How do you become a dentist?

What does it take? If you are interested in a career in dentistry, you need four years of college, with a number of science courses (like organic and inorganic chemistry, physics, etc.), then four years of dental school. The first two years are virtually identical to medical school, since the mouth is connected to the rest of the body. The second two years are a mix of dental courses and clinical dentistry. Many states require a one year full time residency program after that. Then you have to take a licensing exam for the state or area in which you practice.

Is Dentistry Expensive?

Everything is relative. To what? Making anything last in the human mouth is a very unique problem. Every day the temperature of the oral cavity varies greatly (Think hot coffee. Think ice cream).
Then there is the mechanical stress. Even Consumer Reports doesn't come close, in any of their testing, to what the mouth can produce: grinding, clenching. chewing. PLUS the things you shouldn't do with your teeth: opening hair pins, playing sports without a custom mouth guard, biting nails, eating ice.
AND ALL OF THIS UNDER WATER!!!
Patients often ask, "How long will this last?" The miracle is that it LASTS AT ALL.
Even though we make it look easy, good dentistry is a precise science and a fine art. A simple filling involves molecular and physical bonds done to live and sensitive tissue. Fillings have to be shaped within very strict biologic parameters, and patients want them to look good, too.
A crown incorporates all of this and also a knowledge of melting and fusing points of metals and porcelain, plus the expansion and contraction percentages of different impression materials and plasters.
A dental implant restoration is incredibly complex, because, unlike a knee or a hip replacement, a dental implant is part way into a sterile environment (bone) and part way into one of the dirtiest areas of the body: the mouth!
So, dentistry is a pretty good deal relatively speaking.