Dentist Belgium - Flanders / Wallonia

Dentist Belgium 

As a dentist, you will need excellent communication skills to provide professional service to patients. In practice, it means French language ability at B2 level.

Dentists prevent and treat problems affecting the mouth and teeth, including dental and oral diseases. They also treat injuries and correct dental problems.

The most common role in dentistry is as a general dentist (normal dentist). As a dentist, you would work as an independent contractor providing dental care to the public. 

Responsibilities:

• Educate patients about oral care, examine teeth and diagnose patients' dental problems using tools such as x-rays
• operate technical equipment such as x-ray machines
• assess treatment options and agree on treatment plans with patients
• perform agreed clinical treatments such as repairing damaged teeth and treating gum disease;
• keep accurate records of the patient's dental structure (which may need to be used to identify individuals)
• keep abreast of developments in dentistry
• maintain patient dental records;
• keep abreast of developments in dentistry
• continuous and specialized training
• Some practices employ assistants so that dentists can focus on clinical work.

Salary:

All dentists are independent contractors in general practice. At the start, you will earn between EUR 6.000 and EUR 12.000 gross per month. Dentists with more experience can earn more than EUR 14.000,- per month.

Working hours:

 If you work as a dentist, you will be self-employed and can organize your own work hours, which may include weekend or evening sessions for patients.

 In general, a dentist works between 4 and 5 days per week, 8-10 hours a day.

What to expect:

When treating patients, you will need to wear a tunic, surgical gloves and safety glasses to protect yourself and reduce the risk of cross infection.

As in your current job as a dentist, the stress is comparable (when you deal with patient pain and anxiety, for example, or when you work under strict deadlines). However, from your experience, you know that the role is very rewarding when you see patient satisfaction as well as from the perspective of gains.

Qualifications:

• Minimum of 3 years of experience from the time they register
• University dentist diploma; you must have a diploma in dentistry approved to practice as a dentist and the courses last at least five to six years
• Third country nationals: require citizenship of an EU country
• Education Masters General and Specialized Masters outside the EU: require recognition of your diploma in an EU country
• French at B2 level 

Skills:

• Manual dexterity and technical dental skills, plus the ability to maintain intense focus for extended periods;
• The ability to build relationships with patients and colleagues, which is very important for creating your own customer database;
• High level communication and interpersonal skills, for interacting with patients of all ages and backgrounds. At this practice you will have a large group of poor clients, for whom the insurance company will pay all basic treatments. It's important to be social and emphatic;
• An interest in the well-being of others and a sympathetic attitude, in particular to deal with the fears of patients;
• Good administrative and managerial skills to run a dental office;
• Information technology skills, due to the increasing use of computers for record keeping and accounts, and for digital imaging of x-rays and intra-oral photography.

 Professional experience:

In Belgium, not being EU member, it is essential to have at least 3 years of experience in dentistry (in Europe!). If not, the Belgian government will always give a dentist one year of internship. 

Employers:

In a dental office, you will mostly be employed as a freelance dentist, providing dental services. Dental offices vary from practitioner to practitioner, from part-time surgery to multiple partnerships with multiple partners.