Becoming a dentist takes a minimum of eight years after high school: four years of undergraduate college followed by four years of dental school. After graduating, you’ll need to pass a national licensing exam and meet your state’s additional requirements before you can practice. Here’s what each step looks like.
Undergraduate Preparation
There’s no required major for dental school. You can study anything from English to engineering, as long as you complete the prerequisite science courses. Most dental schools expect at least two semesters each of biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, and physics, all with accompanying lab work. Some schools will accept one semester of biochemistry in place of the second semester of organic chemistry.
Beyond the required courses, dental schools look for a strong overall GPA and science GPA. Most competitive applicants carry a science GPA above 3.3, though averages vary by school. Shadowing a practicing dentist, volunteering in healthcare settings, and gaining hands-on experience all strengthen your application significantly. Admissions committees want evidence that you understand what the day-to-day work actually involves.
The Dental Admission Test
Before applying to dental school, you’ll take the DAT, a standardized exam covering natural sciences, perceptual ability (spatial reasoning), reading comprehension, and quantitative reasoning. As of March 2025, the DAT uses a new three-digit scoring scale ranging from 200 to 600, replacing the old 1-to-30 scale. You can take the DAT up to a year before you plan to enroll, and most students sit for it during the spring or summer before their application cycle.
Applying to Dental School
Nearly all U.S. dental schools use a centralized application system called ADEA AADSAS. The application typically opens in mid-May, with the first submission date in early June. The system closes the following February, but waiting that long puts you at a serious disadvantage. Dental schools review applications on a rolling basis, so submitting during the summer gives you the best chance of landing interviews early.
Each school sets its own deadline within the AADSAS window. Your application includes your transcripts, DAT scores, a personal statement, and letters of recommendation. If a school is interested, they’ll invite you for an interview, which is often the most heavily weighted part of the admissions decision.
What Happens in Dental School
Dental school is a four-year program. The first two years focus heavily on classroom and lab instruction: anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, pathology, and dental materials. You’ll practice procedures on simulation models before working with real patients. The final two years shift toward supervised clinical care, where you treat patients in the school’s dental clinic under faculty oversight. By graduation, you’ll have performed fillings, extractions, crowns, root canals, and other procedures on live patients.
You’ll graduate with either a DDS (Doctor of Dental Surgery) or DMD (Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry) degree, depending on which title your school awards. Despite the different names, these degrees are functionally identical. There are no differences in admissions standards, accreditation, curriculum requirements, or state licensure between the two. The distinction is purely historical: DDS evolved from the surgical roots of the profession, while DMD came from the medical side.
Licensing Requirements
After dental school, you must pass the Integrated National Board Dental Examination (INBDE) to practice in the United States. This is a two-day exam that tests your ability to apply clinical knowledge to realistic patient scenarios. It’s accepted in all U.S. states and territories as fulfilling all or part of the written exam requirement for licensure.
Most states also require a clinical licensing exam, where you demonstrate hands-on skills on patients or simulation models. Requirements vary by state, so you’ll need to check with the dental board where you plan to practice. Once you hold both a national board pass and a state clinical license, you’re eligible to see patients independently.
Choosing a Specialty
General dentistry doesn’t require training beyond dental school, and most dentists practice as generalists. If you want to specialize, you’ll need to complete a residency program after graduation. There are 12 recognized dental specialties:
- Orthodontics, focusing on teeth alignment and bite correction
- Oral and maxillofacial surgery, covering surgical procedures on the jaw, face, and mouth
- Pediatric dentistry, treating children and adolescents
- Periodontics, specializing in gum disease and dental implants
- Endodontics, focused on root canal therapy and diseases of the tooth pulp
- Prosthodontics, restoring and replacing teeth with crowns, bridges, and dentures
- Oral and maxillofacial pathology and radiology, diagnosing diseases through tissue analysis and imaging
- Dental anesthesiology, managing sedation and pain control
- Dental public health, oral medicine, and orofacial pain, addressing population-level dental care, complex medical-dental conditions, and chronic facial pain
Specialty residencies range from two to six years depending on the field. Oral and maxillofacial surgery programs are the longest, often lasting four to six years. Orthodontics, periodontics, and endodontics typically take two to three years. These residency spots are competitive, and your dental school grades, board scores, and clinical experience all factor into the match process.
Timeline and Career Outlook
If you start college at 18, the earliest you could be a licensed general dentist is around age 26. Pursuing a specialty pushes that to 28 or older. The total investment is substantial, but the career pays accordingly. The median annual wage for dentists was $179,210 in May 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment is projected to grow 4 percent from 2024 to 2034, roughly on pace with the average for all occupations.
Most dentists work in private practice, either owning their own office or joining an existing one. Others work in group practices, hospitals, community health centers, the military, or academic settings. Ownership brings higher earning potential but also the responsibility of running a business, including hiring staff, managing insurance, and handling overhead costs. Many new graduates start as associates in an established practice for a few years before deciding whether to buy or start their own.