The Dental School Listing includes telephone numbers, contacts and Web site addresses for the U.S. and Canadian dental schools that offer accredited graduate orthodontic training programs. As specialists, orthodontists must complete two or three years of advanced training after graduating from college and dental school.

The specialty of orthodontics requires a unique combination of skills and calls for a steadfast commitment to long-term goals, as well as ongoing dedication to excellence. Orthodontics may be the career for you if you:

     - have an interest in science and thrive on creativity and challenge,
     - have eye/hand coordination and the patience to wait for tangible results,
     - have an artistic sense of balance and symmetry,
     - want to manage your own career path and potentially your own business, and
     - would enjoy the respect that comes with academic achievement and being a member of a helping profession that has 
       the capacity to change people's lives.

The initials DDS stand for doctor of dental surgery. The initials DMD stand for doctor of dental medicine. Both sets of initials indicate the degree awarded upon graduation from dental school. Both degrees use the same curriculum requirements set by the American Dental Association's Commission on Dental Accreditation. Generally, three or more years of undergraduate education plus four years of dental school is required to graduate and become a general dentist. State licensing boards accept either degree as equivalent, and both degrees allow licensed individuals to practice the same scope of general dentistry. Additional postgraduate training is required to become a dental specialist, such as an orthodontist.

The orthodontic field is full of opportunities. Each career choice is personally and professionally satisfying. In each you’ll be a member of a special team which produces better oral health, enhanced self-esteem and beautiful smiles.

In addition to being able to manage your own career path (molding it to fit your lifestyle). . .and in addition to the financial rewards that come with a career in orthodontics. . .as a member of the orthodontic team you will be rewarded as you see someone’s smile change gradually before your eyes. As their teeth and jaws shift into alignment, patients’ personalities change too. Their self-confidence blossoms. Teens, men and women become ready to smile, to confidently meet the world face-first.

Please, remember such rewards as you consider a career in orthodontics.

The team leader is the orthodontist. But the successful orthodontic practice depends on a variety of other professional and clerical staff members, such as:

- Scheduling Coordinator
- Financial Administrator
- Clinical Coordinator
- Orthodontic Technician/Assistant
- Orthodontic Laboratory Technician
- Instrument Coordinator

Any way you go, orthodontics can put you on a career path that provides the satisfaction of helping patients improve their smiles, their dental health and their self-esteem. It’s a positive, upbeat career that lets you deal with generally healthy, motivated people who are on the road to better lives.

The various positions on the orthodontic team require different levels of education and experience. Ask an orthodontist for information regarding your career choices.

Here are a few examples of the type of work, education and skills for various positions:

• Orthodontic Chairside Assistant—
  
  Typical Responsibilities: assists the orthodontist with treatment, takes x-rays/records, educates the patient about oral health and overall health, serves as a key communication link between the patient and the doctor, prepares teeth for the placement of brackets, makes orthodontic wires, and instructs the patient. Orthodontic Assistants also play key roles motivating patients to do their part in achieving successful results from their treatment.
  
  In this career choice, you will play a key role in motivating patients so they’ll do what needs to be done in order to achieve the very best results from their orthodontic treatment.
  
  Requirements: high school diploma, customer service skills, excellent eye-hand coordination, computer skills (important in many practices for inputting patient records, computer imaging, etc.). Certification available (but not required). The orthodontist may arrange for special training.
   
• Orthodontic Laboratory Technician—
  
  Typical Responsibilities: prepare orthodontic study models, make orthodontic retainers, design appliances for tooth and bone movement, coordinate office needs with outside labs. The technician may also work with the orthodontist to develop skills for making new appliances.
  
  Requirements: high school diploma, excellent eye-hand coordination, computer skills (important in many practices). Certification available (but not required). The orthodontist may arrange for special training.
   
• Orthodontic Office Administrator
  
  Typical Responsibilities: schedule appointments; clerical and bookkeeping duties; prepare financial arrangements for patients; phone contacts with patients, family dentists, other dental specialists and doctors; customer service relations.
  
  Requirements: High school diploma, customer service skills, good spoken and written communication ability, business training and/or experience. And, in this day, computer skills are generally essential in many, if not all, practices for patient record-keeping, patient and professional communications, billing, scheduling.
  
  Becoming a member of the orthodontic team requires a unique combination of skills, a steadfast commitment to long-term goals and a desire to excel. In some positions, an interest in science is important. All positions require individuals who thrive on creativity and challenge. . .and who are patient. But if you like to help people and if you would enjoy the respect that comes with being a member of a highly regarded health-care profession that has the capacity to change people’s lives, then, consider a career in orthodontics.

All orthodontists are, first of all, dentists, but only about six percent of dentists are orthodontists. Admission to orthodontic post-graduate programs is extremely competitive and selective.

It takes many years to become an orthodontist. As in medicine, the educational requirements are demanding.

First, an orthodontist must complete college. Next is a three- to four-year graduate program at a dental school in a university or other institution accredited by the American Dental Association (ADA). Finally, there are at least two or three years of advanced specialty education in an ADA-accredited orthodontic residency program. The program is difficult. It includes advanced knowledge in biomedical, behavioral and basic sciences. The orthodontic resident learns the complex skills required to both manage tooth movement (orthodontics) and guide facial development (dentofacial orthopedics).

Only dentists who have successfully completed this advanced specialty education may call themselves orthodontists.

For more information on orthodontics and on careers in orthodontics : Talk with your orthodontist.

If you need to find an orthodontist in your area, ask your family dentist.

Or call the American Association of Orthodontists at 1-800-STRAIGHT* or visit our web site at www.braces.org.