A number of professional degrees in dentistry are offered by dental schools in various countries around the world.
Dental degrees may include: In some universities, especially in the United States, some postgraduate programs award certificates only.
Each fully qualifies the holder to practice dentistry in at least the jurisdiction in which the degree was presented, assuming local and federal government licensure requirements are met.
Traditional "sandstone" universities have been Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland, Adelaide and Western Australia.
Sydney (as of 2001), Melbourne (as of 2010) and Western Australia (as of 2013) have switched to 4-year graduate program that require a previous bachelor's degree for admission.
Degrees awarded used to be Master of Dental Surgery/Science (MDS/MDSc), but lately have changed to Doctorate in Clinical Dentistry (DClinDent).
Australia and Canada have a reciprocal accreditation agreement, which allows graduates of Canadian or Australian dental schools to register in either country.
For the dental specialists, the exam pathway is similar (Primary Examinations) and then clinical/oral examinations just prior to completing the specialist training leads to the award of the title Member of Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons in Special Field Stream (MRACDS (SFS)).
Successful completion may lead to Fellowship in the college (FRCD(C)) and may be used for provincial registration purposes.
This program includes a comprehensive syllabus to produce graduates with extensive knowledge in respective specialties, skills in clinical practice, and research potential.
In Finland, education in dentistry is through a 5.5-year Licenciate of Dental Medicine (DMD or DDS) course, which is offered after high school graduation.
Candidates who successfully complete the fourth year of training qualify for a paid summer rotation in a Community health center of their choice.
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) research is strongly encouraged alongside postgraduate training, which is available in all four universities and lasts an additional 3–6 years.
The two schools have six-year program and grant the Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) degrees.
In recent decades, students are eligible for the Bachelor of Medical Sciences (BMedSc) degree after the first three years of training.
Training in South Africa generally comprises the five-year Bachelor of Dental Surgery, followed by one year's compulsory medical service/internship.
[8] The Royal College of Surgeons of England, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Ireland award LDS (Licence/Licentiate in Dental Surgery) degrees.
No particular course of study is required as an undergraduate other than completing the requisite "predental" courses, which generally includes one year of general biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, English, and higher-level mathematics such as statistics and calculus.
The NBDE Part II is usually taken during winter of the last year of dental school and consists of operative dentistry, pharmacology, endodontics, periodontics, oral surgery, pain control, prosthodontics, orthodontics, pedodontics, oral pathology, and radiology.
AEGD programs are usually in a dental-school setting where the focus is treating complex cases in a comprehensive manner.
[15] "The degree 'Scientiae Dentium Doctoris', which would leave the initials of DDS unchanged, was then considered, but was rejected on the ground that dentistry was not a science.
No meaningful difference exists between the DMD and DDS degrees, and all dentists must meet the same national and regional certification standards to practice.
The United States Department of Education and the National Science Foundation do not include the DDS and DMD among the degrees that are equivalent to research doctorates.
[17] To practice, a dentist must pass a licensing examination administered by an individual state or more commonly a region.
The completion of a dental degree can be followed by either an entrance into private practice, further postgraduate study and training, or research and academics.
Dentists who have completed accredited specialty training programs in these fields are designated registrable (U.S. "Board Eligible") and warrant exclusive titles such as anesthesiologist, orthodontist, oral and maxillofacial surgeon, endodontist, pedodontist, periodontist, or prosthodontist upon satisfying certain local (U.S. "Board Certified"), (Australia/NZ: "FRACDS"), or (Canada: "FRCD(C)") registry requirements.