Dentist Job Description
Dentists diagnose oral health problems, restore oral tissues, and provide preventative dental care.

A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a medical professional who specializes in dental surgery and is licensed to practice dentistry. The title "dentist" is not protected in the same way as a medical doctor's designation; it is possible for someone without dentistry training to hold himself or herself out as, and perform the services of, a dentist.
Dentists diagnose oral health problems, restore oral tissues, and provide preventative dental care. They fill teeth, fix damaged or missing teeth, treat gingivitis (gum disease), place dental implants, straighten crooked teeth, remove sutures in the treatment of temporomandibular joint disorders and repair traumatic injuries to denture-related tissues. They also examine mouths and teeth that are not anesthetized, and may perform oral cancer examinations.
The dentist treats patients under general anesthesia (if required), locates and removes (extracts) diseased, damaged, or infected teeth, and restores the mouth to health with dental prostheses that include fillings, crowns, inlays, onlays, dentures, bridges and implants.
Dental treatment is either provided preventively or curatively. The aim of preventive dentistry is to maintain oral health through routine visits, while curative dentistry aims to treat and correct issues arising from normal wear of teeth and oral structures. Curative treatment includes diagnostic services (caries point location) and restorative services like dental fillings, crowns, bridges,
Statistics on Dentists
- Face-to-Face Discussions 100% responded “Every day.” (onetonline.org)
- Physical Proximity 97% responded “Very close (near touching).” (onetonline.org)
- Work With Work Group or Team 87% responded “Extremely important.” (onetonline.org)
- Exposed to Disease or Infections 87% responded “Every day.” (onetonline.org)
- Importance of Being Exact or Accurate 88% responded “Extremely important.” (onetonline.org)
- Structured versus Unstructured Work 86% responded “A lot of freedom.” (onetonline.org)
- Contact With Others 92% responded “Constant contact with others.” (onetonline.org)
- Indoors, Environmentally Controlled 92% responded “Every day.” (onetonline.org)
- Responsibility for Outcomes and Results 78% responded “Very high responsibility.” (onetonline.org)
- Freedom to Make Decisions 77% responded “A lot of freedom.” (onetonline.org)
Articles On Dentists
Dentist - Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Dentists (onetonline.org)
Dentists : Occupational Outlook Handbook: : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Dentists diagnose and treat problems with patients’ teeth, gums, and related parts of the mouth. (bls.gov)
Dentist - Career Rankings, Salary, Reviews and Advice
Dentists identify and treat problems concerning a patient's mouth, gums and teeth . Their duties include extracting teeth, fitting dentures and filling cavities. (money.usnews.com)
Be a Dentist
Learn more about what is means to be a dentist and the dentistry profession. Provides information for high school and college student who are interested in being a dentist. (ada.org)
Home - American Dental Association
The American Dental Association (ADA) is the nation's largest dental association and is the leading source of oral health related information for dentists and their patients. (ada.org)
Dentists
As a dentist, we know your life is busy enough without the hassle of claims and billing. That's why we compiled these easy resources for account management. (unitedconcordia.com)
Dentists, General at My Next Move (mynextmove.org)
Additional Resources on Dentists
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