In recent years, surveys have suggested that more than half of Americans are insecure about their teeth to some degree. These people will sometimes go out of their way to avoid smiling because they don’t like the appearance of their teeth.
This has created a huge market for cosmetic dentists. There are thousands of them out there helping people to fix their teeth so that they’re able to take pride in their smiles again.
You might want to consider taking advantage of this by learning how to become a cosmetic dentist. Working as a cosmetic dentist is one of the best dental jobs around these days. It’s an ideal gig for those who love dentistry and enjoy making people feel good about themselves.
Here is the process that you’ll have to go through in order to become a cosmetic dentist.
Start by Learning About What Cosmetic Dentists Actually Do
Before you dive headfirst into trying to figure out how to become a cosmetic dentist, you should spend some time learning about what it is that cosmetic dentists actually do.
Cosmetic dentists do a lot of the same things that regular dentists do as far as helping people to keep their teeth clean. But they also take things a step further in most cases and assist them in improving the overall appearances of their teeth, gums, and mouths.
If someone has a chipped or cracked tooth, they’re going to visit you when you’re a cosmetic dentist. Your goal is going to be to help them repair their tooth so that they feel comfortable smiling again.
Outside of knowing how to actually work on people’s teeth, cosmetic dentists also need to have excellent eyesight, stellar hand-eye coordination, and good communication skills. These things will help them to treat their patients properly.
Obtain the Proper Education to Become a Cosmetic Dentist
You can’t just decide that you want to become a cosmetic dentist one day and start working on people’s teeth. You need to obtain the proper education to turn yourself into a cosmetic dentist that people can trust.
To become a cosmetic dentist, you’ll need to acquire either:
- A Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree
- A Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) degree
And in order to get one of these two degrees, you’ll need to spend about four years in college securing a Bachelor of Science degree, preferably in a field like biology or chemistry.
Bottom line: You’re going to spend your fair share of time in school when you’re working towards becoming a cosmetic dentist. Be sure you’re prepared for it before doing anything else.
Get Certified and Licensed to Work as a Cosmetic Dentist
Once you earn either a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree or a Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) degree, you might think that you’re all ready to go when it comes to becoming a cosmetic dentist. But wait—there’s one more thing you’ll need to do!
You also need to get both certified and licensed to work as a cosmetic dentist in your specific state. Each state takes a slightly different approach to certifying and licensing cosmetic dentists. But generally speaking, you’ll need to pass an exam to get certified and licensed.
Once you’ve done that, then and only then can you start to call yourself a cosmetic dentist.
Set Up a Cosmetic Dentistry Practice
Believe it or not, becoming a cosmetic dentist is really only half the battle when you’re trying to carve out a career in the world of dentistry. After you get the right kind of education and get certified and licensed, you’ll need to set up a practice for yourself, too.
You should search for a place that is desperately in need of a cosmetic dentistry practice and set up shop there. It’ll be imperative that you find a clean office space that you can fill with all the equipment and tools you’ll need to start working on people’s teeth.
Market Your Cosmetic Dentistry Practice to Those in Your Community
After you’ve set up a cosmetic dentistry practice, you can go ahead and start marketing your practice to those in your community. There are lots of different ways in which you can do this.
Creating a website and social media pages for your practice will be a start. But you’ll also want to run local radio and/or newspaper ads, network with other small businesses in your area, and do other things to help spread the word about your business.
Dental lead generation will also play a key part in your ability to drum up lots of interest in your new practice.
Put a Smile on People’s Faces as a Cosmetic Dentist
As long as you’ve done everything else listed here, you should finally be ready to start your first day as a cosmetic dentist. From here, it’ll just be important that you work hard to satisfy all those people who allow you to work on their teeth.
The more smiles that you’re able to put on people’s faces, the more business you’ll be able to get. You can continue to build up your name within your community by providing the very best cosmetic dentistry services around.
Now That You Know How to Become a Cosmetic Dentist, Get to Work on Doing It
At this point, you know the cosmetic dentist job requirements. You also know how to become a cosmetic dentist.
Now you just need to put everything that you’ve learned here together and get to work. You aren’t going to be able to turn yourself into a cosmetic dentist overnight. But by following the steps that we’ve laid out here, you should put yourself on the right path and be a cosmetic dentist in no time.
Read more articles that are designed to help those involved in dentistry by poking around on the rest of our blog.
