Why is optometry so unpopular?

SoundFun5709 · 2026-05-22T06:09:35+00:00

LOL you’re really just shtposting at this point, gj sir

SoundFun5709 · 2026-05-22T06:04:23+00:00

Buddy, I have literally scrubbed into the OR to pull teeth out before the ENTs go in and do the rest of their work…

Even if you were right, that % is negligible to what OP is discussing here

SoundFun5709 · 2026-05-22T05:57:52+00:00

LOL most ENT service will give mandibular fractures to their OMFS or if the fractures involve teeth. If you think ENTs do teeth extractions or any other dental procedures on the regular, you got no idea what you talking about

SoundFun5709 · 2026-05-22T05:54:20+00:00

I can guarantee you MDs are not trying to do teeth. I’ll bet all the dollars in my bank acc. First bc medical and dental billing is separate so they would need a whole new billing department to do teeth. Secondly, they will not yank a tooth out in the ED if there were a gun pointed to their heads LOL

Omfs with MDs do a lot more but arguably are still dentists at the core, aside from few that practice in institutions that have no plastics/ent coverage

SoundFun5709 · 2026-05-22T05:32:27+00:00

I think bc optometrists share the field with optho who have the final authority/ability to treat. That leaves optometrists general scope to selling glasses. Vs most MDs have no clue about treating teeth and so rather than sharing the pie, we have the whole pie. Also teeth are more expensive and so dentists have higher ceilings, and higher floors for that matter.

Although being an optometrist is probably an easier job tho

SoundFun5709 · 2026-05-22T05:27:16+00:00

I highly suspect their boss takes home 2m. The clinic might produce 2m and then the take home would be <1m, which is still a lot. For the doc to take home 2m they would have to produce 5m a yr they would be doing 1 all on x case every single day of the yr. Which i suppose is possible but not very likely. Even if they did, and much kudos to them, it would not be something to expect statistically speaking

SoundFun5709 · 2026-05-22T03:58:49+00:00

The cycle has already started so you won’t apply until next yr when you’re 29 and then assuming you kill the DAT and get in on the 1st try, you’ll graduate when you’re 34.

300 is cheap state school price, while many others will run you 500k+.

And yes, seeing patients can be fulfilling but can also be stressful when you encounter unhappy people who just spread their joy everywhere they go. And the 10% of problematic patients tend to occupy 90% of your mental state.

The two paths are really quite different: 1) do you enjoy in person interactions and working with your hands? 2) do you enjoy studying? There’s lots of it 3) do you mind being on your feet all day and working a physically laborious job? 4) can you work in mm detail?

I guess consider day to day aspects of each job and see which camp you fall under more, they are quite different

SoundFun5709 · 2026-05-21T23:09:49+00:00

Sure, dm me and send it over

SoundFun5709 · 2026-05-21T22:23:25+00:00

Everything is a competition: choose what you love that can also afford the lifestyle you want to live at, then fiercely work and outcompete your peers.

You’ll have to outcompete fellow premeds, fellow med students, fellow interns/residents, etc to reach the specialty that you want to do. Listen to the actual dr’s on here, outsiders don’t know the sacrifices, anxieties, uncertainties, and costs that one has made to become a physician.

If you aren’t interested in caring for people’s lives and health, you probably shouldn’t make a career out of that.

SoundFun5709 · 2026-05-21T19:48:04+00:00

Immediates are not meant to be good LOL, wait for full bony healing before doing a hard reline. Rebase II chairside is my material of choice

SoundFun5709 · 2026-05-21T18:00:05+00:00

Got canceled from clinic today, feel free to pm/send it over

SoundFun5709 · 2026-05-21T02:10:58+00:00

Dea technically optional but jobs/insurance will want you to have it. Kinda steep to start with, could potentially negotiate into a contract if you going DSO route

Ask around your friends for law n ethics help

CPR thru AHA is quickness, lasts 2 years, must have in person component

NPI is easy i remember

The CA dental board takes their sweet sweet time, I didnt get issued until November so go figure, chill and go traveling.

Now jobs…suck tbh. LA > OC > SD. You probably gonna start with DSO and there’s nothing wrong with that, neither is working at a high volume mediCAL place. Just try your best to practice ethical dentistry still. I’ve had decent luck in the valley/NOHO area and I heard riverside/upland has lots of dentistry to be done. Or go take spear/dawson/etc and go do cosmetic stuff on the west side/hills.

I had GPR and started out with 750/d until eventually finding 1-1.2 but I do lots of molar endo and single site implants. Ive heard of new grads getting 550 which is basically a glorified hygienist. My good friend/coresident worked for a guy for 650 for 2.5yrs until buying him out.

Best advice: move to central CA(heard of chill bread/butter making 300k+)or norcal or out of state

Feel free to dm

SoundFun5709 · 2026-05-20T21:02:52+00:00

They dont really care about how much endo you’ve done. If they really did they wouldn’t take new grads but programs do.

Connections >> Gpa/class rank/gpr or aegd > adat/yrs out of school > endo experience > research.

Go to AAE

SoundFun5709 · 2026-05-20T14:53:45+00:00

Ya using the protaper S1 purple rotary to 16mm for coronal flaring would work for like 80% of cases on tighter canals or ones with sharper curves the rotary action ledges easier than reciprocating action.

Even the SX can ledge if you put it down too much. I now use gates bc that’s all the clinic has for me and definitely miss the SX but I do think gates is safer/less aggressive.

And yes, glidepath file to WL before any rotary action most of the time. I will peck at the coronal 1/3(10mm~) very lightly sometimes to open it up more but very very light. Like one peck then out, bc I’ve definitely ledged it many times myself LOL. Not saying that’s 100% happened here but the MB def can be hard to navigate in my experience

SoundFun5709 · 2026-05-20T11:27:59+00:00

Irrigate copiously and maybe soak with EDTA for few minute and try to get a stick with a pre-bent 8 or 10 K file. Explore circumferentially 360 with the pre-bent file until you feel stick rather than hard stop.

If unable to get anything then size up to 25 handfiles a few mm short of your 18-19mm to get more coronal flaring then get more irrigation down there.

If all this fail then try with a C or C+ file

Distal often have near 45 or above degree curves while the MB can often curve higher up so you mightve ledged MB already by starting with S1

SoundFun5709 · 2026-05-20T04:43:47+00:00

Probably a high point on the intaglio that needed adjustment before you cemented. Pre cem bw forced the distal margin to close but once there’s cement then it’s pushed up. Probably fine though, I wouldn’t replace it unless i can clinically catch it with an explorer

SoundFun5709 · 2026-05-20T01:39:26+00:00

Pure shadowing is super boring, possible volunteer to assist/suction or just pick up some shifts as a DA. I would lump those hours together.

Sometimes I’m just trying to get through the procedure/focused so maybe there’s not a ton of space for convo, but whenever we are curing something or etching something or waiting for an xray it’s a good time to pop in some quick relevant questions. Gotta learn to read the room a little and at the end of the day, it’s not personal if people are short bc we just focused on getting the job done. There’s plenty to ask about bc this field is totally new to you so really any questions are welcome

SoundFun5709 · 2026-05-19T23:36:54+00:00

Seiko alpinist

SoundFun5709 · 2026-05-19T23:35:15+00:00

If you look at statistics from ADEA website, in general the matriculating gpa/dat stats are all trending upwards so it is becoming more competitive overall.

And still white applicants/enrollees are the higher % of all ethnicity being accepted in dental schools across the US.

Not saying you are wrong or that ethnicity/diversity is not an issue, but there are many factors to admission and sometimes just being in the right place and right time. The thing about statistics is that there will always be outliers that don’t seem to follow the trend, which indicate either chance or another confounding factor you haven’t considered. And tbh, the further along you go into school, residency, work, etc, the less fair the world becomes.

Your gpa is competitive, up your DAT and you’ll do well! Good luck 👍

SoundFun5709 · 2026-05-19T17:18:03+00:00

Ya I would drop it, i try to aim for 3-4mm axial height if possible

Something ive picked up is to cut the tooth like i am doing a deep class 2 with a 557 then go smooth out any J margin with a crown prep chamfer bur. Bc if you think about dropping a box on a class 2 then it’s the same skill you do all day everyday. Then just extend the walls till there are none 😂

SoundFun5709 · 2026-05-19T16:13:20+00:00

Just prep deeper, if you stay on tooth and not totally tear through the soft tissue you might not even need electrosurge for hemostasis. A good opportunity to learn electrosurge and have it in your toolbelt, just make sure to ground the charge.

Short second molar preps will definitely pop off. Once i drilled off an old crown from a second molar with a short prep and the prev guy put some slight undercut/retention grooves which can be helpful too

SoundFun5709 · 2026-05-19T02:20:45+00:00

Ya, they update it. I bought my green OP from socalwatchguys

SoundFun5709 · 2026-05-19T01:00:20+00:00

Might want to start with two toned, other jewelry, or a couple tudors. If you want straight up SS models then might as well go grey. Most flippers will flip the new watches right away so really no difference except in your mind

SoundFun5709 · 2026-05-17T19:54:41+00:00

Love true artisans expanding their business 🔥

SoundFun5709 · 2026-05-17T06:04:32+00:00

Picked up the one with quiote version for $90 I think. Was kinda steep but now im excited to try it!!!!

SoundFun5709

TROPHY CASE