FAQ & Links of Interest

? The place for answers to FAQs and items of interest. Please PM me if you have questions/answers or links to add!

Thanks to DcS for originally posting the following information that he obtained directly from the American Dental Association:

"General practitioners in the United States now earn an average of $173,140 yearly, according to the ADA's 2002 Survey of Dental Practice. The report, "Income from the Private Practice of Dentistry," says specialists earned an average of $275,270 in 2001. Expenses were 60.5 percent of general practitioners' total gross billings, 55.6 percent for specialists. The report includes data on dentists? income by region and years since graduation and on total billings of dentists in private practice. For a copy of the report (catalog #5102) at $75 for members, $112.50 for nonmembers or $225 for commercial firms, contact the Survey Center (2568, [email protected])."

A link to the PASS Program Search Engine, which allows you to search for specialty programs (and AEGD/GPRs) by program type, program #, program name, length of program, and program requirements.

Each returned link pulls up a page specific to the program of interest.

Specialty Program Search Engine

Academy of General Dentistry

American Academy of Fixed Prosthodontics

American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology

American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology

American Academy of Pediatric Dentists

American Academy of Periodontology

American Association of Endodontists

American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons

American Association of Orthodontists

Thanks to SDNer edkNARF for recommending that the following brief article/link be posted concerning the history of the DDS and DMD degrees.

The following brief article was written by Dr. Kimberly Loos, DDS, a contributor to iVillage.com, in order to educate parents on the differences between dentists who hold the DDS or DMD degrees: http://www.parentsplace.com/expert/...brandRef=0&arrival_freqCap=1&pba=adid=9208033

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D.D.S. or D.M.D. degree?
Many people, including dentists, share your confusion over the use of the D.D.S. and D.M.D. degrees. Today, some dental schools grant a D.D.S. degree and others prefer to award the D.M.D. degree instead. The training the dentists receive is very similar but the degree granted is different. Here are the details:

Ancient medicine was divided into two groups:

1. the surgery group that dealt with treating diseases and injuries using instruments; and

2. the medicine group that dealt with healing diseases using internal remedies. Originally there was only the D.D.S. degree which stands for Doctor of Dental Surgery.

This all changed in 1867 when Harvard University added a dental school. Harvard University only grants degrees in Latin. Harvard did not adopt the D.D.S. or "Doctor of Dental Surgery" degree because the Latin translation was "Chirurgae Dentium Doctoris" or C.D.D. The people at Harvard thought that C.D.D. was cumbersome. A Latin scholar was consulted. The scholar suggested the ancient "Medicinae Doctor" be prefixed with "Dentariae". This is how the D.M.D. or "Dentariae Medicinae Doctor" degree was started. (Congratulations! Now you probably know more Latin than most dentists!)

At the turn of the century, there were 57 dental schools in the U.S. but only Harvard and Oregon awarded the D.M.D. In 1989, 23 of the 66 North American dental schools awarded the D.M.D. I think about half the Canadian dental schools now award the D.M.D. degree.

The American Dental Association (A.D.A.) is aware of the public confusion surrounding these degrees. The A.D.A. has tried on several occasions to reduce this confusion. Several sample proposals include:

1. eliminate the D.M.D. degree;
2. eliminate the D.D.S. degree; or
3. eliminate both degrees and invent a brand new degree that every dental school will agree to use.

Unfortunately, this confusion may be with us for a long time. When emotional factors like "school pride" and "tradition" arise, it is difficult to find a compromise.
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From the Academy of General Dentistry (http://www.agd.org/GP_Update/july04/practitioner.html). Underline added for emphasis.

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AGD responds to ADHA resolution to create an "advanced dental hygiene practitioner"

On July 8, the American Dental Hygiene Association posted a news release announcing that the 2004 ADHA House of Delegates had officially adopted resolutions to create an "advanced dental hygiene practitioner" position, an associated ADHA-developed educational curriculum, and an official definition of this position.

According to the news release, the basis for these actions included "the critical shortage of licensed dentists" and the call for increased access to oral health care in the 2000 Surgeon General's Report on Oral Health.

In the press release, ADHA President, Helena Gallant Tripp, RDH, said that the advanced dental hygiene practitioner would provide "diagnostic, preventive, restorative and therapeutic services directly to the public."

Ms. Tripp also said, "It is ADHA's objective to answer the unmet oral health needs of the public by providing cost-effective, easily accessible primary care through the advanced dental hygiene practitioner, which is similar to the public health need that fueled the development of a nurse practitioner position." The AGD Executive Committee questions the assumptions behind the ADHA actions and whether they are compatible with optimal oral health in the American public. Consequently, they have charged the AGD Councils on Dental Care and Legislation and Governmental Affairs with developing appropriate position papers and an action plan on this issue at their October meetings.

?We?re going to address this issue aggressively on behalf of the general dentists,? said AGD president Tom Howley, DDS, MAGD, ?because we have an obligation as general dentists to ensure the public has access to appropriate care. We are concerned about creating a two-tiered healthcare system."

Your comments on this issue are welcome and may be forwarded to these councils by e-mailing the AGD at [email protected]

The Dental Education at a Glance factsheet from the ADEA:

http://www.adea.org/CPPA_Materials/2004_Dental_Ed_At_A_Glance.pdf

Info on how the match works, from guest "griffin04":

The match works like this. A program decides if they will participate in Match or not. The more programs that participate, the more sense Match will make. Most Ortho, Pedo, OMS, GPR and AEGD programs participate in match, but there are a number in each of those categories that don't participate. If a program is not part of match, they must offer you a position before the match deadlines, because if you take that position, you must drop out of the match.

Match was designed to give every participant only 1 acceptance. This is supposed to eliminate anxiety on both the applicant and program's ends. For example, there is a super candidate for OMS who applies to 10 programs. Every single one of those programs reads his application, thinks he's great, invites him to interview. Without the match process, every single one of those programs wants this guy and accepts him. Now he's got 10 acceptances and has till a certain date (say Jan 15) to tell the 1 program he wants to attend that he's coming, and tell the other 9 he's not going. Until Jan 15, the 9 programs that he's not going to accept can't do anything to fill their spots till this guy actually says he's not coming. So the program is sitting around waiting for him to decide, and the other applicants to those 9 programs are wondering if they're gonna get into those programs and why they haven't heard anything from those programs. What program is going to say "Oh, well we're waiting for this super duper candidate to decide if he's gonna come here before we look at the rest of the losers."

With the match system, the same guy gets invited to interview at the 10 programs, and again they all want him. But this time, each program has to submit a list into the match website of which candidates they would consider for their program and what order they want them in. So even though they all put the guy as their #1 choice, they also enter other candidates they would consider in case they don't get their top picks. Our OMS guy must also submit a list of his 10 programs to the website in the order he wants to attend them in. The website has a deadline, and after the deadline they run an algorithm to match everyone up. Since everyone wanted the hypothetical candidate, he get's his #1 choice, and the 9 other programs who also wanted him, don't get him and get other people from further down their list. Basically, the match forces you to consider all programs and make your decision before an acceptance, not after so everyone can have a chance.

Most post grad programs have very few spots. Most OMS seem to be 2 students per year, Ortho and Pedo programs have between 4 and 5 new students per year (on average), and so on. Without the match system, the OMS program with 2 spots can't send out 5 acceptances b/c what if all 5 accept? They only have room for 2.

If a program is not part of the match (there are a few programs that don't participate), it makes things complicated. Say our guy has his 10 interviews, and 9 of the programs participate in match and 1 doesn't. So the 1 non-match accepts him on the spot, and now he has to decide does he take the acceptance and drop out of match, or give up the acceptance and wait to see what happens in the match? Results of the match are binding and you are supposed to sign a legal contract after match saying you will be attending there, so he can't say yes to the one program and wait and see what match brings him from the other 9. He has to decide beforehand b/c you are only supposed to ever have 1 acceptance. See where the dilemma is?

It's a complicated system, but it works for the most part. Unless you don't get a spot for ortho/OMS/pedo/GPR/AEGD in the match, in which case it's sorta annoying but hey - a DDS ain't a bad backup degree to have.

Thanks to River13 for compiling/finding this information:

http://www.ada.org/ada/prod/survey/publications_newreports.asp#privateprosthodontists


2002 Survey of Dental Practice–Prosthodontists in Private Practice (December 2004)
In 2001, prosthodontists in private practice had an average net income of $190,970 according to a new report published by the Survey Center. “Prosthodontists in Private Practice” includes data on prosthodontists’ net income, gross billings and expenses as well as a host of other practice characteristics. Using data collected during the ADA’s 2002 Survey of Dental Practice, the report also provides data on patient visits, hours worked per week and employment of dental staff. The report is part of a series of reports on individual specialties recently published by the ADA Survey Center
2002 Survey of Dental Practice–Periodontists in Private Practice (November 2004)

In 2001, periodontists in private practice had an average net income of $216,430 according to a new report published by the Survey Center. “Periodontists in Private Practice” includes data on periodontists’ net income, gross billings and expenses as well as a host of other practice characteristics. Using data collected during the ADA’s 2002 Survey of Dental Practice, the report also provides data on patient visits, hours worked per week and employment of dental staff. The report is part of a series of reports on individual specialties recently published by the ADA Survey Center.

2002 Survey of Dental Practice–Pediatric Dentists in Private Practice (November 2004)
In 2001, pediatric dentists in private practice had an average net income of $294,430 according to a new report published by the Survey Center. “Pediatric Dentists in Private Practice” includes data on pediatric dentists’ net income, gross billings and expenses as well as a host of other practice characteristics. Using data collected during the ADA’s 2002 Survey of Dental Practice, the report also provides data on patient visits, hours worked per week and employment of dental staff. The report is part of a series of reports on individual specialties recently published by the ADA Survey Center

2002 Survey of Dental Practice–Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons in Private Practice (September 2004)
In a newly published report, oral and maxillofacial surgeons in private practice had an average net income of $336,000 in 2001. “Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons in Private Practice” uses data collected by the ADA's 2002 Survey of Dental Practice. The report also provides data on income, gross billings, expenses, patient visits and employment of dental staff, as well as a host of other practice characteristics. The report is part of a series of reports on individual specialties published by the ADA Survey Center throughout 2004.

2002 Survey of Dental Practice–Orthodontic and Dentofacial Orthopedists in Private Practice (September 2004)
In a new published report, independent orthodontic and dentofacial orthopedists in private practice had an average net income of $279,440 in 2001. “Orthodontic and Dentofacial Orthopedists in Private Practice” uses data collected by the ADA's 2002 Survey of Dental Practice. The report also provides data on income, gross billings, expenses, patient visits and employment of dental staff, as well as a host of other practice characteristics. The report is part of a series of reports on individual specialties published by the ADA Survey Center throughout 2004.

2002 Survey of Dental Practice–Endodontists in Private Practice (July 2004)
In a new published report, endodontists in private practice had an average net income of $303,900 in 2001. “Endodontists in Private Practice” uses data collected by the ADA's 2002 Survey of Dental Practice. The report also provides data on income, gross billings, expenses, patient visits and employment of dental staff, as well as a host of other practice characteristics. The report is part of a series of reports on individual specialties published by the ADA Survey Center throughout 2004.