5 answers
Luis
Student
Cedartown, Georgia
1
Question
Asked
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What courses do I need to take in high school to in order to get in college to become an orthodontist?
I have take a couple of AP courses and have taken a couple of dual enrollment courses as well
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5 answers
Anthony Ngo
40
Answers
Kirkland, Washington
Updated
Anthony’s Answer
Hello Luis,
From high school to dental school is a long way. If you want to go directly to dental school after you graduate from high school, then take a look at a 6-year program from school that offers this. I know UOP (University of Pacific in California) offers this program. You can also do a search for school that offers this type of program. Once you find them, look at their admission requirements and fulfill the classes needed. These programs are very competitive. If you have the time, contact some local dentists to see if they will let you do some shadowing in their clinic (your own dentist would let you too) and document your exposure to the dental office experience. The school may require you to write why you want to be a dentist and why the school should offer you a seat in their program. You should think about how to write these essays now. (If you get into these programs your AP or dual enrollment will not count because these program are fixed with number of courses must be taken.)
If you want to go the 'normal' path to be a dentist, then a 4-year BA/BS degree is required. Dental School does not require any specific major but certain science classes are required, therefore science majors normally would meet the requirement while other majors may need to take additional science classes. (Notice that your AP and dual enrollment classes may count toward your 4 year degree, they may not count toward dental school requirement because the require classes must be taken at college level. Some school I know do not even accept online class.) Most dental school also require you to take the DAT (the higher score the better). Good reccomdation letters from your college professors and dental clinic shadowing will help. You need to do some research to see which dental school you like to attend and find out their admission requirements and work on them.
Once you finish dental school and pass the board exam, you will be a general dentist: DDS or DMD. Most states will allow you to do limited orthodontic work if you take additional continue-education training (i.e. Invisalize or Six-Month Brace.) You need to check with your state for the scope of your practice. You cannot claim or advertise as an orthodontist.
To be an Orthodontist, you will need to go to the dental school graduate program for additional 2 years.
I hope this will give you some idea and what needs to be done should you want to pursuit this field.
Best of luck.
Anthony
From high school to dental school is a long way. If you want to go directly to dental school after you graduate from high school, then take a look at a 6-year program from school that offers this. I know UOP (University of Pacific in California) offers this program. You can also do a search for school that offers this type of program. Once you find them, look at their admission requirements and fulfill the classes needed. These programs are very competitive. If you have the time, contact some local dentists to see if they will let you do some shadowing in their clinic (your own dentist would let you too) and document your exposure to the dental office experience. The school may require you to write why you want to be a dentist and why the school should offer you a seat in their program. You should think about how to write these essays now. (If you get into these programs your AP or dual enrollment will not count because these program are fixed with number of courses must be taken.)
If you want to go the 'normal' path to be a dentist, then a 4-year BA/BS degree is required. Dental School does not require any specific major but certain science classes are required, therefore science majors normally would meet the requirement while other majors may need to take additional science classes. (Notice that your AP and dual enrollment classes may count toward your 4 year degree, they may not count toward dental school requirement because the require classes must be taken at college level. Some school I know do not even accept online class.) Most dental school also require you to take the DAT (the higher score the better). Good reccomdation letters from your college professors and dental clinic shadowing will help. You need to do some research to see which dental school you like to attend and find out their admission requirements and work on them.
Once you finish dental school and pass the board exam, you will be a general dentist: DDS or DMD. Most states will allow you to do limited orthodontic work if you take additional continue-education training (i.e. Invisalize or Six-Month Brace.) You need to check with your state for the scope of your practice. You cannot claim or advertise as an orthodontist.
To be an Orthodontist, you will need to go to the dental school graduate program for additional 2 years.
I hope this will give you some idea and what needs to be done should you want to pursuit this field.
Best of luck.
Anthony
Bhavna Sheth
107
Answers
Collinsville, Virginia
Updated
Bhavna’s Answer
Hello Luis,
In order to get into college and become an orthodontist, you should focus on taking challenging courses including biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics (algebra, geometry, and calculus), and English. You should also consider taking Advanced Placement (AP) classes if they are available to you.
I hope this helps. Good luck.
In order to get into college and become an orthodontist, you should focus on taking challenging courses including biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics (algebra, geometry, and calculus), and English. You should also consider taking Advanced Placement (AP) classes if they are available to you.
I hope this helps. Good luck.
Aya Raychouni
Dentistry
2
Answers
Michigan City, Indiana
Updated
Aya’s Answer
Orthodontics is a graduate program after earning DDS degree which is the dental degree.
In high school you can take AP classes that are important to your future path in dentistry. And in college you need to focus on the prerequisites for applying to dental school.
After graduating as a dentist. Now you can apply for the Orthodontic graduate program that is a speciality program of 2-3 years. After that you will be an orthodontist.
Hope this helps!
In high school you can take AP classes that are important to your future path in dentistry. And in college you need to focus on the prerequisites for applying to dental school.
After graduating as a dentist. Now you can apply for the Orthodontic graduate program that is a speciality program of 2-3 years. After that you will be an orthodontist.
Hope this helps!
Carmín Gonzalez
Dentist
2
Answers
Amherst, New York
Updated
Carmín’s Answer
Hi Luis,
Anthony's recommendations are great!
I would also recommend getting a part time job as a dental assistant once you get to college. This is a great way to not only expose you to the dental field but also looks great on your resume when applying to dental school. Also by working as a dental assistant it will give you a leg up on many of your dental school classmates because you will have been exposed to many of the procedures. Many states don't require you to have dental assisting certification and you can be trained on the job.
Pathway to becoming an orthodontist:
1. graduate high school
2. Obtain a bachelors degree, if you are not getting a BS in Biology make sure to take the dental school pre-req courses
3. Get into dental school (4 year program)
4. Graduate as a dentist
5. Apply for Orthodontic residency
6. 2 years of Orthodontic residency
Getting into dental school is extremely competitive these days but that should not deter you from applying. You can apply with any major just make sure you take the Pre-req courses that dental schools require for application, you can find these on dental school websites under their application process. Nursing or engineering are great bachelor degree options aside from a standard biology degree, just make sure that in addition to your course load you take the pre-req courses that dental schools require.
Focus on your goals and work hard because it will not be easy, but it will be worth it in the end!
Best of luck to you,
Carmín
Anthony's recommendations are great!
I would also recommend getting a part time job as a dental assistant once you get to college. This is a great way to not only expose you to the dental field but also looks great on your resume when applying to dental school. Also by working as a dental assistant it will give you a leg up on many of your dental school classmates because you will have been exposed to many of the procedures. Many states don't require you to have dental assisting certification and you can be trained on the job.
Pathway to becoming an orthodontist:
1. graduate high school
2. Obtain a bachelors degree, if you are not getting a BS in Biology make sure to take the dental school pre-req courses
3. Get into dental school (4 year program)
4. Graduate as a dentist
5. Apply for Orthodontic residency
6. 2 years of Orthodontic residency
Getting into dental school is extremely competitive these days but that should not deter you from applying. You can apply with any major just make sure you take the Pre-req courses that dental schools require for application, you can find these on dental school websites under their application process. Nursing or engineering are great bachelor degree options aside from a standard biology degree, just make sure that in addition to your course load you take the pre-req courses that dental schools require.
Focus on your goals and work hard because it will not be easy, but it will be worth it in the end!
Best of luck to you,
Carmín
Briana Pelle, MS, CCC-SLP
Speech language pathology
149
Answers
Nashville, Tennessee
Updated
Briana’s Answer
Orthodontics is an advance degree requiring post-secondary education (graduate/medical/dental school). With that in mind, you should focus on high school classes that work towards a pre-med or other biological science undergraduate degree. AP classes are great because they can count as college credits, so any AP course is helpful in that regard. For example, AP English Lit will count toward the Humanities distribution requirement many colleges have for undergraduates, so you could scratch that off your list. As for Orthodontic specific classes try: statistics, biology, chemistry, anatomy, and any health science options.