Education Needed to Become a Dentist

Video Transcript

"Hi I'm Dr. Larry Klein, from St. Petersburg, Florida. Today we are going to be talking a little bit about the education it takes to become a dentist. A lot of people maybe interested in becoming a dentist and there are certain things you have to go through to get there. First of all you have to be interested in doing things with your hands. That obviously takes some dexterity and you have to enjoy working with small things. The first thing that you have to do is to of course make good grades through high school and go to an accredited college. You can study anything you want as far as getting a major in. Most people prefer something in the sciences but it really doesn't matter. You can go into anything from psychology to computers and still end up getting your degree. Followed by that then you need to be able to take what's called the DAT or the dental aptitude test. And that's just an entrance exam to see if you are going to be able to qualify for dental school. Then after you pass the DAT then you apply for different dental schools and once accepted it's a four year program. The four year program is broken down into first two years are basically non clinical and the second two years are clinical. Followed by that there's usually a residency program that is available but that is optional. The residency programs can be in anything from a general residency to specifics as far as a specialty such as orthodontics or periodontics, pedidontics. And those are usually followed by, those are usually two year program depending on oral surgery can be longer. So if you have any other questions about what it takes to become a dentist, it's a great field and something to be interested in getting into feel free to get in contact with me, Dr. Larry Klein here in St. Petersburg, Florida where a smile is contagious."