A Levels For Dentistry

I am currently in the final year of GCSE.
Right so I'm quite a practical, hands on person and so through my brother, I have found out that Dentistry is most probably the right option for me, as I like helping others. However, despite the extremely small chance, I may decide flip the switch on dentistry and do some field of engineering instead.
I am definitely going to take Maths, Biology and Chemistry as these subjects are pretty much musts when it comes to Dentistry, however I'm quite confused for my fourth subject between Physics and Economics.
Physics leaves the engineering door open, however at the expense of potentially a lot of stress and work time. Personally I think that I am better at Economics than Physics, however I would most probably be able to still get good grades in Physics if I worked my socks off for it.
Any ideas to help me choose between Physics and Economics?

Do Economics. Physics may be good for engineering but for Medicine and Dentistry they look for well rounded people so a humanity essay-based A level like Economics among the usual maths and science subjects impresses more. You'll be more likely to receive uni offers if you combine Economics with Maths, Biology and Chemistry to show you're not just a robot (Btw I'm second year A level student doing Maths, Physics, Biology. I did Chemistry AS).

Economics opens a ton of doors too. Physics is useful but if you're better at Economics and want to do Dentistry it's 100x more rational to do Economics.

Make sure you're not pressured into taking up certain subjects; maths is not a required A-level if you want to apply for dentistry (several dental schools don't even ask for it or place much emphasis on it). Although you seem interested, it's vital to carry out work experience for dentistry to see if it really is the right career for you. If there's a possibility you may want to go for engineering I would personally choose physics as I think it prepares you more for that field.

Thanks a ton for your quick reply, and I appreciate that they look for humanity essay-based subject but could you not argue that physics shows your ability to apply intellect in different scenarios? Isn't it also considered one of the hardest a levels to do?

No problem

Thing is that Maths, Chemistry and Biology are already 3 of the hardest A levels (Chemistry being by far the hardest) and they all show intellect in different scenarios. So does Economics for that matter. I used to be interested in medicine, went to open days and realised my lack of a humanities subject put me at an automatic disadvantage for it. Also if I suddenly realised I wanted to do let's say Law, a humanities subject would have given me more of a foot in the door. You can still do medicine with Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Biology but it's better to do Economics and besides you find it easier. It's a win-win I say. Economics is a highly respected A-level.

I'd even say it's preferable to do a less prestigious (but still respected) subject like Psychology than to do Physics. It's more relevant to medicine and dentistry.

Im having the exact same problem as i also want to go into dentistry but was confused between physics and economics i was told to go for economics as it is more of a mix compared to doing all sciences and universities will value this more.

Not really, take the one you enjoy more.

but what if i take it and work my socks off to get good grades and it universities just dont care about it.

Tbh, your fourth AS doesn't really matter much. Which subject is the one you'd rather take?

I dont really know tbh i seem to enjoy physics more at the moment but ive had no real experiance with economics as i currently do gcse Business studies. Are they similar?

Honestly, I've done neither business nor economics but maybe you could have a look online at the economics spec and see if it seems like something that would interest you? Or you could ask an economics teacher at your school about the course and what it entails? Most likely there will be some similarities and overlap between business and economics but I can't really provide any more help than that.

Physics is a great A-Level to have, it's highly regarded and opens up more science courses. Therefore, I would recommend you take physics if you enjoy it because it will not disadvantage you in any way. However, I would still check out your exam board's economics course and see whether your school will let you take both and then drop one or whether they hold taster sessions.

Thank you so much for your advise i've really taken it on board and will definitely go ask the economics teacher as soon as i see her. But the only thing that is still probably worrying me is that physics seems to be really hard at A level and my favourite physics teacher is leaving at the end of this year dont really know if i can learn as well from anyone else.At the moment im getting A*.

You're welcome (:
I've heard that physics can be very hard but then again, I didn't take it for A-Level. ( I do biology, chemistry and geography) Most likely, there are a bunch of threads on this site regarding the difficulty of physics A-Level with advice from physics student so you could try searching for such threads. If you enjoy the subject and have the motivation, then it's not too difficult to self teach yourself a science as it's more factual and past paper questions can get repeated quite abit. I think the highest grade you'll be asked to have for your 4th subject is a B so you're not expected to as well in it as your other subjects (:
Also, you can always switch your subject options early on in the year if you decide you don't like it/can't cope so you don't have to be 100% certain on your choices now.

I really want to do Biology and chemistry how are you finding those are they really difficult or do some people just exaggerate because ive asked some people and they really put me off saying they are too hard but i will probably definitely need them for dentistry right? And i think your right science can be self taught with dedication and i will definitely search for threads regarding physics as an A Level.

You are right in that you do need them to do Dentistry.
Chemistry is not hard to understand but if you're doing AQA, the mark schemes are incredibly specific which can get really annoying and lead to loads of dropped marks. I personally have bad teachers this year and was struggling with it and really started to hate the subject until I started breaking it down and self teaching myself using internet resources. I've still got a lot left to do A2 wise, however I'm now averaging an A* in Unit 4 despite not understanding most of the unit earlier this year. Unit 5 is really boring chemistry so I honestly don't know how revision will go with that.

I highly recommend biology AS. Great selection of topics! A2 is abit more hit or miss but I find the more you read over a topic, the more you start to like it and appreciate it because it becomes easier to understand and remember (:
Basically, I wouldn't recommend learning all the specific details in these subjects until very close to the exam otherwise you'll just forget them. Focus on the main concepts and understanding them earlier on in the year and hopefully you shouldn't have too many problems when you start memorising things (I personally find it easier to memorise something when I understand it):3