What are the Career Options after BDS?

BDS is one of the most sought-after professional courses after 12th. After completing BDS, students look out for the best career options for a BDS graduate. A student has no idea about the difficult situations he or she might face before entering dentistry. After completing internship, this dream breaks and he/she faces the hard realities of the industry. So, a dentist should be aware of the career options after BDS.

The Traditional Option: Go for MDS After BDS

After completing BDS, a student can do MDS by clearing the NEET exam and enter either a government college or a private college. The benefit of pursuing MDS is that it will give you additional clinical knowledge that can be used in your clinical practice.

Also Read :- Top specializations in MDS to study after BDS

MBA in Hospital Management: The New Generation Course:

MBA is a new trend among BDS graduates. Most of them are going for an MBA in Hospital Administration, whereas others opt for other streams in MBA

A career as a Dietitian:

A dentist equipped with clinical understanding can go for courses in Nutrition and Dietetics offered by prestigious universities across the world. With this, you can also have the option of working as a dietitian with good hospitals. 

MPH after BDS: Masters in Public Health

Like MBA, MPH after BDS is also an alternative career option for dentists. The main attraction of this career is the potential chance to settle abroad. Many corporate companies and government sectors are looking for master’s in public health.

A career in Teaching- Become a Lecturer:

One of the most common career options after BDS is joining a dental college as a faculty member. By doing so, you will also learn and prepare for PG or NEET exams. You can also use this time and salary to kick start your own dental practice. To become a senior lecturer, you can pursue MDS and expect exponential career growth in teaching after MDS. This is also one of the best career options for a BDS graduate.

Kick-start your own Dental Clinic after BDS:

The opening of a dental clinic is a good career option after BDS as it is a very good source of income. But at the same time, you will have to invest a lot before you hope for a sizable return. Also, you must research where to open and what is the competition status of that area. It is recommended that after your BDS join any private clinic and make at least a year’s experience in RCT, Crown-cutting, Impactions, etc. so that you can learn to manage patients, finance, expenses, and treatments.

A career as a Dentist Overseas:

Pursuing your profession overseas is a glorious career opportunity. But each country has separate rules and exams to be eligible for practice.

• USA:  A dentist must clear the NBDE Part 1 and 2 exams first. After clearing, he/she must join a dental college and learn DDS which is a valid dental degree in the US.
• New Zealand: A foreign dental degree is not valid directly in New Zealand. So in order to register with the Dental Council of New Zealand, one needs to clear their qualifying exam- New Zealand Dentist Registration Exam (NZDREX).
• Canada: To be eligible for practicing in Canada, a foreign dentist must go through a series of steps/exams and pass them successfully to get legally certified as a dentist to practice in Canada.
• Australia: If you want to work as a licensed dentist in Australia, you will need to go through an assessment process that formally checks and reviews your eligibility, dental subject knowledge and clinical expertise in dentistry. This assessment is undertaken by ADC (Australian Dental Council) in three stages. You need to pass all the three stages to qualify. Only after qualifying ADC, you can apply for a dentist licence with DBA (Dental Board of Australia). DBA will review and make a final decision on your application for dentist licence registration.
• Singapore: To be eligible to practice as a dentist in Singapore, you must have a dental degree that is approved by Singapore Dental Council.
• UAE: To work in Dubai particularly, you must have a DOH licence provided by Dubai Health Authority, UAE’s Health Ministry. You can also appear for a Dental GP exam if you have completed BDS with a one-year internship with a teaching hospital. In case, you have not interned, then 2 years of practice in a non-teaching hospital is required.

A career in Mission Gulf Countries

This a very good career opportunity after BDS as it is easy and reasonable to go to any gulf country. The salary range of a BDS will be minimum Rs. 80,000 to Rs. 1.5 lakh. For this, the candidate must clear the MOH (Ministry of Health) exam which is not that difficult to clear. Through this, you can get placed into government sectors of Gulf countries. We have the option of earning a good amount of money from there and then returning to your place and opening a nice dental clinic. 

Government Job as a Dentist after BDS

The central and State governments have a few openings for dentists in various sectors with the temporary rural posting and later, a permanent posting depending on the departments. A Government job is indeed a secured job and comes with various privileges in the form of insurance and pension schemes.

List of some government dental jobs:

• Army Dental Corps 
• Territorial Officer in Indian Army 
• In Railways 
• Join the Indian Navy or Indian Airforce as a Dental Officer 
• State Government Jobs, as Dental Surgeon etc 

Join the Army Dental Corps after BDS

You can join the army dental corps where you will be into a respectable government job with good income. They recruit civil dentists too. It is not necessary that you should be a pass out of Army Dental College.

Dental Blogging after BDS: 

This is one of the great career options after BDS. You can teach, learn and earn. You can create a blog for dentists and dental students, and share articles, videos, news, etc which are well-researched. This way, you can get paid by Google, sponsors, affiliates, etc. 

Clinical Research:

India is the second-largest pharmaceutical market in Asia. As a result, a wide range of pharmaceutical research services are outsourced to pharmaceutical industries and hence, is a lucrative career. 

A BDS graduate can have various job roles available in this sector: Principal Investigator, Co-investigator, Medical Advisor, Drug Developer, Regulatory Affairs Manager or even a Clinical Research Physician. 

A career in Dental Cosmetology:

In this modern world, people are increasingly becoming conscious about how they look. They do not mind spending a considerable sum to make themselves look good. 

This has led to an increased demand for clinical cosmetologists. The course of cosmetology will help you in gaining extensive knowledge and expertise to become experts in cosmetology treatments. 

Conclusion 

There are vast career options after BDS from which a student can choose from. Moreover, becoming a dentist is one of the most esteemed feelings in this world. It totally depends on one’s interests and priorities. So, one should thoroughly go through every option before taking a call on the future.