So you want to be an orthodontist?

How to get into orthodontic school.

I'm an orthodontist. I love what I do.  My life has been blessed beyond measure. I've been asked by countless patients about what it takes to become an orthodontist.  Here's a few tips.
Young people want to be orthodontists do so for many reasons:

• You've had braces and you love your orthodontist.  
• You like the idea of helping people get great smiles. 
• You want to earn lots of money, you can.  
• You want to be a 'doctor'. 
• You don't want to be on call, deal with blood, pain, sickness or disease.
• You like working with your hands.
• You want to be your own boss.

First let me say this.  Their is no magic formula for getting into an orthodontic residency. It is extremely competitive and there are many hurdles along the way.  We'll talk about these in this article.

The Path: 

Starting in High School take college prep classes. Your goal is to get into a good 4 year college program that offers the prerequisites to dental school.

College: 

Most dental schools require a year each of Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Biology and English.  A bachelor's degree is nice, but not required. (several of my dental classmates only had 2 years of undergraduate school and no degree).  You don't have to major in a science, but it makes sense.  The worst advice on going to dental school was given to me by my undergraduate college's "pre-professional advisement center".  I was to told to take chemistry for chem majors and physics for physics majors.  What a crock!  It's better to have a high GPA than to compete with the geeks in their own major. Think about to which dental schools you are applying and find out what they recommend/require. The goal is to get a dental school interview. You have to meet whatever minimum cut off the school of your choice may have.
Those will be based on:

1. Taking the prerequisite courses
2. Having above the threshold GPA
3. Scoring above the cutoff in your DAT score.

If I were applying to dental school today I's want to find out the average grades/scores in these metrics.
To improve your chances of getting accepted once you've gotten an invitation to interview you need to make yourself stand out.  Dental school Academics love research- do some research in undergrad school.  Demonstrate that you are a good person- volunteer to help those in need. Do what you can to help kids, the elderly or the handicapped. Get letters of recommendation from significant people.  Every applicant has a letter from their dentist telling how you kept your teeth clean and are a good person.  Try to go beyond that.  A personal connection with someone the committee knows pulls more weight.

Dental School

Once you get into dental school you will have to repeat the same process to get into an orthodontic residency, only this time the competition is even greater.  Hopefully you rank in the top 5 (first or second is best) in your dental class.  The advantage you now have is that you can focus on getting to know the orthodontic faculty.  Because you're at a dental school you have a great chance to get them to know you.

My recommendations:

Be smart, get good grades. Test well.
Be well rounded.
Demonstrate good character.
Make connections.

Many apply, few are chosen.

IF YOUR DREAM IS TO BE AN ORTHODONTIST- START NOW TO TAKE EVERY STEP TO MAKE IT HAPPEN.