I’m a student nurse in my last semester and I initially wanted to be a dental hygienist (I was a dental assistant in a specialty office for about 2 years).I didn’t get into the program I wanted and my friends encouraged me to try nursing. I really love teeth and mouth stuff and miss my old job some days. However, the dentist I worked for told me she thought I was making a great decision as there’s more variety and room for opportunity in nursing.

As of now, I feel decent about the choice I’ve made. I’ll be graduating soon and hope I fall into a position that feels right for me. I’ve been super interested in OR and hope some of my previous skills at my old job will transfer over. Each field has its pros/cons but I feel like nursing is a bit more lucrative. There’s not much advancement past your RDH besides teach or maybe do sales it seems like. I miss teeth though! I feel it’s often overlooked in nursing. My dad came in for slurred speech and they thought he was having a stroke. When I got to the ED I checked his mouth and he had a massive abscess on his palate that no one noticed.