Dentistry as a Career

Dentistry is a profession dealing with the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of oral diseases and disorders, with primary emphasis on the health of teeth and gums. In a sense, dentistry is a medical subspecialty. Good oral health is critical to human psychological and physical well-being since the state of the teeth affect speech and expression, and, also, systemic diseases frequently manifest themselves in the oral cavity.

There are more than 150,000 active dentists in the United States; most of them are in private practice with the remainder working as salaried professionals. Of those in private practice, 80% are general practitioners who are contributing to the improvement of their communities' health standards and are rewarded by having favorable working conditions and ample financial remuneration.

Many thousands of dentists hold positions as commissioned officers in the armed forces. Others are employed by the Veterans Administration and in public health dentistry at the state or local level. There are also several thousand full- or part-time teachers, administrators, and investigators in dental schools and in dental research laboratories.