Pediatric Dentist

What pediatric dentists make

There is no separate federal wage line for pediatric dentists. They sit inside a group called Dentists, All Other Specialists, where the median was $227,690 a year, and the most recent figure for the same group is about $224,990. The top tenth is not published at all: the survey stops reporting once a wage is at or above $239,200, so real top earners are above the high number shown here.

Your first job out of residency

New specialists usually join someone else's practice on a salary or a percentage of what they produce. The bottom of the published range, $107,330, is mostly part-time and community clinic work.

Owning the practice

A pediatric practice owner keeps the profit on every hygienist and associate, not just their own chair. That is also where the loan, the lease and the payroll risk sit.

What it costs to get there

Bachelor's degree, in-state public

About $11,000 to $15,000 a year in tuition

Dental school, 4 years

Commonly $45,000 to $80,000 a year once fees and instruments are counted

Dental Admission Test and applications

Several hundred dollars for the test, plus over $1,000 applying through the central service

Pediatric dentistry residency

Some programs pay a small stipend, others charge tuition on top of dental school

Roughly, all in

$215,000 to $420,000

Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel

The low end is a cheap undergraduate route, community college credits then an in state public university, followed by a public dental school near forty five thousand dollars a year and a residency that pays a stipend instead of charging tuition. The high end is full in state university tuition, a dental school closer to eighty thousand dollars a year once fees and instrument kits are counted, and a pediatric residency that charges tuition on top. Neither figure includes the admission test and central application service fees, which run past a thousand dollars on their own. Debt of three hundred thousand dollars or more is routine here, and a nonprofit community health center job can put you on Public Service Loan Forgiveness after ten years of payments.

Dental graduates routinely leave with $300,000 or more in federal loans, which is among the highest debt of any profession. Working for a nonprofit community health center can qualify you for Public Service Loan Forgiveness after 10 years of payments.

What comes with the job

• Daytime hours

  Children's appointments happen after school and on weekdays. Emergency call is light compared with medicine.

• You own your schedule if you own the practice

  Four-day weeks are common among practice owners.

• Hospital privileges

  Some cases are done under general anesthesia at a children's hospital, which many pediatric dentists find is the most interesting part.

• Loan repayment in shortage areas

  Federal and state programs repay dental school debt for working in underserved communities.

The path

Ten or eleven years after high school. You become a general dentist first, then specialize.

1. 1

   High school

   Grades 11 and 12

   Biology, chemistry and physics, plus anything that trains your hands. Dexterity is tested at admission.

2. 2

   Bachelor's degree

   4 years

   Any major, as long as you finish the pre-dental science courses and sit the Dental Admission Test (DAT).

3. 3

   Dental school

   4 years

   Four years ending in a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) or Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD). The two degrees are equivalent, and which one you get depends on the school.

4. 4

   Pediatric dentistry residency

   2 to 3 years

   An advanced program accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation, covering behavior guidance, sedation, hospital dentistry and children with special health care needs.

5. 5

   License and board certification

   After residency

   A state dental license is required to practice. Board certification by the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry is voluntary and takes a written qualifying exam plus an oral clinical exam.

High school courses that help

• Biology and chemistry

  Required for every pre-dental track and heavily tested on the admission exam.

• Physics

  Forces, materials and radiography all show up in dentistry.

• Art, sculpture or shop

  Dental schools genuinely care whether you can work accurately with your hands in a small space.

• Spanish

  Useful in most American pediatric practices and community clinics.

Time and money, at a glance

Years after high school

10 to 11

How hard to get in

Dental school first, then a competitive specialty match for residency spots

Total tuition

$250,000 to $400,000 across college and dental school

Paid while training?

Only partly. Some residencies pay a stipend, some charge tuition

Licensed by the state, specialty recognized nationally

Every state licenses dentists through its own board of dentistry, and you need a license in each state where you practice. Licensure takes national written board exams plus a clinical examination, and the exact clinical exam accepted varies from state to state. Pediatric dentistry is a recognized dental specialty, and the training programs are accredited nationally by the Commission on Dental Accreditation. Board certification by the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry is separate from your license, is not required to work, and has to be maintained with ongoing education.

Where people study

• Public dental schools

  Far cheaper for residents of that state, and several favor in-state applicants heavily.

• Private dental schools

  No state preference, and tuition at the top end of the range.

• Applying

  Dental school applications go through a central service run by the American Dental Education Association, and residency applications go through a second one.

• Hospital-based residencies

  Programs attached to children's hospitals give you more operating room and special needs experience than office-based ones.

Things that shape the career

• Board certification

  Voluntary, but many group practices and hospitals expect it, and it is how patients find the word diplomate on your wall.

• Sedation and general anesthesia training

  Treating a terrified three-year-old or a child with autism often means sedation. Extra training here widens what you can take on.

• Special health care needs

  Children with disabilities are badly underserved by general dentistry, and pediatric specialists carry most of that care.

• A second specialty in orthodontics

  Some dentists hold both, which lets one practice follow a child from the first tooth to braces.

Nice-to-haves

• Genuine patience with children

  Not optional. Half the skill is getting a crying child to open their mouth without force.

• Working with kids before you apply

  Camp counselor, coaching, tutoring. Residency programs notice it.

• Business sense

  Most pediatric dentists end up owning or buying into a practice, which is a small business with staff and a lease.

• Steady hands and good eyesight

  You work in a small mouth that moves.

A typical day

Mostly short appointments, back to back: checkups, cleanings, fluoride, sealants, fillings, and pulling baby teeth that will not come out. A lot of the day is talking, to the child about what the noisy thing does, and to the parent about sugar, brushing and whether the thumb sucking matters. Harder cases get scheduled for sedation days or a hospital operating room. You finish around 4pm or 5pm because children have bedtimes.

The honest trade-offs

Work life

Typical hours

35 to 45 a week, mostly daytime

Remote work

None

Physical demand

Moderate. Long hours hunched over small patients

Unionized

No

Similar paths

• DentistDiagnose and treat teeth and gums, usually in a practice you end up owning yourself.
• OrthodontistMove teeth and jaws into place with braces and aligners. A dentist first, then two or three more years of training.
• Dental HygienistClean teeth, read gums and catch disease early. Around $98,000 a year for a two year degree.

The first visit is meant to be at age one

American pediatric dentistry guidance puts the first dental visit at the eruption of the first tooth or the first birthday, whichever comes first. Most families arrive years later than that.

Tooth decay is the most common chronic childhood disease

It outranks asthma in American children, and it is almost entirely preventable. That gap is the reason this specialty exists.

Some of the work happens under general anesthesia

Very young children, and children with disabilities who cannot tolerate a dental chair, have all their treatment done in one hospital session while asleep. Pediatric dentists are the ones trained to do it.

The group you are counted in hides the top

Federal wage data lumps every dental specialist that is not an orthodontist or oral surgeon into one bucket, and it refuses to publish the top tenth because those wages are at or above $239,200. The ceiling is a reporting rule, not a real limit.