A dentist is an independent health care provider who examines, diagnoses, treats, and manages diseases and disorders of the teeth, gums, jaw, and mouth. Dentists are involved in disease prevention as well as treatment and restoration of structures in the mouth. Dentists may be generalists or may become specialized through further training in residencies or fellowships.
The pre-dentistry curriculum includes basic required courses, but students should contact the individual professional dental school about requirements specific to that school. Students should consult with advisors to help plan a course of study that complies with the requirements for admission to the schools of dentistry of the student’s choice.
In general, schools of dentistry will require coursework (usually one year each) in biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, and mathematics; these should be courses for majors rather than survey courses intended for non-majors. Further, dentistry schools generally require a certain number of hours of lab experience across the science disciplines. In addition, most schools of dentistry will require additional coursework in biochemistry, genetics, physiology, and statistics, along with coursework in English, humanities, and the social sciences. Finally, some schools of dentistry require all pre-requisite courses to be completed in the face-to-face modality.
Pre-dental students should take CHEM 326/328/L to satisfy most dental school requirements.
Generally, schools of dentistry require at least 90 semester hours of pre-dentistry coursework. The student is free to major in any area of interest, however, the Medical Biology major includes many courses in the pre-dentistry curriculum. Admission to a school of dentistry is based upon such qualities as academic preparation, scores on the Dental Admission Test (DAT), character and general fitness for the field of dentistry. Students may apply to many of the dental schools by filing an ADEA Associated American Dental Schools Application Service (ADEA AADSAS) application.
Students interested in dental medicine (Doctor of Dental Surgery - DDS/Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry - DMD) should research the individual program/s to which they plan to apply for specific admissions requirements. Students may pursue any major of interest. Dental schools like to see significant extracurricular activity such as experience with dental professionals, volunteer, leadership, and research. Students must take the Dental Admissions Test (DAT) for admission to dental school. A list of accredited dental programs can be found at the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA). Additional information about dental careers, programs, and education can be found at the American Dental Association (ADA): https://www.ada.org/. Note: starting March 1, 2025 the ADA will implement a new scoring system for the DAT. Pre-Dental students at USD may use the following curriculum as a guide in completing dental school prerequisites. Students are strongly encouraged to choose schools to which they would like to apply and work with an advisor to design an appropriate pre-dental curriculum.
Students are also encouraged to take courses in the following subjects: English, economics, history, modern languages, philosophy, social sciences, speech, and fine arts.
For more information about dentistry contact: American Dental Education Association (http://www.adea.org); Academic & Career Center, 605-658-3600; Dept. of Dental Hygiene, 605-658-5960, Health Professions Advisors, 605-658-6326 or 658-6334, Pre-Med Advisor, 605-658-6328 or by visiting the following web site: http://www.usd.edu/admissions.
For additional information, contact:
Jessica Messersmith
College of Arts & Sciences/Associate Dean for Academics
Arts & Sciences 110
605-658-3830
Jessica.Messersmith@usd.edu
