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	Faster-than-average-job growth
Median Income	$146,920 per year in 2010
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	Ilias Alevizos 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		The median annual wage of dentists was $146,920 in May 2010. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $71,210, and the top 10 percent earned $166,400 or more. Earnings vary according to number of years in practice, location, hours worked, and specialty.

Education Required		High school students who want to become dentists should take courses in chemistry, physics, biology, anatomy, and mathematics. Most dental students need at least a bachelor's degree before entering dental school; requirements vary by school. All dental schools require applicants to have completed certain required science courses, such as biology and chemistry. Majoring in a science, such as biology, might increase the chances of being accepted, but no specific major is required to enter most dental programs. College undergraduates who plan on applying to dental school must usually take the Dental Acceptance Test (DAT) during their junior year. Admission to dental school can be competitive. Dental schools use these tests, along with other factors such as grade point average and recommendations, to admit students into their programs. Dental schools require students to take classes such as local anesthesia, anatomy, periodontology (the study of oral disease and health), and radiology. All dental schools include practice where students work with patients in a clinical setting under the supervision of a licensed dentist. All nine dental specialties require dentists to complete additional training before practicing that specialty. They must usually take a 1- or 2-year residency in a program related to their specialty. Dentists who want to teach or research full time usually spend an additional 2 to 5 years in advanced dental training. Many practicing dentists also teach part time, including supervising students in dental school clinics. For more information, see the profile on postsecondary teachers.
Recommended High School Courses		Biology, Mathematics, English, Chemistry, Physics
Postsecondary Instructional Programs		Education and Training, Chemistry, Biology, Medicine and Dentistry
Certification and Licensing		Dentists must be licensed in all states; requirements vary by state. In most states, a license requires a degree from an accredited dental school and passing a written and practical exam. In addition, a dentist who wants to practice in one of the nine specialties that all states recognize must have a license in that specialty. This usually requires 2 to 4 years of additional education after dental school and, in some cases, the completion of a special state exam. A postgraduate residency term also may be required, usually lasting up to 2 years.

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 by 21 percent from 2010 to 2020, faster than the average for all occupations. Many members of the baby-boom generation will need complicated dental work. In addition, because each generation is more likely to keep their teeth than past generations, more dental care will be needed in the years to come. Dentists will continue to see an increase in public demand for their services as studies continue to link oral health to overall health. Employment of dentists is not expected to keep pace with the increased demand for dental services. There are still areas of the country where patients have little access to dental care. Whether patients seek care is largely dependent on their insurance coverage. People with new or expanded dental insurance coverage will be more likely to visit a dentist than in the past. Cosmetic dental services, such as teeth-whitening treatments, will become increasingly popular. This trend is expected to continue as new technologies allow for less invasive, faster procedures. Dentists are likely to hire more hygienists and dental assistants to handle routine services. Productivity increases from new technology should allow dentists to reduce the time needed to see each patient. These factors allow the dentist to see more patients when their practices expand. Dentists will continue to provide care and instruction aimed at promoting good oral hygiene, rather than just providing treatments such as fillings.
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, 2012-13 Edition, Dentists, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/dentists.htm O*NET OnLine, on the Internet at http://online.onetcenter.org/link/summary/29-1021.00