Generally, three or more years of
undergraduate education plus four years of
dental school is required to
graduate and become a general dentist
(DDS or DMD). State licensing boards accept either degree as
equivalent, and both degrees allow licensed individuals to practice the same
scope of general dentistry. Additional post-graduate training is required to
become a dental specialist, such as an orthodontist, periodontist or oral and
maxillofacial surgeon.
ORAL and MAXILLOFACIAL surgery
is the specialty of
dentistry that includes the
diagnosis and surgical
treatment of diseases, injuries and defects involving both the functional and
esthetic aspects of the hard and soft
tissues of the oral and maxillofacial
region.
ORTHODONTICS is the
area of dentistry concerned with the supervision, guidance and correction of
the growing or mature dental structures. This includes conditions requiring
movement/correction of
teeth which are not correctly aligned, involving
adjustment of relationships between and among teeth and facial bones.
Responsibilities of orthodontic practice include the diagnosis, prevention, and
treatment of all forms of misalignment of the teeth and associated alterations
in their surrounding structures, including the design, application and control
of functional and corrective appliances.
PERIODONTICS is the
specialty of dentistry that encompasses the prevention, diagnosis and treatment
of diseases of the supporting and surrounding tissues of the teeth (gums) or
their substitutes and the maintenance of the health, function and esthetics of
these
structures and tissues.
PROSTHODONTICS is the
branch of dentistry pertaining to the restoration and maintenance of oral
functions, comfort, appearance and health of a patient by the restoration of
natural teeth and/or the replacement of missing teeth and tissues with
artificial substitutes.
More abstracts about the Dental Specialties