Happiness. On the surface it looks like dentists are living the good life. However, consider a few things:

1- Most dentists have a large sum of debt hanging over their heads. This in-and-of-itself brings a lot of stress. If you don’t believe me, go listen to a couple hours of the Dave Ramsey show and tell me if you think the people that are debt free are happy or not.

2- A dentist’s job can be very demanding and monotonous. You sit there all day doing the same thing basically. Yes there are variations, but the point of sitting in a chair unable to socialize all day makes me resoundingly say “NO THANKS!”

3- While most dentists work “their own hours”, this is mostly a myth. Unless you’re sitting in a chair performing dental work, you are not making money. The constant thought of “if I worked an extra Friday or extra shift” constantly looms over your head. Of course there are exceptions, but this is what I believe most dentists go through.

I’m sure there are more I’m not thinking of.

For me, no thanks. Some guys make it work out there, but in most of those cases the only way for it to work is for the wife to be fully dedicated into raising the family as her full-time “job”.