How to Choose Your Branch In Dentistry For Post Graduation?

Well this is the most common question, my juniors have been asking me..

Not just juniors..now there are lot of questions like...

1. Which is the best branch for MDS?
2. Which branch in MDS makes the most money?
3. Should i choose MDS ?
4. Best branch for postgraduation in MDS..

This is fun too..

Now before i go ahead and tell you more about each and every thing in detail, I'll tell you what my staff had recommended me for post graduation.

I had completed my internship and i was about to leave my ug college. I met many staff there and they asked me, "What's your future plan?"

...I replied to them...I'm planning to pursue PG in Prosthodontics & Implantology...

..When i went to visit my staff of perio, she told me..."Prostho...Prostho mein kya hai..kuch nahi hai..cd karna hai kya tumko?"...take either endo ya perio....If you take perio..your diagnosis will become very good and you'll be able to do endo perio lesions as well..

I went to my pedo staff.. they told me..pedo is an excellent branch..you can take..I went to endo staff..one of the endo staff..who I am very much into touch even today..Recommended me Prostho.."

The reason for me telling you thoughts and process of my staff.. is not to confuse you but to tell you...If you ask the opinion for best branch in dentistry..you'll get 10 different opinions from 10 different people...

There's no best branch as such...

Now Since I'm a Prosthodontist...I'll praise my field..That's for sure...Not just because i did it..I'll even tell you why i decided to do it.

So here comes my story..

I NEVER wanted to do surgery..So Perio and Oral surgery were out of question for me. I didn't wanted to deal with kids for rest of my life and i really didn't have patience to handle kids...So pedo was ruled out for me.

I wasn't good at ortho...So ortho was ruled out...(This was another reason for not taking PEDO).

I wanted to be in clinics..so non clinical branches like Oral Pathology, Oral Medicine, Community dentistry were ruled out.

Now i was left with Prostho and Endo...

Personally i had a liking towards Prostho..so I decided to choose this branch.

Now what if you wanted to do ORTHO..What are the PROS and CONS?

PG in Orthodontics?

Since you have decided to choose Orthodontics as your Postgraduation branch. Normal bds guy wont do Orthodontics..So that's a plus point.

...But here's a catch...

Since you are doing postgraduation..You want to practice Orthodontics exclusively for next 3 years.

So..tomorrow you pass out and become MDS in Orthodontics..

You go out for consultations..

Per case..How much are you going to charge?

30k, 40k, 50k ....1 lakh...?

Now considering for that particular patient...Ortho treatment will atleast require a year or more before his treatment will get over...RIGHT?

So considering you charge that patient 60k for his complete treatment ...so you are going to get Rs. 5,000/- every month (for 1 year long orthodontic treatment)

So you NEED atleast 10 patient's to make 50k a month..

So to make a lot of money from Orthodontics, you need a lot of Patients.

PG in Oral Surgery?

Assuming you wanted to do post graduation in oral surgery.

You even become MDS.

Now you plan to work. For normal consultations in oral surgery, a bds guy will call you just for impactions, alveoplasty, implants etc.

You have to be associated with a hospital or else PG in Oral surgery is a waste of time. 

If you are affiliated with a hospital, you've just joined the hospital, and have just finished your MDS, you wont be allowed to do major cases such as trauma, aesthetics. You'll just be given minor surgical procedures.

So once you gain more experience...(5 years after MDS), then they'll start giving you major cases. Or you may be required to do super specialization in sub branches in Oral surgery, like trauma, aesthetics, cancer, etc.

Money in Oral Surgery is quite late.

PG in Pedodontics?

If you really have an interest in pedodontics, you can choose this branch. As pedodontics can practice general dentistry as well, they can work on both primary and permanent tooth.

But still you will be stuck with children majorly.

Pedo people also do a lot of ortho work. So it's a good branch.

PG in Endodontics?

No doubt out of 10, 6 or 7 cases which comes to your clinic will be of pain. Now if you are a bds graduate, sure you can think of endo, because consultations are faster. But coming back to numbers.

A BDS guy can do endodontics on his own as well. Now endo is not only about root canals, there are other things as well, like inlays, endodontic surgeries, aesthetics etc.

But for consultations, they'll call you majorly for root canals only.

Since you have just finished your endodontics, you will charge, 3-5k per rct. To earn 30k-50k, you need to do ATLEAST 10 RCT'S ....right?

You will get a lot of RCT Patients. No doubt about it...

You can pursue your pg in endodontics..It's a good branch overall..

PG in Periodontics?

Perio is a good branch overall. But people are scared to do gum surgeries. No doubt perio can also deal with implants.

(Ideally these days, Implants are put even by a bds graduate..but to rehabilitate after implant placement is really important..you need a prostho guy for that...best person who has idea about occlusion is a prosthodontist..:)

I'll be honest with you..consultations after periodontics are a little rare. You can open your own clinic, if you decide to go with perio.

PG In Non Clinical Branches?

If you personally ask me, I WON'T recommend doing a PG in Non clinical branches other than

• You crack a government seat..save stipend to start your own clinic
• You have a personal interest
• You dont want to do clinics
• You want to go for research
• You want to join academics
• You want to get a government job after taking public health dentistry or get in WHO or big health care organisations.

PG In Prosthodontics?

Now coming to my branch...PG in Prosthodontics.

Why did i choose?

(One of the reasons i already stated above...)

2nd reason is monetary benefits

For endo you need 10 patients to make 30-50k...Prostho you need just 1 patient to make that much...

There are highest treatment options in Prosthodontics.

Remember my story above?

...My perio staff told me CD karke kya hi hoga?

At BDS level, people don't have an idea..What's actually there in Prostho..

So Prostho covers....

• Complete dentures
• Cast partial dentures
• Fixed Partial dentures
• Implant dentistry
• TMD's (Temporomandibular disorders)
• Maxillofacial prosthesis..(Eye, Ear, Nose, Artificial Tongue, speech prosthesis, palatal lift prosthesis, obturators)
• Full mouth rehabilitation
• Aesthetics
• Smile Designing
• Veneers/Laminates

You name the treatment, prostho guy can do...there are so many things... i haven't even mentioned about it..

Now if you look at implant systems...they are so many advances, you can place implant in 10-15 mins. 

....You have already made...50k-1 lakh or more depending upon implant system...sinus lift or bone grafting procedure.

Now you see how prostho is money wise...?

Leave implant dentistry..if you plan out full mouth cases...you can easily make 5 lakhs and more per case...

If it's a non ortho case and you are planning to correct smile..You can easily make 1 lakh or more improving smile of the patient.

Coming back to normal complete denture case...

Do 1 CD case as a prosthodontist..you can make 30k- 1 lakh depending on material, your clinic location and other factors.

Now if you are planning to give a single crown...

If it's a metal crown...you can make 2k or more...if it's a PFM crown you can easily make 5k-10k per crown...all ceramic 15-20k..So now you see the earning potential?

I would recommend you this branch...You have a good earning potential.

I have written another post on 8 tips to choose your dental college.

So which is the best branch for MDS?

Conclusion:

To conclude: Choose a branch...depending on your interest.

If you have interest in any of the branches may it be non clinical, choose it.

Monetary wise i have already given you my thoughts above.

Let me know how did you find this post.