eli5: Why does dental school take so long?

808 viewsOther

All you have to learn about is the teeth, right? And it’s the same length as medical school? Huh?

In: Other

21 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Hello I am a licensed dentist. Very few people in this thread know what they’re talking about. The first two years of dental school cover didactic courses such as anatomy, pathology, biochemistry, and histology along with specialized courses unique to dentistry. Your second two years you spend performing work on live patients under the supervision of professors while also taking some classes. You graduate when you complete a required number of every procedure as well as pass state and national boards.

I know this is hard for people to wrap their head around because it’s “just teeth” but four years really only scratches the surface. I graduated two years ago and still learn new things every day.

To clarify some misinformation in this thread dentists are NOT medical doctors. These are separate schools although dentists might take classes with the medical students. We took anatomy and pathology together and other courses were taught by the same professors. I’d say dental school is harder but I’m biased 😉
The reason these are separate disciplines is purely historical and has nothing to do with the mouth being a unique part of the body in some way.
Please feel free to respond with questions

You are viewing 1 out of 21 answers, click here to view all answers.