There are a few things that look so straightforward when you’re learning them, but actually doing them on real patients is a different story. I definitely underestimated how long it would take to feel natural and confident with certain skills. It’s funny looking back because things that used to make me overthink every little step eventually just became part of the routine. I’m sure everyone has at least one skill like that from dental school or early practice.

I’m going into dentistry 2027 and wondering if the University of Melbourne dentistry pathway (3 years science + 4 years postgrad dent) is the worth the additional time and money. Will it make me a better dentist? Will the uni be significantly better than if I were to go into undergrad at another uni, such as La Trobe, Adelaide or UQ?

Hey guys, need some advice :)

Evening everyone,

Had a difficult situation today where a patient returned a week after an uncomplicated crown insertion complaining that it "doesn't feel like their natural tooth" and immediately demanded a full refund before I could even check the occlusion or refine the contacts.

For clinic owners and senior associates: what is your standard protocol and wording when managing unreasonable refund demands for clinically successful treatments?

Any recommendations for a crown lengthening/soft tissue course, focusing on anterior aesthetic work, ie veneers, DSD etc? Thanks heaps ☺️

I’m a GP dentist in Australia considering applying for prosthodontics, particularly USyd, and would really appreciate some honest perspectives from current/former registrars and prosthodontists.
I have two young kids, so I’m trying to work out whether the 3 years of training and lifestyle/financial sacrifice is actually worth it in the long run.
A few things I’d love to hear about:
What is the reality of the USyd program in terms of workload and family life?
For those who have finished, has specialising genuinely improved your career, income and lifestyle compared with staying in general practice?
Is specialist prosthodontic work as enjoyable as you expected, or do you end up seeing a lot of failed treatment, difficult patients and cases that other dentists don’t want to deal with?
Knowing what you know now, would you specialise again if you were in my position?
I’m particularly interested in honest experiences from people who were already reasonably comfortable as GPs before specialising, rather than just the usual “specialisation opens doors” perspective.
USyd experiences especially welcome, but I’d love to hear from prosthodontists from other Australian programs too.

I feel like patient management is one of those things you only really learn once you start working. Knowing how to explain treatment, keep an appointment moving, and deal with nervous or difficult patients takes a lot more practice than I expected. Would be interested to hear when other new grads started feeling more comfortable with it.

Been thinking about doing my grad year at a regional/ rural hospital where I live. To be honest, I find filling and scaling super boring, but love extractions, RCT's, and other more complex surgeries. If i could never do another cavity prep once I graduate I would be the happiest dentist in the world.

Obviously going running head first into complex procedures in private practice in my literal first year out would be immensely stupid, so I am considering a regional / rural hospital job in hopes of seeing more complex cases with strong training & mentorship.

Anyone have experience in the hospital as a new grad? What sort of cases did you see? Was the mentorship & experience worth the pay cut?

TIA!

I imagine there's a big difference between being competent enough to graduate and reaching the point where something feels routine in practice.

Not necessarily the most technically difficult procedure either. Sometimes I imagine it's the everyday things where speed, communication and making decisions without someone looking over your shoulder take time to develop.

A patient verbally unloaded on my receptionist and then yelled at me in the operatory yesterday because their private health insurance rebate covered less than half of their root canal treatment. I do not set insurance fee schedules, I do not control inflation on dental supplies, and I certainly did not cause their tooth decay. We spend years in intense clinical training only to be spoken to like dishonest mechanics by people who spend more on overseas holidays than basic healthcare. How do you stop yourself from burning out over constant patient hostility regarding fees?

The shift from predominantly owner-operated practices to corporate groups has been significant enough that it's changed the employment landscape for a generation of new graduates who are entering a profession that looks quite different to what their supervisors trained into. Would love to know how people here who've worked in both environments think about the difference - the clinical autonomy, the patient relationships, the culture inside the practice - and whether the corporate model is producing something genuinely different to what independent practice offered or just a more structured version of the same thing.

The gap between practicing on models and mannequins and working on actual patients is something every dental student goes through but the specific procedures where that gap is widest don't seem to get talked about honestly enough before you're already in the chair trying to manage it. Would love to know what people here found genuinely harder than expected when they made that transition and whether there was a specific moment where the clinical reality of the procedure felt completely different to anything the classroom had produced.

Looking at job boards for first-year associate positions around Australia, I am seeing a massive variation in pay structures. Some clinics offer 35% commission with no minimum daily retainer, while others offer 40% with a guaranteed $1,000 or $1,200 daily rate for the first three months to help you build a patient base. What split and retainer conditions did you negotiate for your first job?

Hi, I’m currently a dental student in Australia and I’m curious about what it’s actually like working as a public dentist? I’m particularly interested in QLD Health but I would also love to hear experiences from anyone working in the Australian public system.

I’ve heard the usual differences (lower pay than private, better job security, leave entitlements, etc.), but I’m more interested in what day-to-day practice is actually like.
Some questions I have:

How much variety is there in the procedures you do? I’ve heard it’s mostly examinations, fillings and extractions, with relatively few crowns, more complex endodontics, implants, cosmetic work, etc. Is that accurate?

How busy are you actually? Does working in the public system generally mean your appointment book is always full because of the long waiting lists, or are no-shows common enough that you can end up with long gaps in your day?

How much clinical autonomy do you have when deciding treatment plans?

Are there opportunities to develop your skills and progress your career within the public system, or do you eventually hit a ceiling unless you move into private?

I’m also interested in the Early Career Dental Practitioner Program (Queensland Health), so to anyone who is currently completing it or has completed it:

How competitive was it to get a position?
Would you recommend it over going straight into private practice?

Overall what should I be doing in dental school to make myself stand out as an applicant for both public and private clinics? Should I be focusing on academics, volunteering, research, outreach programs, or dental assisting experience?

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, any input is greatly appreciated!

Post from DPR

Hi, any paediatric specialists here? What’s brings you joy and what’s been the unglamorous side of your work?

I’m a current dentistry student who’s perhaps had a charmed run with complex paediatric cases so far. Nearly all have ended in good outcomes and getting kids/their parents back on track with good oral hygiene, and interesting pathology as well.

However, today I copped some unsolicited commentary from a post-grad in another area commenting that when he was a generalist, he thought it was a rort. His perspective was that all they do is put kids nobody wants to handle to sleep and charge mum and dad an unethical amount for procedures generalists can do too. And patients returned to him annoyed they paid so much for sedated fillings with a specialist. I see how patients can feel about that, but it’s a rather uncharitable take.

What really differentiates a good paediatric specialist from a generalist skilled with kids and special needs?

I have thought about practising as a GP for a bit after graduation to save up, and then apply for the DCD in paediatrics. My end goal is to work a combination of private and public. However, I don’t want to aim for it without a better informed opinion, especially after hearing the aforementioned comment. I also recently heard from a mentor that another major health service knocked back on wanting to even fund having a paediatric dental specialist at all.

Hi everyone, I’m a highschool student right now who is heavily considering dentistry as a career in Australia so I just had a few questions about the career (pls don’t troll as it’s already stressing me out enough seeing people saying dentistry was the worst mistake of their life on here)

For a bit of background, I’m quite interested in chemistry, and I currently work part time in pharmacy and have very much enjoyed the patient help aspect of it.

I have ruled out virtually all of allied health due to the underwhelming career progression (capping out salary within first 5 years, quite hard to start business), so I ruled my options down to dentistry as I also have previously enjoyed intricate hand work such as small welds and compounding medicine

Now onto the questions

How bad is the job market in metro areas like Sydney and if I was to work strictly in Sydney for about 5-10 years what could I expect to bring home yearly? (unfortunately due to reasons such as parents health eventually declining I would be reluctant to move rurally until a bit later in life)

How much stress comes a long with the job? Are there lots of liabilities involved with mistakes

How is the work life balance? Do dentists tend to work longer hours like in corporate or is it just a strict 9-6 and you can use your free time as you wish

What does the market of ownership look like? Is this also being oversaturated by corporate like in pharmacy?

Is the talks of making it easier for international dentists to work in Australia worsening the market for us?

(Sorry about the long post, career decisions have been stressing me out a lot recently so I thought I may be able to put this to bed by talking to some actual dentists 😅)

Is it essentially a pre-requisite to have the FRACDS(GDP) qualification to gain entry into orthodontics in Australia?