Activities	Diagnose and treat diseases, injuries, and malformations of teeth and gums and related oral structures. May treat diseases of nerve, pulp, and other dental tissues.
Outlook	Average job growth
Median Income	$136,960 per year in 2006
Work Context & Conditions	Most dentists work 4 or 5 days a week and are "solo practitioners.". Some work evenings and weekends to meet their patients’ needs. Most full-time dentists work between 35 and 40 hours a week, but others work more.
Minimum Education Requirements	D.D.S. or D.M.D.
Skills	Persuasion, Monitoring, Critical Thinking, Instructing, Management of Material Resources, Active Listening, Service Orientation, Equipment Selection, Time Management, Troubleshooting, Active Learning, Complex Problem Solving, Judgment and Decision Making, Coordination, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Science
Abilities	Oral Expression, Control Precision, Speech Recognition, Deductive Reasoning, Problem Sensitivity, Near Vision, Speech Clarity, Inductive Reasoning, Oral Comprehension
Interviews	Jennifer Cyriaque Stephen Sterlitz James Tynecki

Job Category		Healthcare Practitioners & Technical
Job Description		Diagnose, prevent, and treat teeth and tissue problems. They remove decay, fill cavities, examine x rays, place protective plastic sealants on children's teeth, straighten teeth, and repair fractured teeth. They also perform corrective surgery on gums and supporting bones to treat gum diseases. Dentists extract teeth and make models and measurements for dentures to replace missing teeth. They provide instruction on diet, brushing, flossing, use of fluorides, and other aspects of dental care, as well. They also administer anesthetics and write prescriptions for antibiotics and other medications. Dentists use a variety of equipment, including x-ray machines, drills, and instruments such as mouth mirrors, probes, forceps, brushes, and scalpels. They wear masks, gloves, and safety glasses to protect themselves and their patients from infectious diseases. Dentists in private practice oversee a variety of administrative tasks, including bookkeeping, and buying equipment and supplies.
Working Conditions		Most dentists work 4 or 5 days a week. Some work evenings and weekends to meet their patients' needs. Most full-time dentists work about 40 hours a week, but others work more. Initially, dentists may work more hours as they establish their practice. Experienced dentists often work fewer hours. A considerable number continue in part-time practice well beyond the usual retirement age. Most dentists are "solo practitioners," meaning they own their own businesses and work alone or with a small staff. Some dentists have partners, and a few work for other dentists as associate dentists.
Salary Range		Median annual earnings of salaried dentists were $136,960 in May 2006. Earnings vary according to number of years in practice, location, hours worked, and specialty. Self-employed dentists in private practice tend to earn more than do salaried dentists, and a relatively large proportion of dentists is self-employed. Like other business owners, these dentists must provide their own health insurance, life insurance, and retirement benefits.

Education Required		Dental schools require a minimum of 2 years of college-level predental education. However, most dental students have at least a bachelor's degree. Predental education emphasizes course work in the sciences. All dental schools require applicants to take the Dental Admissions Test (DAT). When selecting students, schools consider scores earned on the DAT, the applicants' grade point average, and information gathered through recommendations and interviews. Dental school usually lasts 4 academic years. Studies begin with classroom instruction and laboratory work. Beginning courses in clinical sciences, including laboratory techniques, are also provided at this time. During the last 2 years, students treat patients, usually in dental clinics, under the supervision of licensed dentists. Most dental schools award the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery (D.D.S.). The rest award an equivalent degree, Doctor of Dental Medicine (D.M.D.). Dentists who want to teach or conduct research usually spend an additional 2 to 5 years in advanced dental training, in programs operated by dental schools or hospitals. Some dental school graduates work for established dentists as associates for a year or two in order to gain experience and save money to equip an office of their own. Most dental school graduates, however, purchase an established practice or open a new practice immediately after graduation. According to the ADA, each year about 12 percent of new graduates enroll in postgraduate training programs to prepare for a dental specialty. High school and college students who want to become dentists should take courses in biology, chemistry, physics, health, and mathematics. College undergraduates planning on applying to dental school are required to take many science courses.
Recommended High School Courses		Biology, Mathematics, English, Chemistry, Physics
Postsecondary Instructional Programs		Education and Training, Chemistry, Biology, Medicine and Dentistry
Certification and Licensing		All 50 States and the District of Columbia require dentists to be licensed. To qualify for a license in most States, candidates must graduate from 1 of the 56 dental schools accredited by the American Dental Association’s (ADA’s) Commission on Dental Accreditation, and then must pass written and practical examinations. Candidates may fulfill the written part of the State licensing requirements by passing the National Board Dental Examinations. Individual States or regional testing agencies administer the written or practical examinations. Currently, about 17 states require dentists to obtain a specialty license before practicing as a specialist. Requirements include 2 to 4 years of postgraduate education and, in some cases, completion of a special state examination. Most state licenses permit dentists to engage in both general and specialized practice.

Interest Area		Investigative Involves working with ideas and requires an extensive amount of thinking. Realistic Involves working on practical, hands-on problems and solutions, often with real-world materials, tools, and machinery.
Work Values		Social Status Looked up to by others in their company and their community. Achievement Get a feeling of accomplishment. Social Service Do things for other people. Security Have steady employment. Ability Utilization Make use of individual abilities. Activity Busy all the time. Autonomy Plan work with little supervision. Recognition Receive recognition for the work you do. Compensation Get paid well in comparison with other workers. Responsibility Make decisions on your own.
Skills		Persuasion Persuade others to approach things differently. Monitoring Assess how well someone is doing when learning or doing something. Critical Thinking Use logic and analysis to identify the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches. Instructing Teach others how to do something. Management of Material Resources Obtain and see to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work. Active Listening Listen to what other people are saying and ask questions as appropriate. Service Orientation Actively look for ways to help people. Equipment Selection Determine the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job. Time Management Manage one's own time and the time of others. Troubleshooting Determine what is causing an operating error and deciding what to do about it. Active Learning Work with new material or information to grasp its implications. Complex Problem Solving Solving novel, ill-defined problems in complex, real-world settings. Judgment and Decision Making Be able to weigh the relative costs and benefits of a potential action. Coordination Adjust actions in relation to others' actions. Reading Comprehension Understand written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents. Speaking Talk to others to effectively convey information. Science Use scientific methods to solve problems.
Abilities		Oral Expression Able to convey information and ideas through speech in ways that others will understand. Control Precision Able to quickly and repeatedly make precise adjustments in moving the controls of a machine or vehicle. Speech Recognition Identify and understand the speech of another person Deductive Reasoning Able to apply general rules to specific problems to come up with logical answers, including deciding whether an answer makes sense. Problem Sensitivity Able to tell when something is wrong or likely to go wrong. This doesn't involve solving the problem, just recognizing that there is a problem. Near Vision Able to see details of objects at a close range (within a few feet of the observer). Speech Clarity Able to speak clearly so listeners understand. Inductive Reasoning Able to combine separate pieces of information, or specific answers to problems, to form general rules or conclusions. This includes coming up with a logical explanation for why seemingly unrelated events occur together. Oral Comprehension Able to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

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Job Outlook		Employment of dentists is expected to grow more slowly than the average for all occupations through 2016. Although employment growth will provide some job opportunities, most jobs will result from the need to replace the large number of dentists projected to retire. Job prospects should be good as new dentists take over established practices or start their own. Demand for dental care should grow substantially through 2016. Dental care will focus more on prevention, including teaching people how better to care for their teeth. Dentists will increasingly provide care that is aimed at preventing tooth loss rather than simply providing treatments, such as fillings. Improvements in dental technology also will allow dentists to provide more effective and less painful treatment to their patients. The employment of dentists is not expected to grow as rapidly as the demand for dental services. As their practices expand, dentists are likely to hire more dental hygienists and dental assistants to handle routine services. Almost all dentists work in private practice. A small number of salaried dentists work in private or public hospitals and clinics. Dentists held about 161,000 jobs in 2006. About 2 in 5 dentists were self-employed. Almost all dentists work in private practice. According to the American Dental Association (ADA), about 80 percent of dentists in private practice are sole proprietors, and 13 percent belong to a partnership. A small number of salaried dentists work in hospitals and offices of physicians.
More Information		American Dental Association, Commission on Dental Accreditation, American Dental Education Association
References		Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008-09 Edition, Dentists, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos072.htm O*NET OnLine, on the Internet at http://online.onetcenter.org/link/summary/29-1021.00