Dentist Extraction

Employment of dentists is expected to grow around the average for all occupations through 2014. Although employment growth will provide employment opportunities, most jobs will result from the need to replace the large number of dentists expected to retire. Job prospects should be good as new dentists take over established practices or start their own.

The demand for dental care should increase significantly by 2014. Many people will need dental care complex, such as bridges. In addition, seniors are more likely to retain their teeth than were their predecessors, so they require more care than in the past. The young generation will continue to need preventive checkups despite treatments such as fluoridation of water supply, which reduces the incidence of dental caries. However, employment of dentists is not expected to grow as rapidly as the demand for dental services. As their practices expand, dentists are likely to hire more hygienists and dental assistants to handle routine services.

Dentists increasingly provide care and education to prevent tooth loss, rather than simply providing treatments such as fillings. The improvement in dental technology also will provide dentists more efficient and less painful treatment to their patients.

Dentists diagnose, prevent and treat problems with teeth or mouth tissue. They remove decay, fill cavities, examine x rays, place protective sealants on plastic children's teeth, straighten teeth, and repair fractured teeth. They also perform corrective surgery on gums and supporting bone for treating gum disease. Dentists extract teeth and make models and measurements for dentures to replace missing teeth. They provide instruction on diet, brushing, flossing, use of fluorides and other aspects of dental care. They also administer anesthetics and write prescriptions for antibiotics and other drugs.

Dentists use a variety of equipment, including X-ray machines, drills, and instruments such as mouth mirrors, probes, forceps, brushes, and scalpels. They wear masks, gloves and safety glasses to protect themselves and their patients against infectious diseases.

Dentists in private practice and supervising a variety of administrative tasks, including bookkeeping and buying equipment and supplies. They may employ and supervise dental hygienists, assistants, dental laboratory technicians, and receptionists.

Most dentists are general practitioners, handling a variety of needs for dental care. Other dentists practice in one of nine specialty areas. Orthodontists, the largest group of specialists, straighten teeth by applying pressure on the teeth with braces or retainer.

The second largest group, oral and maxillofacial surgeons, operates on the mouth and jaws. The remainder may specialize as pediatric dentists (focusing on dentistry for children); periodontists (gum treatment and bone supporting the teeth); prosthodontists (replacing missing teeth with permanent facilities, such as crowns and bridges, or removable appliances such as dentures); endodontists (performing root canal therapy); public health dentists (promoting good dental health and prevention of dental diseases in the community) ; oral pathologists (studying oral diseases), or oral and maxillofacial radiologists (diagnosing diseases in the head and neck through the use of imaging technologies).

Dental hygienists remove soft and hard deposits from teeth, teach patients how to practice good oral hygiene, and provide other preventive dental care.

Dental assistants perform a variety of patient care, office and laboratory. They make patients as comfortable as possible in the dental chair, prepare them for treatment, and obtain their dental records.

EPM.