Dental Careers: Orthodontists
                     Dental Careers: Orthodontists
If you are thinking about getting a job in the dental field, you might consider becoming an orthodontist. An 
orthodontist, as everyone who's had braces knows, is a dentist who corrects and realigns teeth so that they are 
as straight as can be. Orthodontics was the first-ever branch of dentistry to constitute its own career. And since 
most people are born with teeth that are in some way crooked, orthodontists usually have more patients to 
work on. Many times people will go to the orthodontist just so their teeth will look as nice as possible. Other 
times there are real health reasons why a person might want to get their teeth straightened to avoid gum 
disease, for example.
In general, when a patient goes to see an orthodontist initially, the orthodontist will take an X-ray of their 
mouth. This way, the orthodontist will know what tools to use to correct the teeth: braces, retainers or 
headgear-or, in severe and often emergency cases, the orthodontist will break the bones of the jaw and wire 
the jaw shut, setting the jaw in this way that when it heals it will align properly. Sometimes dentists will 
recommend that young children go to get examined by an orthodontist so the orthodontist can help guide the 
permanent teeth into their proper places when they break through the gums. This generally happens only 
when a child has a history of severe dental problems in their family. And some orthodontists can actually 
rebuild an entire face, realigning the bones of the face.
To have a dental career as orthodontist, a person has to earn a bachelor's degree at an accredited university or 
college. It's very helpful if the subject you major in as an undergraduate relates to dentistry in some way: 
biology, chemistry, mathematics and anatomy are examples of helpful majors. Then this person must spend 
three years in dental school, perhaps four. Dental school will involve both classroom work (textbooks, exams, 
lectures) and hands-on training. At the conclusion of dental school, the student will need to pass a medical 
board test to become a certified dentist. Then he or she must apply to an orthodontics program. If accepted, he
or she will again study and do hands-on work, often in the form of part-time employment, volunteer positions 
or internships, in order to become a full-fledged orthodontist.
It obviously takes quite a while and more effort to become an orthodontist, but most practicing orthodontists 
really enjoy their work. For one thing, many of their patients are adolescents, so they get to know these young 
people and hear about their latest accomplishments in academics and sports. Plus, orthodontists don't have to 
drill cavities or perform root canals, so their patients often don't dread seeing them around some people dread 
seeing the dentist, which can make a day at work a tad bit more pleasant.