Additional Information
You have to like school. It's a long process to get through dentistry and
an orthodontics program. You have to be dedicated to learning and earn top
grades through high school and university.
An orthodontist is a specialized dentist who is required to take an additional
two years of training.
In the U.S., dental schools require students to complete three to four
years of college-level education before being admitted to dental school. Most
have completed at least an undergraduate degree.
Many dental programs last four years, although some are condensed to three
or stretched to five years.
After dental school, you can follow one of two routes. You can get a master's
degree in science in orthodontics or a clinical certificate, depending on
which school you go to.
Most of the master's programs are three years in length, while most certificate
programs are two. However, Dr. Robert Keim estimates that within five years,
both options will take three years to complete. Keim is the program director
in the department of orthodontics at the University of Southern California.
"There's a big trend throughout the country to make all of them three-year
programs, whether they're master's or a certificate," says Keim.
In the U.S., a dentist must be licensed to practice. In order to obtain
this license, the student must graduate from a university approved by the
Commission on Dental Accreditation and pass written and oral exams.
Most state licenses permit dentists to work in general or specialized practices.
But some require specialists like orthodontists to obtain a second license.