Dentistry

A dentist is a healthcare professional who specializes in maintaining and caring for the health of teeth, gum, and other oral tissues. They often identify other health conditions, illnesses, and other problems that sometimes show up in the oral cavity before they are identified in other parts of the body.

Some key responsibilities include:

  • Evaluations on patient’s overall health
  • Performing clinical procedures such as exams, fillings, crowns, implants, extractions and corrective surgeries
  • Diagnose oral diseases and conditions
  • Develop treatment plans
  • Patient education

To learn more about dentistry, check out American Dental Education Association: What is a Dentist?

Dentistry Preparation

  • Timeline

  • 1. Obtain a Bachelor’s degree and complete all pre-dentistry requirements, including prerequisites, the DAT, and experiences (4+ years)
    2. Attend an accredited dental school (4 years) and earn a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) or Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) degree
    3. Pass the Integrated National Board Dental Examination (INBDE)
    Optional: Specialize through a residency program
    4. Become licensed in the state you want to practice in

    Upon matriculation into a dental school, there are additional steps students must complete in order to obtain licensure or professional certification. These steps vary by field and by program, and may include board examinations, supervised clinical hours, background checks, or other program-specific milestones. Once you are in your graduate program, your graduate program advisor will provide guidance on the post-graduation next steps.

  • Pre-Requisites

  • Prerequisite courses are the academic foundation that most schools require students to complete to prepare for DAT and before beginning dental school. No matter which major you choose, you will need to fulfill the specific science and non-science prerequisites set by each school. We strongly recommend you complete the prerequisite coursework prior to studying for and taking the exam. Always review and cross-check the requirements of your major with the prerequisite coursework for your chosen dental school(s) to ensure you are completing both UCD requirements as well as the requirements of the professional school(s). 

    While HPA has developed a suggested prerequisite chart from a sample of schools, prerequisite coursework and entrance requirements will vary by school, hence it is important to check individual schools' websites to familiarize yourself with their exact prerequisites.

    Program Prerequisites

    Courses to Take at UC Davis

    Required for the DAT?

    Most schools require: 

    		  

    General Chemistry with Lab

    CHE 2ABC OR CHE 4ABC 

    YES

    General Biology with Lab

    BIO 1 & 2 & 3 AND BIO 1L & 2L

    YES

    Organic Chemistry with Lab

    CHE 118ABC

    YES

    Physics with Lab

    PHY 7ABC OR PHY 9ABC 

    NO

    Biochemistry

    BIS 102 AND 103

    Recommended

    English Composition

    Combination of 3-quarter of writing-intensive ENL and UWP course

    NO

    Some schools may require:

    		  

    Microbiology with Lab

    MIC 102 AND 103L

    Recommended

    Human Physiology

    (NPB 101 & NPB 101L) OR (NPB 110C & NPB 101L)

    Recommended

    Human Anatomy with lab

    (EXB 106 & EXB 106L) OR (CHA 101 & CHA 101L)

    NO

    General Psychology

    PSC 1

    NO

    Math 1 

    College-Level Math Course (ex. MAT 16ABC, MAT 17ABC, MAT 21ABC…)

    STA 13 OR STA 100 (YES)

    Additional recommended courses: 

    		  

    Genetics

    BIS 101

    Recommended

    Cellular Biology

    BIS 104 OR NPB 110A

    NO

    Sociology

    SOC 1 OR SOC 3

    NO

    Prerequisite Chart Footnotes:
    1. While statistics (STA 13 or STA 100) may not be required for most dental schools, it is highly recommended for students to take a statistics course to prepare for the DAT.

    HPA recommendations: 
    1. Complete all prerequisite courses for a letter grade, not P/NP.
    2. Earn a “C” or higher in all prerequisite coursework. Some programs may require no lower than a B in any of your prerequisite courses.
    3. Maintain a minimum undergraduate and science GPA of 3.0 or higher. A competitive GPA will likely be higher for most programs. 

    Please also note that while dental schools do accept community college work, it vary by school; some accept all transferable work, some a certain amount of units, and others accept a very limited amount. If you have any questions about your major, prerequisite courses, or grade/GPA concerns, you are encouraged to make an appointment with one of HPA Staff Advisors.

  • Exam

  • Pre-dental students are required to take the Dental Admissions Test (DAT) as part of admissions requirements by all dental schools and it is strongly recommended to be taken prior to applying. 

    Please note: Before taking the Dental Admissions Test (DAT), we strongly recommend that students complete the prerequisite courses for the exam prior to taking the exam - the courses provide foundational knowledge to support studying for the test.

    To learn more about the standardized exam and preparing for it, please visit HPA’s Application Preparation tab on Standardized Exams and HPA’s Test Prep Events & Resources.

Applying to Dental School

  • Choosing Schools

  • There are over 70 dental schools in the U.S. and Canada. For a list of accredited U.S. dental schools, check out American Student Dental Association (ASDA): U.S. Dental Schools. 

    There are a variety of factors that go into choosing which dental schools to apply to, including degree awarded, location, environment (i.e. urban), tuition, class size, focus or mission statement, etc. Spend some time researching schools online and create a spreadsheet that tracks the factors most important to you. On average, pre-dental students apply to 10-12 dental schools. HPA also recommends meeting with an advisor to discuss your school list.

  • Application System

  • Applicants typically apply the year before they matriculate into the dental school and ADEA AADSAS is a centralized application system that is used by most dental schools. To learn more about ADEA AADSAS, visit ADEA GoDental’s Applying to Dental School: ADEA AADSAS. Students are encouraged to refer to the American Dental Education Association (ADEA): ADEA AADSAS Applicant Help Center for additional guidance on how to complete their applications. Some schools will have applicants participate in ADEA AADSAS and will also have applicants complete an application through their own internal graduate school applications, while other programs do not use ADEA AADSAS at all. HPA recommends for applicants to carefully review the application process of each individual school that they are applying to.

    The ADEA AADSAS opens in May and closes early February of the following year; these dates may vary for schools who are not utilizing the ADEA AADSAS. While ADEA AADSAS closes in February, participating schools of ADEA AADSAS may have earlier deadline dates, which are the deadlines applicants should be submitting by. These deadlines may also vary by schools or some may admit students on a rolling basis; please check your individual schools for specific dates. If that is the case for your school of choice, be sure to submit your application early, but only when you are ready. Come see an advisor at Health Professions Advising to review your application.

    Schools and application systems may have specific guidelines about what is considered a completed application, and these components may vary based on the application system and/or individual school. Some examples include but are not limited to submitting the application fee and receiving letters of recommendations and official transcripts. Students are responsible for ensuring their applications are complete, submitted, and verified by the application deadline.

    To learn more about applications and application timeline, please visit HPA’s Application Preparation tab on Applications and Application Timelines.

  • Personal Statement
  • The prompt and/or character or word count may vary per year. HPA recommends applicants  begin drafting their personal statement in advance of the application opening. It is very common for applicants to write multiple drafts before they finalize their personal statement. To learn more about approaching personal statements, please visit HPA’s Application Preparation tab on Personal Statements.
  • Experiences and Activities

  • More questions? Visit our FAQ page or schedule an appointment with an advisor! Experiences and activities help students learn more about their motivations, interests, and goals, and to explore the field of dentistry. What you do with your time helps define who you are in your application. Whatever you choose to do, be sure you are dedicated, passionate about it, and understand your motivation for pursuing it. It is important that you balance your co-curricular activities with your academics to ensure you are maintaining strong academic performance while still engaging meaningfully outside the classroom. 

    A minimum of dental-related experience (observation/shadowing a dentist) hours is required by most dental schools. While the minimum amount can vary by school, the minimum average is 100 hours. Please check each program you plan to apply to for their specific hour requirements. At the time of the application, you may be required to submit formal documentation of your shadowing experience(s).

    To learn more about experiences and various on- and off-campus opportunities, please visit HPA’s Application Preparation tab on Experiences. UC Davis students are also encouraged to subscribe to HPA Today (HPA’s newsletter).

  • Letters of Recommendation

  • Letter of recommendation requirements vary by health professional schools. For many health fields, HPA recommends two lecture-based science instructor recommendations (this excludes research PI), one lecture-based non-science instructor, and additional letters from your co-curricular experiences. This can include a research PI, mentor, volunteer coordinator, professional you shadowed, etc. Your specific school list will determine what letters you may actually need. 

    Most dental schools may require that one of the recommendations is from a dentist; some may prefer.

    To learn more about the etiquettes for letters of recommendation, please visit HPA’s Application Preparation tab on Letters of Recommendations.

  • Supplemental Applications

  • Supplemental applications (or secondaries) may be required for some dental schools and some may not require it. Students should carefully review the application process of the schools they are applying to. Supplemental/secondary applications may include additional fees and/or essays. To learn more about supplemental applications, please visit HPA’s Application Preparation tab on Applications.

  • Interviews

  • Interviews may be required for most dental schools. Students should carefully review the application process of the schools they are applying to. To learn more about preparing for interviews, please visit HPA’s Application Preparation tab on Interviews and HPA’s Interview Week.

More questions? Check out the frequently asked questions or schedule an appointment with an advisor.