemistry major for the first 2 years. Then realized that I really didn't like all the smelly lab work. So, I thought of dentistry because I like working with my hands. For my 3rd year of college, I had to choose between going the pre-dent route or not to go that way. I decided to not go pre-dent because, what if I couldn't get into dental school due to poor DAT scores, or for other reasons. What can you do with a pre-dent degree? Not much. So, I switch to the business school and majored in Business Management and minored in science. Yes, my elective courses for business school was a little weird: physics, biology, P-Chem, Organic Chemistry, etc., but you needed these courses for dental admissions. Also, my business degree helped me set up and run my dental practice upon graduating from dental school. The key to a successful practice is managing your practice. They teach business courses in dental school, but a lot of my classmates skipped those courses in order to catch up on their clinical requirements. So, they received no business insights before going out into the cruel world of financing, equipment leases, real estate leases for offices, etc. Yes, I did get into and graduated from dental school and practiced for more than 30 years before retiring 3 years ago. Good luck!

Hi,

I am currently a practicing dentist in the Greater NY area. I was a biology major in college with an automatic minor in Chemistry. My school also had a pre-dent/pre-med route which I didn’t end up following for the same reason as another practitioner mentioned. Also, where I went to school, one didn’t have to complete a degree at all, if you had the right pre-requisites, then you could qualify to apply for dental school. I decided to major and with my major, it was much easier for me to fulfill those requirements. However, I would encourage you to follow a major you are interested in. This will serve you better in the long run and make you a well rounded person, student, and ultimate candidate (when you apply for dental school). Good luck with your pursuits!

I agree with Dr. Lukman. Study what you enjoy while picking up the classes you need for dental school. Dental Schools these days prefer students who are well rounded in addition to having excellent grades. Be sure to become involved in some sort of community service. In addition to the obvious benefits, it will help you decide how you want to serve your community after becoming a dentist. Spend as much time as you can finding out what a variety of dentists do for our careers. Make sure it's what you want to do.