How many years does it take to study to become a dentist or orthodontist? Is it difficult to become a dentist?

An orthodontist is a doctor who specializes in dental anomalies. That is, he studies, performs prevention, diagnosis and treatment of such anomalies. These include abnormal development of the jaws, dentition, individual teeth, and soft tissues in the oral cavity. It is the orthodontist who installs braces and “builds up” lost fragments of teeth. This is a profession in demand, since a large number of people have dental anomalies of one degree or another. She belongs to the “person-to-person” category. By the way, in 2021, the ProfGid career guidance center developed an accurate career guidance test. He himself will tell you which professions are suitable for you, and give an opinion about your personality type and intelligence.

Brief description: who is an orthodontist?

Today, a beautiful smile, straight teeth and correct bite are an important component of a person’s image and appearance. And even if we remove the purely aesthetic factor from consideration, many others remain: for example, due to the incorrect structure of the jaw, a person’s diction may be impaired, it can contribute to the development of diseases of the teeth and gums, and even cause curvature in the cervical and subsequent parts of the spine. Orthodontics is a subsection of dentistry that deals with precisely such problems.

Career

Orthodontist is a profession in demand . Vacancies in this specialty are open in the following places:

• state clinics;
• medical centers;
• private aesthetic medicine clinics.

An experienced doctor can open his own office to provide dental services. And if you have no desire to contact patients, there is always the opportunity to get a job at an enterprise that sells or produces medications or orthopedic structures.

The level of skill and quality of specialist services provided are periodically assessed by qualification categories. They are awarded after defending a research paper. The commission evaluates not only the doctor’s skills, but also the relevance of his knowledge and skills.

There are several types of categories assigned to an orthodontist:

• the second – if you have at least 3 years of experience;
• first – given with work experience of over 7 years;
• Higher - requires at least 10 years of practice.

A doctor has the right not to undergo certification, but this will interfere with career and professional growth.

Having a qualification category provides the following advantages:

• the opportunity to occupy high positions in medical organizations;
• the right to an increase to the basic salary;
• increasing the level of trust on the part of patients;
• status in the professional environment.

You can achieve even greater acceptance by speaking at medical conferences and publishing expert articles.

And if you want to build a scientific career, you will first have to complete graduate school, and then write and defend a dissertation. Then the title of Candidate of Medical Sciences will be awarded.

To become an orthodontist, you need not only to have certain personal qualities and undergo expensive training at a university, but also to constantly develop professionally. The reward for this will be decent wages and gratitude from clients.

Features of the profession

Improper development of jaws, teeth and soft tissues can occur due to hereditary factors or due to acquired problems. Most often this happens during infancy and early childhood: due to artificial feeding, deficiency of minerals and vitamins, prolonged attachment to a pacifier, and so on. In adulthood, problems with the structure of teeth and jaws usually arise due to serious injuries. The main responsibilities of an orthodontist when working with any patient are as follows:

• Examination of the patient's oral cavity for the presence of dental anomalies.
• Performing diagnostic procedures (for example, taking panoramic photographs using x-ray equipment).
• Restoration of lost areas of enamel and broken parts of teeth.
• Making impressions for the production of braces, dental implants and dentures.
• Installation and activation of braces to correct misaligned teeth and bite.
• Installation of space retainers, removable plates and space maintainers (such devices are most often used to treat malocclusion in children).
• Carrying out control diagnostic measures to assess the result of orthodontic treatment.

It is important to understand that quite often an orthodontist’s work with one patient lasts more than one month. A specialist examines the condition of his oral cavity, selects treatment, and its implementation may take even more than a year. For example, correcting malocclusion and misalignment of teeth in adults usually requires 1.5-2 years, during which the patient must regularly visit the orthodontist to adjust the position of the braces.

Who is it?

This is a doctor who deals with the correction of congenital or acquired pathologies of the jaws. He places braces, makes impressions for dentures, and then installs them. His competence includes the treatment of the following anomalies:

• curvature of the entire geometry of the dentition or individual teeth;
• unaesthetic bite;
• disproportionate development of the upper and lower jaws;
• unerupted teeth;
• asymmetrical face shape;
• tooth gap;
• speech, chewing or breathing disorders resulting from jaw pathology;
• restoration of lost teeth;
• displacement of the dentition.

The specialist’s responsibilities also include preventing the occurrence of such anomalies and studying the reasons that cause them. The orthodontist works to improve the dentition in every possible way.

The profession requires combining the skills of a dental technician with the knowledge of a dentist. But he does not treat carious cavities or fill them. To correct teeth, an orthodontist mainly uses hardware and surgical methods.

Important! Dental anomalies can be corrected at any age. But only those who see a doctor on time with their problem can count on the most positive results. This applies to both children and adults.

In the video about who an orthodontist is, what he does and why it is needed:

Important personal qualities

Since orthodontist vacancies still belong to the medical field (albeit to its dental branch), specialists in this field are required to have a desire and willingness to help people. You also need excellent vision, well-developed fine motor skills, perseverance, patience, and the ability to maintain a high level of concentration for a long time when performing monotonous work. And, of course, some communication skills won’t hurt, especially when serving underage clients.

Specialist salary

Obtaining an education requires large investments, but after successfully completing all its stages, a specialist will easily achieve a high level of income.

The salary depends on the place of work . In government institutions this is a flat rate, and in private clinics it is about 25-35% of the cost of services provided to the patient. In the second case, in order to earn decent money, you need to have more clients and an excellent reputation with positive reviews.

Specialization also affects your salary. A pediatric orthodontist is paid from 35 thousand rubles. and more, and for an adult – from 68 thousand rubles.

Reference . The highest demand for orthodontic services is in the Moscow Region, Krasnodar Territory and St. Petersburg. Beginning specialists are paid from 24 thousand rubles, and experienced specialists – from 50 thousand rubles. At the same time, the average salary in the Russian Federation is 90-100 thousand rubles, and if we are talking about a private clinic, the amount increases to 300-400 rubles.

Orthodontic training

Training to become an orthodontist must be completed at a medical school. The most suitable direction is “Dentistry” (code 05/31/03). To enroll, you will need to pass the Unified State Examination in the Russian language, chemistry, as well as biology or physics at the discretion of the chosen educational institution. Most universities provide full-time training in this specialty (it lasts 5 years), some of them offer distance education for 6 years. However, as with all medical specialties, it is highly advisable to study full-time. Upon graduation, you will need to complete a residency in order to be able to find a job in your specialty.

Courses

CHTA (Modern Scientific and Technological Academy) (Full-time, remote)

CHTA provides training in the field of “Orthodontics”:

• Training;
• Professional retraining;
• Preparation for passing initial and recurring accreditation;
• Educational seminars with CME credits.

24/7 customer support.
Delivery of documents throughout Russia. Office in the center of Moscow. More than 7 years in the field of additional professional education. AMO (Academy of Medical Education)

Professional retraining, advanced training, seminars, preparation for accreditation in the field of “Orthodontics”. includes:

• Individual selection of programs according to your specialty.
• Compiling a portfolio.
• Entering all the necessary information for you on the Rosminzdrav portal.
• Support until successful accreditation.

Every month, the Academy of Medical Education conducts more than 20 educational events (seminars and webinars) with the issuance of CME points. AMO is in the FRDO register, and in 2021 it passed a scheduled inspection by the Moscow Department of Education.

Universities

Moscow State Medical and Dental University named after. A.I. Evdokimova

Dentistry (Faculty of Dentistry, Moscow State Medical University named after A.I. Evdokimov)

First St. Petersburg State Medical University named after Academician I. P. Pavlov

Dentistry (Dental Faculty of St. Petersburg State Medical University named after Academician I.P. Pavlov)

Nizhny Novgorod State University named after. N.I. Lobachevsky

Dentistry (Institute of Biology and Biomedicine UNN)

St. Petersburg Medical and Social Institute

Dentistry (Medical Faculty of St. Petersburg Medical Institute)

REAVIZ University

Dentistry (Reaviz University)

Courses

Interregional Center for CME

There is only one answer to the question of where to become an orthodontist - at a university. However, if you have a dental or medical education and lack knowledge specifically in the orthodontic field, you can take special courses to fill this gap. Such, for example, are carried out by the Interregional Center for CME. They last 80-160 hours, are organized in a distance format, and upon completion of training, all participants receive standard certificates.

Best Universities for Orthodontists

1. RNIMU named after. N.I. Pirogov Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation
2. MGMSU named after. A.I. Evdokimov of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation
3. PMGMU named after. THEM. Sechenov Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation
4. SPbSU
5. SPbGPMU
6. PSPbSMU named after. I.P. Pavlova of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation

Dentists' specializations

Like many other specialties, dentistry has a number of specializations, which can be trained in universities in our country.

Dentists are different

In simple terms, a dentist is a general term that refers to a doctor who deals with diseases of the oral cavity.

Dentistry specializations are narrow-profile activities associated with a certain age of patients, characteristics of diseases, and so on.

All this is worth talking about in more detail.

Therapeutic activities in the field of dentistry are familiar to most of us.

After all, it is the therapist who examines our teeth, detects caries, tartar, and gives advice related to the prevention of certain diseases through proper hygiene.

We go to the surgeon in case of dental injuries, for example, received at a boxing competition. This person also deals with the treatment of wounds in the mouth and neck, standard procedures for tooth extraction and prosthetics.

An oral and maxillofacial surgeon is called upon to help us solve more complex issues related to our health. Procedures performed by a regular surgeon are performed under local anesthesia. For the work of a maxillofacial surgeon, general anesthesia is required.

We meet a pediatric dentist quite early, at approximately six months of age. After all, it is at this moment that most children begin to grow their first milk teeth. We will continue to see the same specialist until adolescence.

Documents for admission

To enter the university you need to prepare the following documents:

• passport identification, original and photocopy;
• education certificate in original and photocopies;
• documentary confirmation of the results of the Unified State Exam for graduates of the 11th grade and the State Examination for the 9th grade;
• photographs size 3 × 4 (6 pieces);
• if available - a marriage certificate, and for those liable for military service - a military ID.

In addition to the above basic papers, educational institutions may require several more documents. Please check this point with the admissions committee before submitting the documentation package.

List of colleges

MK No. 1 Moscow

State

Medical College No. 1

Specialties, budget places, paid training, open days, contacts.

MK RUT (MIIT) Moscow

State

Medical College of the Russian University of Transport (MIIT)

Specialties, budget places, paid training, open days, contacts.

MK No. 2 Moscow

State

Medical College No. 2

Specialties, budget places, paid training, open days, contacts.

MOMK No. 2 Moscow region

State

Moscow Regional Medical College No. 2

Specialties, budget places, paid training, open days, contacts.

MK No. 5 Moscow

State

Medical College No. 5

Specialties, budget places, paid training, open days, admissions committee, contacts.

STC "Znanie" Moscow region

Humanitarian and Technical College "Knowledge"

Specialties, paid training, open days, contacts.

Dmitrov branch of the Moscow Regional Medical College No. 4 Moscow region

State

Dmitrov branch of Moscow Regional Medical College No. 4

Specialties, budget places, paid training, open days, contacts.

Egoryevsk branch of MOMK No. 3 Moscow region

State

Yegoryevsk branch of Moscow Regional Medical College No. 3 named after Hero of the Soviet Union Z. Samsonova

Specialties, budget places, open days, contacts.

College "Moscow Region" Moscow region

State

College "Moscow Region"

Specialties, budget places, paid training, open days, contacts.

CP No. 11 Moscow

State

College of Entrepreneurship No. 11

Specialties, budget places, paid training, open days, admissions committee, contacts.

1→

Exam subjects for 9th grade graduates

The problem is that a 9th grade graduate cannot enter a higher education institution. This requires a high school diploma. That is, you need to complete 11 classes. But, there is another path suitable for 9th grade graduates. What does it consist of:

1. If you successfully pass exams in specialized disciplines, you can enter a technical school or college.
2. There is no specialty “dentist”; to obtain it you need to graduate from a university, but you can enroll in “nursing”.
3. This will help you gain certain knowledge and prepare for admission. To a university, and then continue studying there in the chosen profession.