A DDS, or Doctor of Dental Surgery, is a professional doctoral degree required to practice general dentistry in the United States. It takes four years of graduate-level education to earn, and it qualifies you to diagnose oral diseases, restore and replace teeth, perform surgeries, and provide preventive care. If you’ve seen “DDS” after your dentist’s name and wondered what it means, here’s everything behind those three letters.
What a DDS Degree Covers
The DDS curriculum trains dentists across the full scope of general dentistry. That includes diagnosing and treating oral diseases, filling cavities and placing crowns, performing root canals on single and multi-rooted teeth, extracting teeth, fitting dentures and partial dentures, placing dental implants, and providing preventive care like caries risk assessments and treatment plans. Students also learn pediatric dentistry, basic orthodontics for correcting misaligned bites, and periodontal (gum) surgery techniques.
The degree is structured as two years of preclinical coursework followed by two years of hands-on clinical training. During the preclinical phase, students study anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, and oral pathology in classrooms and labs. In the clinical years, they treat real patients in a supervised dental facility, building the skills they’ll use in practice. Most dental schools still follow this two-plus-two model.
DDS vs. DMD: No Real Difference
Some dentists have “DMD” after their name instead of “DDS.” DMD stands for Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry (or Doctor of Dental Medicine). Despite the different titles, the two degrees are identical in substance. The American Dental Association confirms that DDS and DMD dentists complete the same education and meet the same curriculum requirements. Each university simply chooses which title to award. Both degrees lead to the same licensing exams, the same scope of practice, and the same career options. If your dentist has a DMD instead of a DDS, their training is equivalent.
How Dentists Get Licensed
Earning the degree alone isn’t enough to see patients. Every state requires dentists to pass a national written exam and a separate clinical licensing exam. The written component is the Integrated National Board Dental Examination (INBDE), which replaced the older two-part National Board exams in 2020. The INBDE tests entry-level knowledge and cognitive skills needed to practice safely, but it doesn’t include any clinical demonstration. For that, candidates must also pass a state or regional clinical exam where they perform actual procedures under evaluation.
Both exams are required across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. After licensure, dentists must continue their education to keep practicing. Requirements vary by state. In Washington, for example, dentists complete 63 hours of continuing education every three years.
The 12 Recognized Dental Specialties
A DDS qualifies you for general dentistry, but dentists who want to specialize must complete additional residency training after dental school. The National Commission on Recognition of Dental Specialties currently recognizes 12 specialties:
- Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics: correcting misaligned teeth and jaw abnormalities
- Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery: surgical treatment of diseases, injuries, and defects of the mouth, jaw, and face
- Periodontics: treating diseases of the gums and supporting tissues around teeth
- Endodontics: root canal therapy and treatment of the dental pulp
- Pediatric Dentistry: oral care for infants through adolescents, including children with special health needs
- Prosthodontics: replacing missing teeth with crowns, bridges, dentures, and implants
- Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology: diagnosing diseases affecting the mouth and facial region
- Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology: imaging and interpretation for diagnosis of oral conditions
- Dental Public Health: community-level prevention and disease control
- Dental Anesthesiology: managing pain, anxiety, and patient health during dental procedures
- Oral Medicine: oral care for medically complex patients
- Orofacial Pain: diagnosing and treating pain disorders of the jaw, mouth, face, head, and neck
Specialty residencies typically add two to six years of training beyond the four-year DDS program, depending on the field. Oral and maxillofacial surgery residencies are among the longest, while others like dental public health can be shorter.
Salary and Job Outlook
Dentistry is one of the higher-paying healthcare professions. The median annual wage for dentists was $179,210 as of May 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That figure covers general dentists and specialists combined. Earnings vary widely based on specialty, location, and whether a dentist owns a practice or works as an associate.
Employment of dentists is projected to grow 4 percent from 2024 to 2034, which is about as fast as the average for all occupations. Retirements and population growth should keep demand steady for new graduates entering the field.
Paths for International Dentists
Dentists trained outside the United States can earn a DDS or DMD through advanced standing programs at accredited U.S. dental schools. These programs condense the degree into two to three years, since applicants already have dental training from their home country. You don’t need to repeat the full four-year program.
The American Dental Education Association runs a centralized application service called ADEA CAAPID that lets international dentists apply to multiple advanced standing programs with a single standardized application. The application window runs from March through January each year, though not every program participates. Applicants who completed their dental education in a language other than English will need to demonstrate English proficiency, but there’s no restriction based on which country granted the original degree.