Answer:
Hmm, what an interesting question!
If you are asking because you have difficulty deciding which vocation to enter; then I’d suggest NOT doing either, at least, not till you’ve had some life experience and seen more of the what the world can offer.
Whilst both options are in healthcare, there is a HUGE difference between the two - both in the area of focus, and the scope within the field itself. Dentistry can take you from the simple cleans and checks, all the way to quite major surgery of the jaws and lower face - and by major, think, skin peeled off the face and gloves covered in blood major.
Optometry is, well, a bit limited but clean; and there is a lot of satisfaction, especially in Third World countries in identifying, treating and managing eyesight issues in children. You’ll work with other health professionals - i.e. Nurses and doctors - in the delivery of care.
As a dentist, this was one of my days in the past week:
I saw a patient for a 4 hour appointment, she needed deep sedation, which I administered myself - using two types of drugs. The patient was fully monitored (ECG, BP, O2 and CO2), and I’m trained to administer, monitor and manage heavily sedated patients. She was effectively barely conscious throughout. She needed 2 CAD/CAM crowns which I prepared, scanned, and fabricated using a robotic mill. She also needed laser gum surgery to expose a problem tooth, and 2 restorations.
I then saw a patient in the afternoon who was having severe jaw aches; we took a CT scan (I have a machine at my offices), and examined a 3D image of her jaws. I prescribed some medication for her and looked to review her in 2 weeks.
I saw a patient for the removal of their wisdom teeth, also under IV sedation; it was a difficult removal as the roots of the teeth were very close to an important nerve and blood vessel. There was a complication, as a smaller blood vessel was severed during the operation, and the patients mouth filled up with blood, I had to find the vessel, compress it and then laser it shut.
My last patient came in for 4 fillings on their back teeth, this took about 90 minutes.
I suspect an optometrists day would be - eye check, eye check, eye check, administered eye drops, diagnosed problem with child's eyes and prescribed treatment, organized eyeglasses for a number of patients, eye check, eye check, reviewed patients on managed care, etc. Perhaps a practicing optometrist could give us more insight here?
Explanation:
