Everyone assumes I'm going to college studying dentistry in order to live a life of luxury when I get older. It's a commonly known fact that dentists make a hefty yearly income, but that has a negligible impact on why I chose to pursue this career.

It's typical that when asked what feature people find most attractive in their significant other, they respond their smile. Smiles are a characteristic that is clearly displayed on a person's face and often what people view first.

You can discover a lot about a person by the way they smile.

Because smiles are a quality that hold a large amount of importance in life, it could cause people to feel self-conscious if they aren't satisfied with theirs. The idea I love most about giving someone a perfect smile is the amount of confidence it will provide them. I remember getting my braces removed and feeling like a completely different person. Getting the smile you always dreamed of allows you to feel beautiful and complete.

A lot of people feel as though teeth aren't an important part of the body because they serve a large cosmetic purpose, but teeth are extremely vital in everyday life and need to be taken care of - that's where dentists come in. People may feel as though this occupation isn't as significant as others because we may not deal with life or death situations on an everyday basis, but dental health is extremely important for a variety of reasons.

Infections can obviously be extremely dangerous on any part of the body, and they're something that dentists see very often and must cure so that the rest of the body doesn't become affected. To state the obvious, people clearly need teeth to consume food and many incidents can interfere with this which dentists much immediately cater to.

When people picture a hero, normally occupations such as firefighters, surgeons, doctors, etc. come to mind, but ever since getting braces as a young teenage girl and needing to have various dental procedures done, I've imagined my orthodontist and dentist to be heroes. They've done so much for me from removing teeth that disturbed the others to allow me to bite properly. I cannot wait to have that same effect on people, whether it be young children, elders, or adults.

All of us studying to go into the dental field are aware it will be a long and difficult battle. After college, we still need to endure years of dental school and possibly attend more school depending on our specialization, but knowing that we will live out our dream pushes us to work through it.

Due to the amount of school dental students have to suffer through, people assume we won't be able to get married and have children like many others. This is false. Being a dentist is actually a great profession to enter for those that want to have a family because their weekend hours are extremely minimal and they're let out of work at a decent time every day. If you choose to open your own practice, you'll even be in charge of the hours you work.

People figure that my desire to go into the dental field is just a stage and when I have to deal with saliva and blood on an everyday basis, I'll back out, but I can say with complete confidence that won't occur. They believe I tell others I want to be a dentist because it seems "impressive" and that it'll pay well, but that is very untrue. I've interned at a dentist's office and find the things that most people find to be "disgusting" in the mouth to actually be quite interesting. I'm certain that WHEN I follow through with dentistry, I'll be doing something I love every day.

Myself along with fellow dental students are constantly asked why we'd want a job that revolves around exploring mouths, but my answer is always the same: to help people. Even if dentistry isn't the first occupation people think of to assist others, I see its influence on people's lives and I can't wait to pursue my passion.