There are many different abbreviations and acronyms in the world of medical science. This is especially true in the dental field. When you go into your dental office, there may be a sign on door that say things like DDS, leaving you wondering–what does DDS stand for?
In this article, we will help you understand what the term DDS stands for in the dental sense as well as what it means.
What Does DDS Stand For?
DDS stands for Doctor of Dental Surgery. This is different from a Doctor of Dental Medicine or Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry, which is often abbreviated as DMD.
Both of these titles are given out by accredited dental schools and those are the ones that determine which name is given. Still, both of the people with these titles go through the same sort of curriculum requirements. This often means three or more years of completed undergraduate school. It also includes around four years of dental school that needs to be completed in order to graduate.
In order to practice their studies professionally, they both have to go through the same tests. They have to pass a hard national written exam. They also need to pass a state or a regional clinical licensing exam.
If they want to do more with their training, they will need to complete a postgraduate course. This will allow them to become specialized. They can then choose to be something like an orthodontist, a pediatric dentist, or a maxillofacial or oral surgeon. Some of these surgeons have to go through additional training in order to get an MD degree.
Dentists must also meet their yearly continuing education requirements. They have to stay current with all of the most developed and recent technological, scientific and clinical developments. This means that their training and learning never really ends if they want to be employed in this industry.
Even though they are not the same in name, that does not mean that one is better than the other. Out of the 58 different dental schools in the United States, there is a divide between who gives what title. Thirty-six of these schools give DDS degrees while twenty-two of them will give DMD degrees.
The American Dental Association says that there is no real difference between each of these titles and their degrees. They both have the same level of education. A state licensing board will accept either one of these titles as their own equivalents. Both of these degrees will let any licensed person practice in the same dentistry field.
Why the different titles?
This leaves people wondering: if they are the same thing, why do different schools award different titles? This is because in the beginning, there was only one degree in dentistry that could be given, which was the DDS. When the Harvard Dental School came about, everything changed a little in the 1800s.
Harvard degrees are often printed out in Latin. This means that the DDS degree was translated to a Latin name known as CDD. This stands for Chirurgae Dentium Doctoris. Harvard understood that this was a bit difficult to write and say, so they decided to change it to something a bit simpler: Denatariae Medicinae Doctor, which can be abbreviated to DMD. Other universities ended up doing the same thing as Harvard, while some chose to keep giving out the DDS degree instead.
Which is better?
The American Dental Association has made it abundantly clear that they understand the confusion between the two, but there is not much that can be done. They could eliminate one of the degrees and create a universal degree instead. The problem that arises with this is that people are proud of the school that they come from. It would be hard to convince those other schools to change their degrees. These degrees are identical.
Treatment costs are the same as well since they are the same degrees; that is to say that you will not be charged a large difference whether you see a DMD or a DDS. Regardless of those, you should still look at a dentist’s specialties and their education before doing business with them. The qualifications that your dentist has can help you decide whom you should be working with.
Similarities
Because their education and training is virtually identical, it is likely to beg the question: do they practice any different treatments or procedures?
Since they are virtually the same, let’s review some of the things that both of these doctors of dentistry are able to do. Some of the services that these doctors provide include:
- Fillings
- Dental crowns
- Gum disease treatments
- Oral surgery
- X-rays
- Teeth cleanings
- Oral checkups and exams
- Teeth whitening
- Enamel shaping
It is safe to say that whatever dental doctor you see, you won’t have to worry about not having the right doctor handling your issues. They all can do the same thing and simply have different names depending on the school from which they graduated.
Conclusion
In our article, we have provided an answer to the question, “what does DDS stand for?” We have also explained the difference between a DDS and a DMD. Have we left something out? Do you still have questions regarding this issue? Let us know about it in the comments section below.
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