Getting into dental school is exactly like getting into medical school in the USA. It's very competitive, especially at the top schools. Everybody is type A personality, great grades, hobbies, research, leadership, community service, etc.
Before being accepted (and before we were married), many people/admissions officers/etc made a huge deal that my wife would have to sacrifice our relationship to get through school. We even had a Dean of a dental school pull me to the side while touring with my wife and tell me that we would not make it if she was accepted. This was largely overhyped and I'd say the stress in our marriage has only increased 5%-10%.
Dental school itself is also a lot like medical school. Every dental school I know is roughly 8am-5pm with the first two years spent mainly in classes, and the last two years spent in a mix of classes and student clinic. You take many similar classes as you would in medical school, for example, gross anatomy (i.e. real dead bodies) of the entire body before spending a few extra weeks on the neck up.
One thing to be a dentist is that you have to be good with your hands as every dentist has to give injections, fill cavities, etc,
Socially, I think dentists have a perception problem. Many people think dentists are trying to cheat people out of their money (similar perception to chiropractors) and being a dentist is certainly less prestigious than being an MD.