The best specialty is the one that suits your lifestyle goal. If you are the type person who likes to have an easy less stressful job that allows you to have time outside of your job to do other things such as traveling, spending time with your kids, pursing other hobbies etc, then ortho is an ideal specialty. Since the assistants do most manual labors, an orthodontist can book a lot of patients in one day, work fewer hours in a day, and work fewer days in a month. The ortho job is quite repetitive and that’s why it’s an easy job… no unforeseeable complication that requires you to miss your lunch, very few after-hour emergency calls (which can easily be handled by the office manager), and most ortho emergencies can be managed over the phone. However, in order to get to that level, an orthodontist must work very hard at the beginning to build up the patient volume, to build his reputation, to expand his referral base, and, of course, to pay off his student loan.
Many people find ortho boring, monotonous... lacks variety, lacks challenge. If you are the type of person, who likes to deal with challenging backbreaking procedures everyday and doesn’t mind spending additional time communicating with the referring GPs, then OS, perio, endo should all fit your lifestyle. These 3 specialties rely 100% on GP referrals. Your success and your ability to keep the appointment book full depend on how well you communicate with the referring GPs. People don’t just come to your office unless their dentists tell them to.