How Many Years Does it Take to Get a Degree in Dentistry?
There are many types of surgeons out there, as well as many types of general practitioners. The average dentist (out of all professions) makes about $150,000 every year, but believe it or not, they spend a large portion of their career actually in school. Most doctors can get their MD license or even their PhD in approximately 4-6 years depending on the profession. For a dental professional though, it can take upwards of around 8 years, and we’ll explain why. It varies greatly depending on what you’re wanting to do in the industry.
The University Degree
Normally, dental schools require a little extra credits for a bachelor’s degree, so just like the average doctor, a dentist will get their bachelor’s degree anywhere from three years, all the way to six in order to get their Bachelor’s. It greatly depends on what type of college that the student attends in order to determine just how long it’s going to take, and what requisites are needed. Other dentists frequently change schools, and that can actually cause the time for you to complete your degree even longer.
The Big Tests
When it comes to being a dentist, you have to remember that you have the application period for your colleges of choice, and a lot of schools require that a dental student take the DAT (Dental Admissions Test) says a dentist Lexington Ky. It’s pretty similar to what you would take for college like the ACT or the SAT tests. You have to know natural sciences, perception, reading comprehension, and quantitative reasoning, and the test can take up to 4 hours and 15 minutes (one of the longest tests in the country). Keep in mind that you can normally only get these after the third year of college for general education (or medical school).
The Degree Types Matter with the Length of Time
If you’re going to be a dental surgeon (DDS), this can actually take the same amount of time as just getting your DDM degree (Doctorate of Dental Medicine). Most students that pursue these degrees are often also getting their other degrees like public health, science, or others, but they’re usually a master’s degree. The downside is that many of them end up staying in school longer than the normal 4 years.
Choosing the Right Residencies
Depending on what residency or dental occupation you prefer, you may end up spending a longer time as a technical student or resident before you can actually have your certification and graduate as a fully-fledged dentist. There is dental radiology, pathology, endodontics, public health, surgery, dental orthopedic and orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, prosthodontics, and periodontics. This is just the average most common specialties that one could consider, and every one of the residencies have a varied time when it comes to how long you have to be in school, what kind of degree you need, and how long your residency is.
Conclusion
So this is why it takes about 8 years for the average dentist to complete his dental degree. You have to factor in the fact that a dentist has a normal 4 years of college and then another 4 years as a dentist, rather than other medical schools that have 2 years of medical after the first four years of college.
About Christian Reynolds
Christian is the chief reporter, editor, and webmaster at Cleveland Leader. An aspiring news anchor, his hobbies outside of investigative reporting are golf, martinis, and adventure travel. If you have a scoop on any developing story, please contact him on this page.
