I will soon be attending dental school and am trying to gather information on specialties. General dentists seem to see a wide variety of cases, whereas specialists focus only on certain types of situations. In what ways do specialties, such as periodontics and endodontics, remain exciting if many of the patients present similar problems?

You are thinking (of course) of clinical practice. The variety of procedures (not to mention being the primary doctor to manage the overall oral health of our patients) is one of the important reasons I decided NOT to specialize.

But there are dentists in academia, dentists in research in a variety of settings. Most research is performed by specialists.

There is plenty of time to think about this though. Going through dental school will give you a far better idea of where your interests best lie within the field. You will also have first-hand contact with these specialists. I'm sure they will each have their own particular perspectives on what attracts and keeps them interested in their specialty.

Good luck!