The Dental Profession

A dentist may be certified as a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) or Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD). There is no difference between the two degrees; dentists who have a DMD or DDS have the same education. Universities have the discretion to determine what degree is awarded.

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 dentist. State licensing boards accept either degree as equivalent, and both degrees allow licensed individuals to practice the same scope of dentistry.
Additional post-graduate training is required to become a dental specialist.

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Registered Dental Hygienists (RDH) are licensed oral health professionals that focus on preventing and treating oral diseases. They are graduates of accredited dental hygiene education programs in colleges and universities, and in Washington state they must take five written and clinical exams before they are allowed to practice.

In addition to treating patients under the supervision of a dentist, dental hygienists work as educators, researchers and administrators.

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Dental Anesthesia Assistants (DAA) work directly under the supervision of oral and maxillofacial surgeons and dental anesthesiologists. They are certified by the Dental Quality Assurance Commission (DQAC) and must complete an approved dental anesthesia assisting training course that includes experience starting and maintaining intravenous lines.

Once certified, Dental Anesthesia Assistants may be responsible for prepping patients prior to receiving intravenous medications or sedatives, adjusting the rate of intravenous fluids, and monitoring patients during dental surgery. Dentists supervising Dental Anesthesia Assistants are required to be on-site and physically present in the treatment facility and capable of responding in the event of an emergency.

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The Expanded Function Dental Auxiliary (EFDA) is a licensed dental health care professional who can deliver services in a variety of settings from private dental practices to schools and community dental clinics. Besides the tasks presently allowed by law for the Registered Dental Assistant, the EFDA can place and finish amalgams and composite restorations as well as take final impressions. The EFDA can provide care under general supervision (dentist not present in office at the time) to include: coronal polish, sealants, fluoride treatment and exposing / processing dental radiographs. Licensure is granted by the Washington State Department of Licensing.

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The duties of a dental assistant are among the most comprehensive and varied in the dental office. The dental assistant performs many tasks requiring both interpersonal and technical skills under the dentist's close supervision, including oral inspection, patient education in dental hygiene, administration of fluoride treatment, application of sealants and administration of nitrous oxide (among others).

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Prosthodontics is that branch of dentistry pertaining to the restoration and maintenance of oral functions, comfort, appearance and health of the patient by the restoration of natural teeth and/or the replacement of missing teeth and contiguous oral and maxillofacial tissues with artificial substitutes. (Definition adopted May 1976)

Periodontics is that specialty of dentistry which encompasses the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the supporting and surrounding tissues of the teeth or their substitutes and the maintenance of the health, function and esthetics of these structures and tissues with artificial substitutes. (Definition adopted Dec 1992)

Pediatric Dentistry is an age-defined specialty that provides both primary and comprehensive preventive and therapeutic oral health care for infants and children through adolescence, including those with special health care needs. (Definition adopted 1995)

Orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics is that area of dentistry concerned with the supervision, guidance and correction of the growing or mature dentofacial structures, including those conditions that require movement of teeth or correction of malrelationships and malformations of their related structures and the adjustment of relationships between and among teeth and facial bones by the application of forces and/or the stimulation and redirection of functional forces within the craniofacial complex.

Major responsibilities of orthodontic practice include the diagnosis, prevention, interception and treatment of all forms of malocclusion of the teeth and associated alterations in their surrounding structures; the design, application and control of functional and corrective appliances, and the guidance of the dentition and its supporting structures to attain and maintain optimum occlusal relations in physiologic and esthetic harmony among facial and cranial structures. (Definition adopted December 1980/Designation adopted October 1994)

Oral and maxillofacial surgery is the specialty of dentistry which includes the diagnosis, surgical and adjunctive treatment of diseases, injuries and defects involving both the functional and esthetic aspects of the hard and soft tissues of the oral and maxillofacial region. (Definition adopted October 1990)

Oral and maxillofacial radiology is the specialty of dentistry and discipline of radiology concerned with the production and interpretation of images and data produced by all modalities of radiant energy that are used for the diagnosis and management of diseases, disorders and conditions of the oral and maxillofacial region. (Definition adopted April 2001)

Oral pathology is the specialty of dentistry and discipline of pathology that deals with the nature, identification, and management of diseases affecting the oral and maxillofacial regions. It is a science that investigates the causes, processes and effects of these diseases. The practice of oral pathology includes research and diagnosis of diseases using clinical, radiographic, microscopic, biochemical, or other examinations. (Definition adopted May 1991)

Endodontics is the branch of dentistry which is concerned with the morphology, physiology and pathology of the human dental pulp and periradicular tissues. Its study and practice encompass the basic and clinical sciences including biology of the normal pulp, the etiology, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of diseases and injuries of the pulp and associated periradicular conditions. (Definition adopted December 1983)