What's the difference between DMD & DDS?

Started by DMDWANNABEE
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DMDWANNABEE

Full Member
10+ Year Member
DMD is better right?










Nah... Just kidding.
Actually I was just wondering if anyone knows what Rosemans stats were for last year. its not in the adea book 😕 i think it was called usn before? also, does anyone know when they start interviewing?
 
DMDWANNABEE said:
Nah... Just kidding.
Actually I was just wondering if anyone knows what Rosemans stats were for last year. its not in the adea book 😕 i think it was called usn before? also, does anyone know when they start interviewing?
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They start interview in February and they accept you right there after the interview. Thats why they dont have stats in ADEA book.
 
wizi said:
They start interview in February and they accept you right there after the interview. Thats why they dont have stats in ADEA book.
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Really? why would they do that?

I assume that means it's not very competitive then...
 
hahaha,
No difference between DMD and DDS. Roseman will start interviewing this month. They have been waiting till the new Dental building is open so that applicants can see it. Stats for incoming class were 3.38 GPA, 19AA and 20PAT. They put alot of emphisis on all sections of the DAT except for the QR. In fact, they dont really even pay attention to the RC. Its a great school! PM me if you have any questions.
 
Dentalguy1 said:
hahaha,
No difference between DMD and DDS. Roseman will start interviewing this month. They have been waiting till the new Dental building is open so that applicants can see it. Stats for incoming class were 3.38 GPA, 19AA and 20PAT. They put alot of emphisis on all sections of the DAT except for the QR. In fact, they dont really even pay attention to the RC. Its a great school! PM me if you have any questions.
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:troll:
 
Dentalguy1 said:
hahaha,
No difference between DMD and DDS. Roseman will start interviewing this month. They have been waiting till the new Dental building is open so that applicants can see it. Stats for incoming class were 3.38 GPA, 19AA and 20PAT. They put alot of emphisis on all sections of the DAT except for the QR. In fact, they dont really even pay attention to the RC. Its a great school! PM me if you have any questions.
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Dentalguy1,

I am just wondering how do you know these information? It isnt on their website. Did you have an interview there?

On their website:

Q: Does Roseman CODM have minimum DAT score requirements?

A: The Admissions Committee considers DAT scores on an individual basis as part of its evaluation of the candidate's entire academic record. To be considered for admission, scores on Academic Average, Total Science, Reading Comprehension and Perceptual Ability must be 17 or higher. Competitive scores will generally be 18 or higher on Academic Average, Reading Comprehension, Biology, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry and the Perceptual Ability Test. The highest score from the last three administrations will be used to assess candidate performance. DAT scores older than three years at the time of application will not be accepted.

If a candidate has not achieved a score of 17 on Academic Average, Total Science, Reading Comprehension and Perceptual Ability, the candidate's file will be put on hold pending receipt of new scores. If these scores are not achieved, the applicant will be denied admission for that cycle. Candidates are encouraged to access information about the DAT at: http://www.ada.org/dat.aspx.
 
wizi said:
Dentalguy1,

I am just wondering how do you know these information? It isnt on their website. Did you have an interview there?

On their website:

Q: Does Roseman CODM have minimum DAT score requirements?

A: The Admissions Committee considers DAT scores on an individual basis as part of its evaluation of the candidate’s entire academic record. To be considered for admission, scores on Academic Average, Total Science, Reading Comprehension and Perceptual Ability must be 17 or higher. Competitive scores will generally be 18 or higher on Academic Average, Reading Comprehension, Biology, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry and the Perceptual Ability Test. The highest score from the last three administrations will be used to assess candidate performance. DAT scores older than three years at the time of application will not be accepted.

If a candidate has not achieved a score of 17 on Academic Average, Total Science, Reading Comprehension and Perceptual Ability, the candidate’s file will be put on hold pending receipt of new scores. If these scores are not achieved, the applicant will be denied admission for that cycle. Candidates are encouraged to access information about the DAT at: http://www.ada.org/dat.aspx.
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While 19AA and 3.38 GPA might be true because he says he goes there, but I don't know about "not caring" on RC section. That seems more like his opinion.
 
Demps said:
While 19AA and 3.38 GPA might be true because he says he goes there, but I don't know about "not caring" on RC section. That seems more like his opinion.
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I'm wondering if he meant QR. Those pair of sentences make more sense if he did in fact mean QR and not RC.
 
So sorry!! I did not mean to say that RC was not importnat. I meant to say the QR section was not important! Reading comp is actually one of the most important sections they look at. Sorry for the confusion!
 
I know it's not the point of this thread, but thought I'd put this up just in case people who open this thread are really interested. This is the best explanation so far that I've found of why there's even two different degree titles, if they're supposed to be the same. As Dr. Simon Rosenberg explains:

Dr. Simon Rosenberg said:
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 medicine. Originally there was only the D.D.S. degree, which stands for Doctor of Dental Surgery. It was given by independent schools of dentistry that were more like trade or apprenticeship schools and in the beginning were not affiliated with any university.

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!)
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So, in summary, blame Harvard. :smack:
 
The difference between the two is arrogance and pride (in the case of the DMD schools)....... neither is better or worse and both are viewed exactly the same by the entire dental community,

good luck everyone!
 
But why does it seem like almost all the new schools award the DMD? I know they are the exact same degree... but does anybody else think it's weird that none of the new schools are awarding the DDS?
 
UltimateHombre said:
But why does it seem like almost all the new schools award the DMD? I know they are the exact same degree... but does anybody else think it's weird that none of the new schools are awarding the DDS?
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Because the doctor of dental medicine allows new schools to better convey that there school teaches dentistry as more than surgery.
 
Yeah, it's unfortunate that although DDS/DMD are viewed the same within the dental community, they're not so much in the general public. I've heard several people not in the field ask this question, and many of them seem to think that DMD is better for some reason, although none of them can give a concrete reason. I remember one person saying, "Maybe it's because they have an MD as well?" It's silly really, it's just not something that is well explained to the general public. Maybe it's not that big of a deal in the end though...
 
2th Doc said:
Yeah, it's unfortunate that although DDS/DMD are viewed the same within the dental community, they're not so much in the general public. I've heard several people not in the field ask this question, and many of them seem to think that DMD is better for some reason, although none of them can give a concrete reason. I remember one person saying, "Maybe it's because they have an MD as well?" It's silly really, it's just not something that is well explained to the general public. Maybe it's not that big of a deal in the end though...
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I've heard some talk about how DMD/DDS can be important depending on where you practice. If you practice in a region that primarily has DDS and you have DMD, patients may get confused or something and continue seeing a doctor with a DDS because they are more familiar/comfortable with it. Not sure how true it is but I thought it was an interesting point.
 
You're better off having DDS degree from a patient standpoint. For example, say a potential patient needs to get a root canal and comes across a list of possible dentists and sees either DDS and DMD after each name. The common layperson will likely construe the DDS dentist as being more skillful and having a more advanced degree than the DMD since the words "Dental Surgery" have more appeal than "Dental Medicine" (similar to family physician and medical surgeon), and thus elect to visit the DDS doctor instead for his complex dental procedure. This translates into $2000 root canal therapy dental fee for you along with a new patient for life and referrals which translates into more patients and more $$$. All of that because you chose a DDS school over a DMD school.
 
PreDent321 said:
Even though the dental community knows that the two designations are equivalent, you're better off having DDS degree from a patient standpoint. For example, say a potential patient needs to get a root canal and comes across a list of possible dentists and sees either DDS and DMD after each name. The common layperson will likely construe the DDS dentist as being more skillful and having a more advanced degree than the DMD since the words "Dental Surgery" have more appeal than "Dental Medicine" (similar to family physician and medical surgeon), and thus elect to visit the DDS doctor instead for his complex dental procedure. This translates into $2000 root canal therapy dental fee for you along with a new patient for life and referrals which translates into more patients and more $$$. All of that because you chose a DDS school over a DMD school.
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actually DMD sounds better, people think you are an MD 🙂 plus i know when I used Payscale . com to determined starting salaries, DMD's had higher $$$ than DDS. It makes sense, most laypeople don't think a dentist goes through the rigors that an MD doctor goes through. Although I'll settle for a DDS, a DMD does sound cooler. Just my thoughts.
 
MrAvicii said:
actually DMD sounds better, people think you are an MD 🙂 plus i know when I used Payscale . com to determined starting salaries, DMD's had higher $$$ than DDS. It makes sense, most laypeople don't think a dentist goes through the rigors that an MD doctor goes through. Although I'll settle for a DDS, a DMD does sound cooler. Just my thoughts.
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Actually the D in front of MD makes some people think it's a quack/fraud MD. Since dental procedures require the use of hands and are basically mini surgeries requiring manual dexterity (vs. dispensing prescriptions as is the perception of most MDs), I'll take DDS any day over DMD.
 
PreDent321 said:
You're better off having DDS degree from a patient standpoint. For example, say a potential patient needs to get a root canal and comes across a list of possible dentists and sees either DDS and DMD after each name. The common layperson will likely construe the DDS dentist as being more skillful and having a more advanced degree than the DMD since the words "Dental Surgery" have more appeal than "Dental Medicine" (similar to family physician and medical surgeon), and thus elect to visit the DDS doctor instead for his complex dental procedure. This translates into $2000 root canal therapy dental fee for you along with a new patient for life and referrals which translates into more patients and more $$$. All of that because you chose a DDS school over a DMD school.
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I definitely agree with you. With that said, I bet there's some groups (maybe younger people? who knows) who may think the opposite, that DMD is better than DDS because it's newer, or different, or more specialized--not that any of these are true, but perception is everything.

When it comes down to it, the ADA just needs to take donations and do an ad campaign explaining this concept and put it to rest. Or dentists could do this individually, which I've seen as well.
 
2th Doc said:
I definitely agree with you. With that said, I bet there's some groups (maybe younger people? who knows) who may think the opposite, that DMD is better than DDS because it's newer, or different, or more specialized--not that any of these are true, but perception is everything.

When it comes down to it, the ADA just needs to take donations and do an ad campaign explaining this concept and put it to rest. Or dentists could do this individually, which I've seen as well.
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ADA should just mandate to all schools and current dentists to conform to one designation. Either you conform or you don't get to practice in the U.S. That would be the easiest and most effective way.
 
PreDent321 said:
ADA should just mandate to all schools and current dentists to conform to one designation. Either you conform or you don't get to practice in the U.S. That would be the easiest and most effective way.
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:idea: Indeed! That's a much better idea than my pricey ad campaign. Really there's no need for the differentiation, so why not do away with it--I like it.
 
The admissions presenter at Penn said the DMD degree was invented in the 1960's by Harvard to convey their belief that dentistry is part of medicine as a whole. And, because they were Harvard, some schools followed suit!
 
dantemac said:
The admissions presenter at Penn said the DMD degree was invented in the 1960's by Harvard to convey their belief that dentistry is part of medicine as a whole. And, because they were Harvard, some schools followed suit!
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I kind of like "DMD" for that reason too... but, I wonder why someone/some "committee"/whatever just doesn't pick one and make it a convention among the schools, to start only giving out one degree? I feel like, in the long run, it will confuse people less.
 
:laugh: I guess I should have guessed this thread would get away from me after my little joke.

For what it's worth, I like the sound of the original "Doctor of Dental Surgery", but both dental schools I have interviews at offer a DMD degree.

I guess it's best to be out in front of a trend though, so I'll take the DMD. 👍
 
I actually never heard of a DMD until i became a predental student. Lots of DDS in my area.

I also read here on SDN somewhere, that you can actually legally advertise as either one if you want to... anybody else know anything about that?
 
UltimateHombre said:
I actually never heard of a DMD until i became a predental student. Lots of DDS in my area.

I also read here on SDN somewhere, that you can actually legally advertise as either one if you want to... anybody else know anything about that?
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anybody else care? no? cool.
 
dantemac said:
The admissions presenter at Penn said the DMD degree was invented in the 1960's by Harvard to convey their belief that dentistry is part of medicine as a whole. And, because they were Harvard, some schools followed suit!
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Columbia wanted to switch to DMD but state law forbids them 🙄
 
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