All you have to learn about is the teeth, right? And it’s the same length as medical school? Huh?
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Honestly, the bigger question is why dentistry isn’t simply a medical discipline rather than its own parallel branch of study. There are historical reasons related to how they each developed.
Ultimately, in order to do dentistry properly, you have to gain a lot of the same knowledge a doctor does plus a bunch of specialized stuff (much like any other medical specialization).
The doctor may only be working on your teeth and jaw, but they are very much connected to the rest of your body. The forces it takes to do a lot of work are substantial and doing it without causing injury is, frankly, miraculous.
That’s all taking place around several bundles of nerves that you reeaaaaaly don’t want damaged in the wrong way. On top of that, tooth infections can lead directly to brain infections, so there really is a life-or-death element.
You need to understand drug interactions, be prepared to handle alergic or other adverse reactions.
You also need to learn to take, or at least read X-Rays.
Saying dentistry is “just learning teeth” is like saying that becoming a surgeon is “just learning to use a scalpal”.
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