Prosthodontists replace missing natural teeth with fixed or removable substitutes such as dentures, bridges and implants. Oral pathologists study and research the causes and processional effects of diseases of the mouth. Public Health dentists specialize in preventing and controlling dental disease and promoting dental health through organized commmunity efforts. Others plan, organize, and maintain dental health programs for public health agencies. Dentists may establish their own practices, become part of dental or medical groups, or work in hospitals.
Dental school consists of a four year curriculum.
The third and fourth years provide the clinical experience where the students perform dental care on patients. To be accepted by a School of Dentistry, a student must have a minimum of a bachelor's degree or four years of undergraduate college. In order to practice dentistry in the U.S., every dentist has to successfully pass National Boards, which are given in two parts. Part I deals mainly with basic sciences and is taken after the second year of dental school. Part II deals with the different dental areas and is taken in the fourth year of dental school.