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January 20th, 2023

Dental School Personal Statement with Examples – A Comprehensive Guide 2023

Worried about your personal statement?

Need to know how to write a personal statement for dental school?

Your dental school personal statement is an effective way to show your career goals in the field of dentistry.

Here, we analyze:

  • Things to include
  • Ways to write
  • How to explain receiving lower marks
  • Professional tips

Table of contents
What is Dental School Personal Statement?


What Length Should a Personal Statement for Dental School Be?

How to Write an Excellent Dental School Personal Statement in Six Easy Steps


Dental Residency Personal Statement Examples


Example 2 – Personal Statement for Pediatric Dentistry


Let’s conclude!

What is Dental School Personal Statement?

The dental school personal statement is a document that applicants write themselves to highlight their interest in the course and their various relevant achievements. Typically, it contains 500–750 words in two pages.

Why Do You Need a Well Structured Personal Statement?

Of all the components of your dental school application, your personal statement is by far the most important.

Wondering why?

We’ll explain.

  • To persuade the readers that you are a suitable candidate for the course.
  • To increase the chances of acceptance.
  • To make a sincere and honest impression on the admissions committee.
  • To understand your personality and abilities.
  • To prove your subject-matter expertise.
  • To understand your passion and career goals.

What You Should Address

The format and style of personal statements for dentistry schools vary depending on the colleges.

However, most of the personal statements provide answers to the following questions:

What made you choose dentistry?

Your strong reasons for choosing dentistry should be discussed here.

It can be developed with any unique stories, incidents, etc.

What qualities do you possess that will allow you to succeed as a dentist?

Describe your dental skills and capabilities.

Try to relate them to tales or events so that they make sense.

What do you hope to accomplish in the field of dentistry?

Talk about the things you want to pursue following the course, including your career goals.

They should be able to tell how passionate you are.

What kind of dental experience do you have?

Talk about your professional experiences and the lessons you’ve learned from them.

Being sincere and authentic while describing experiences is important.

What Length Should a Personal Statement for Dental School Be?

Depending on the institution you want to attend, the length of your dental school personal statement will vary.

You can follow the rules below if you don’t have any parameters.

No of pages –

2 pages

Word count –

500- 750

No. of characters –

below 4500

Best fonts –

Ariel, Times New Roman, Helvetica

Font size –

12 points

Read more here:


How Should I Explain My Poor Grades or Unfavorable Data?

You are not forced to explain to them if you choose not to!

But, a personal statement could be used as an opportunity that allows you to explain details on what you’ve learned or how you have overcome poor scores or experiences in your course.

If you plan to write it, succinctly summarize the experience and then explain what you learned and how you evolved as a result.

Avoid making any negative claims or justifications.

How to Write an Excellent Dental School Personal Statement in Six Easy Steps

The writing process is tough and challenging.

Therefore, we’ll briefly examine six steps to write a dental school personal statement that stands out.

Step 1 – Brainstorming

Start by collecting information about various sections in your dental school personal statement. Get to know yourself as well as you can.

Step 2 – Organize your ideas

Find a way to structure your ideas once you’ve decided what to include in your personal statement. It calls for a fresh, creative approach.

Step 3- Outline

Create an outline for your personal statement for dental school. It is a basic outline that allows you to see how the points should be organized.

Step 4- Write your first draft

Next, write your first draft of your personal statement for dental school. Once you’ve written it, you’ll know how to make it perfect.

Step 5- Edit

Check your personal statement for any grammatical or syntactical problems.

Additionally, request the feedback of your friends on your dental school personal statement.

Step 6- Final

You will be able to create your final dental school personal statement after writing multiple drafts and editing. Submit it after careful proofreading.

How to Organize

Introduction

Main Body

Conclusion

Introduction

The opening of your personal statement is indeed the finest place to communicate your passion and commitment to dentistry to the admissions committee, which is seeking applicants who can prove their drive to study dentistry.

Answer the following questions in your introduction.

What is your motivation to choose dentistry?

Your reasons for selecting dentistry should be explained using a storytelling narrative.

Any specific incident that has drawn you to the field?

If you have any particular events or incidents related to the field of dentistry,  explain them.

An example of an introduction;

“I had the opportunity to visit our family dentist every 6 months while growing up. Due to my excellent oral health and lack of any dental issues, these visits were part of my routine. But it changed when my two front teeth were broken in an accident. They were fixed by my dentist, and they appeared much better than before. My desire to become a dentist was clear at that point. I believe that dentistry is the ideal practice, which will help me to serve others in a similar way that my dentist served me.”

Main Body

Depending on the material, you can break up your main body into many paragraphs.

What kind of dental experience do you have?

You should explain here what experience, qualities, skills, etc. make you a dentist.

Do you have any remarkable academic accomplishments in dentistry?

Describe your honours, projects, and other achievements in the field of dentistry.

Conclusion

The conclusion, which serves as the final section of your personal statement, can help you summarise the important points you’ve presented.

  • Your career objectives
  • How taking this program will enable you to accomplish it

Dental Residency Personal Statement Examples

My personal encounters with dentists are what sparked my interest in dentistry. I have had crooked teeth since I was a child, but I never gave it a second thought. Once I started high school, however, things started to change. My smile and teeth caught people’s attention, and they picked on me. I initially avoided such bullies, but later I started to doubt whether or not that’s the truth. As a result, I cut off all interaction with others and became reclusive. When my mother noticed that I was concerned about my teeth, she referred me to a dentist. First off, I didn’t have any faith in my dentist. After getting braces, I really started to admire their job because now that I had good teeth, I kept getting compliments on them and I believe my dentist deserved the credit for it. I always had a feeling that my dentist had changed my life for the better. But after some reflection, I realised that making someone smile is not always easy. To do that, you must possess the necessary desire and goodness. In the dentist, I saw that. As a result, I finished my medical education and chose to pursue a dental specialization. I believe that there are many rewards for working in dental health care. One important satisfying reward is that dentists can help people to regain their confidence and smile.

My opportunity to ensure my future and pursue higher education depended on gaining the appropriate experiences and exposure to the field. I therefore found it really exciting to be working at the dental section at the Government Hospital Kottayam while I was studying. While I was there, I had the privilege to train with multiple dentists and see a broad variety of oral treatments, including fillings, fissure sealing, aligners, implants, root – end treatments, and more. I gained insight into the daily world of a dentist and realized that this career needs not just patient treatment skills but also good communication, connectedness, and coordination skills. I considered this to be a very intimate field and was intrigued with how everybody functioned in properly designed units .

In college, I had the opportunity to join a variety of clubs, including the Nature Club, the Community Club, the Book Club, and others. I also served as the Nature Club’s president. I value the work we undertake and honestly believe that attending these clubs has inspired me to become more involved in the college environment. They reflect both my leadership skills and my ability to work well in a team. For two years in college, I was the class representative. In my role as the class representative, I was able to handle disagreement and work with challenging students. Furthermore, I believe that it greatly helped in my capacity to effectively manage a variety of patients in the field of dentistry.

In the future, I want to run a private clinic in my birth country where I can help the community and people just like my dentist did. I aspire to become a socially conscious dentist with the best instruction and resources offered by your university. A grin can make someone feel confident, and doing everything in your power to make them smile is priceless.



Example 2 – Personal Statement for Pediatric Dentistry

The habits we form while young not only stick with us for the rest of our lives, but they can also have a long-term effect on our health. I have learned this from my experience. My parents continue to tell me how adamant I was about brushing my teeth when I was a child. I had terrible tooth stains, cavities, and other dental issues even at a young age. The state of my teeth startled my dentist. Such dental issues at such an early age were something he never anticipated. I have undergone therapies, yet my dental health issues persisted. My early habits, I suppose, are what led to this. They had an impact on me in one way or another, and it took me a long time to change my course. Years of experience made me realize that anything I needed to do should have been done when I was a child. Even if children aren’t concerned, teaching them proper dental hygiene habits is important for their development. I didn’t want my kids or other children to go through what I did. But it took some time for me to have that awareness. At that point, I began to consider starting my career by pursuing paediatric dentistry.

When I was volunteering at a dental facility close to my home, I discovered that many adults who came in had no proper access to dental health which many of us take for granted. What we see today is a result of their lack of oral hygiene knowledge and practices. Thus, I made the decision to make sure that young children in my community had access to resources and were aware of appropriate dental hygiene practices. I should help pave the way in dental care if I want to create a healthy future for the children. My time spent in the paediatric clinic at the dental school was pleasurable. Each dental procedure is done with utmost care since children are growing and developing. I had the opportunity to observe and participate in a number of dental treatments, including cleanings and root canals. After watching them, I understood that the profession doesn’t just concentrate on the cure. But, dentists also work with patients as well as family and provide support for families. I am excited to engage in this kind of work in the future as a paediatric dentist.

A paediatric dentist should possess not just effective medical abilities and knowledge but also great leadership, teamwork, and communication skills. Given that dentistry involves working with children, communication is crucial. As a paediatric dentist, your success depends on your ability to interact and communicate with children. I had the opportunity to interact with children while volunteering at the dental clinic. One day, a young kid of seven visited the clinic complaining of severe dental ache. The tooth needed to be pulled because of a cavity, the dentist said. The dentist gave me the opportunity to explain these facts to the boy and persuade him to undergo treatment. Despite my anxiety and worry, I saw it as a challenge. Amal was his name, and he was terrified of the process and the dentist. I took a seat next to him and offered a mildly amusing explanation. He asked me what to do when he finally stopped crying. He thus decided to go forward with it and requested for my support throughout. I was glad to do that. Thus, I came to the realisation that a person in this field needs to have a pleasant personality and effective communication skills. I will be able to attain a more in-depth knowledge of the subject and increase my flexibility for functioning within small places due to the coursework and experiences I receive during the course.

After the course, I will open my own dental clinic where I can interact with children to not only cure their dental problems but also educate them on developing good habits. In India, eight out of ten children have various kinds of oral conditions, and as part of my initiative, I desire to do everything I can to improve the children’ dental health over time.

How to Use These Samples?

You’ve now finished reading the sample personal statements for dental school.

How should you apply these examples in your writing, though?

These samples show the way of writing.

So in a way, it serves as a reminder for you.

  • Abide by the rules ( if specified)
  • Maintain the word limit
  • In your writing, be optimistic.
  • Must be free of grammar mistakes.
  • Create separate paragraphs.

How to Avoid Mistakes

  • Spend time and effort planning your personal statement for dental school.
  • Describe how you learned the abilities you have.
  • Read continuously. You can detect flaws in your statement by reading it.
  • Remember to proofread.
  • Detail-oriented writing is necessary.

Tips From the Pros

To help you in drafting a powerful personal statement for dental residency, the most experienced writers have provided the following tips.

Let’s look at them!

Be genuine

Avoid using jargon, clichés, or complex phrases that you will not normally use in conversations.

Always keep in mind that dental institutions need to get to understand the real you.

Think creatively and uniquely

Describe how you would enhance the field and patient care, as this will set you apart from other competitors.

Share a narrative

In order to avoid plagiarism, make absolutely sure that your essay is a unique story. Use a narrative style when writing.

Review the document

Request feedback by asking a friend or expert to read your writing.

Ask them to evaluate the essay and provide comments on how to improve it.

Take your time

Allow yourself enough time to prepare your thoughts, write effectively, and proofread.

The more time you take, the more powerful your personal statement will be.

Let’s conclude!

You can create a strong and confident statement that understands the needs of the admissions committee by using the instructions given above. Thus, your chances of getting an interview will increase!

We sincerely hope that our description of the dental school personal statement was helpful to you.

Adding comments and sharing our blog with your friends are both appreciated if you find it informative.

Mrs Jizah M

Mrs Jizah M has always enjoyed writing down her thoughts since school days. What just started as a hobby slowly transformed into a passion. Her writing skills were first acknowledged by few of her professors when she wrote content for the college website; this was a turing. Slowly she started getting freelance works and later on, a series of events led her to specialize in academic and higher education related documentations. In additional to personal statements, she along with her team writes LORs, SOPs, college application essays, admission essays and all similar types of documents.

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