If you’re considering the best schools for orthodontics, you’ll likely also be curious about orthodontics as a profession. Orthodontists are dentists that have been trained specifically for the purpose of correcting pains, muscle malfunction and irregular movements in the jaw that result in improper bites. In addition to correcting functional issues, orthodontists also often apply treatments for aesthetic purposes, using braces, mouth appliances, and molds to enable teeth to become better aligned. When necessary, orthodontists also perform oral surgery to correct jaw structure or enable blocked teeth to come in or shift more easily.
Professionally, orthodontists typically manage a staff of hygienists and assistants from a private office with daily operating hours and weekly schedules varying based on clientele. While some practices only operate during normal business hours Monday through Friday, providing services for children and teenagers, others remain open in the evening, on weekends, and cater primarily to adults.
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Regardless of the client base an orthodontic practice serves, the day-to-day duties of the job–meeting with patients, developing treatment plans, and managing the office–require a common set of skills. Though not an exhaustive list by any means, some of these include:
- Good Interpersonal skills in interacting with clients;
- A strong business background–most orthodontists own their own practices and manage matters of accounting, human resources, and logistics; and
- Physical endurance–many spend significant time hovering over patients while carrying out different treatments.
Before jumping the gun and getting lost in daydreams of running your own practice, it’s important to consider the training requirements that come along with the profession. Generally speaking, becoming an orthodontist takes about 10 years, broken down into at least three components:
- Four years of undergraduate study including necessary prerequisite science courses;
- Four years of postgraduate study in a doctoral dental program;
- Another two years of post-dental study in a specialized orthodontics training program.
This is to say nothing of the array of certifications and tests for state licensing–in dentistry and orthodontics–that all orthodontists must undergo. From the preliminary Dental Admission Test (DAT) required of all dental school applicants, to certifications by the American Board of Orthodontics and other certifying boards, the process of becoming a licensed professional in the field of orthodontics is certainly a rigorous one. If all of this seems manageable, however, perhaps you’d be interested in knowing more about some of the best institutions in the nation in which to embark upon your orthodontics journey. Beyond merely considering the Most Affordable Dental Schools in the US, we’ve taken into account prestige, competitiveness, and average entrance exam scores, to generate a list of the best schools for orthodontics in the United States.
10. Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry, University of Southern California
A private institution, the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry, offers specialized study in oral maxillofacial surgery, oral medicine and, in the interest of this list, orthodontics. The school admits just over 140 students annually, which is slightly above average among schools offering similar programs, and boasts an average DAT score of 20 among enrolled students–roughly average among all schools.
USC’s program sets itself apart from other dental schools through its work in the community. With over 200 clinics and community partnerships, the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry utilizes the world’s largest mobile clinic to treat over 70,000 patients each year, many of whom are members of Los Angeles’ homeless community, contributing to the largest community outreach program of any dental school in the nation. And now, let’s see what else we have in our list of best schools for orthodontics.
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9. Columbia University College of Dental Medicine
Located in the heart of New York City’s upper west side, this private institution is by far the most selective of all schools offering orthodontic specialization, admitting a minuscule 0.7% of all applicants. Despite applicants’ microscopic chances of admission, class sizes are only slightly smaller than other schools, with a total of roughly 80 students admitted each year.
The school’s exacting standards are reflected in test scores of students, with the most recently-admitted class boasting an average GPA of 3.63, which is moderately higher than other programs, as well as an average DAT score of 23, which is significantly higher than similar schools.
Students admitted to Columbia’s College of Dental Medicine, the number 9 in our list of best schools for orthodontics, enjoy a broad spectrum of fields in which they can participate in groundbreaking research, including population oral health, neuroscience and pain, rehabilitation sciences, and systemic and oral disease interactions.
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8. University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine
Admitting just over 5% of its applicants, this Philadelphia-based school has a slightly larger-than-average class size, with roughly 120 new students entering the program each year. Applicant pools tend to be relatively competitive, with an average accepted student GPA of 3.62 and DAT score of 21.
Penn’s ‘Penn Smiles’ program offers unique opportunities for students to engage in community outreach work via buses that serve as mobile clinics for over 4,000 children in Philadelphia’s less-affluent communities. What’s more, Penn’s recently-launched prosthodontics residency program is the first of its kind in the nation, and enables students to receive top-of-the-line advanced specialty education in aesthetic restoration.
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7. University of Florida College of Dentistry
With an annual class size just north of 90 students, this public institution enrolls slightly more students than most other programs. That doesn’t make the school any less impressive with respect to its applicant pool. The average GPA among admitted students is 3.66 and students tend to score somewhere around 20 on their Dental Admission Tests.
Unique offerings from the UF College of Dentistry that ranks 7th in our list of best schools for orthodontics include a multi-media simulation laboratory with over 90 work stations equipped with mannequins and other items found in dental offices, international humanitarian trips, and local public health-focused community service projects. Additionally, Florida’s College of Dentistry consistently ranks in the top five of all US Dental schools in Federal Research Funding, and the program offers entering Freshmen unique opportunities for growth in summer research programs. If all of this weren’t enough, the school has consistently proven a great investment with UF graduates having a 90% acceptance rate into residency programs across the nation.
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6. University of Washington-Health Sciences School of Dentistry
Admitting only 66 students each year, this public institution boasts the smallest class size of any program on our list, 26% smaller than average dental programs elsewhere. Students in Washington’s dental program tend to have slightly higher-than-average DAT scores, 21, and GPAs on par with other schools at 3.60.
In the community, Washington’s School of Dentistry serves as one of Washington’s largest dental providers, and utilizes such community-driven initiatives as Regional Initiatives in Dental Education, R.I.D.E., to provide care in some of Washington’s smallest and most under-served communities. Additionally, the dental school is consistently a leading recipient of research funding from the National Institute of Health, and makes use of an innovative curriculum, which features a 6-week long clerkship program that gives students rare hands-on experience on a rotational basis and simulates the feeling of an actual general practice while in one of America’s best schools for orthodontics.
5. New York University (NYU) College of Dentistry
If the University of Washington is rooted at one end of the spectrum in terms of class size, NYU most certainly occupies the other. Admitting 360 students per year, 7.2% of all applicants, NYU, the number 5 in our list of best schools for orthodontics accepts 324% more students than the average dental program. On average, the GPA of students entering those large classes is slightly lower than other dental schools at 3.53, though the class makes up for this with above-average DAT scores in the region of 21.
NYU’s dental school offers a collaborative environment unlike any other with respect to the international student base that it attracts, boasting a student body that represents 55 different countries. Additionally, students benefit from multiple monthly seminars, which help students to hone in on evidence-based dentistry, as well as rotational programs, which provide students access to a number of different departments.
4. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Dentistry
At $25,258 per year in in-state tuition fees, UNC represents one of the best values among all dental schools that offer an orthodontics program. Class sizes are comparable to most other schools, with just over 80 students admitted to the program each year, and test scores and GPAs of newly-admitted students are both above-average at 21 and 3.61, respectively.
Students at UNC’s school of dentistry benefit from an alumni base of over 4,000 graduates, while also enjoying countless opportunities to become involved with community-based outreach programs. UNC is also a great school for orthodontics as it strives to promote service for diverse patient populations while advancing orthodontics as a specialty through teaching activities and a laundry list of international service trips with destinations such as Nepal, Brazil, Uganda, and Moldova. And now, let’s see the top three entries in our list of best schools for orthodontics.
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3. University of Michigan School of Dentistry
U of M is another public institution that represents a great value-for-money option for in-state applicants. At $30,112 per year, tuition fees are 18% less than the average of all other dental programs, and even out-of-state students pay only slightly above-average fees at $46,875 per year. The trade-off for lower pricing does come in the form of slightly larger-than-normal class sizes, with the program accepting about 105 students each year, about 24% more than the average dental school.
The school’s Victors for Dentistry scholarship program also offers an excellent opportunity for students in need of financial assistance to attend without being burdened down by loans and debt. Additionally, Michigan’s School of Dentistry is consistently on the frontline of research and training, with programs in cancer biology and therapeutics, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, craniofacial, skeletal biology disease, and many others.
2. University of California at San Francisco School of Dentistry
On the surface, UCSF’s School of Dentistry that ranks second in our list of best schools for orthodontics seems about the same as any other. Class sizes are average–88 applicants accepted each year–average GPAs of admitted students are below-average–3.48–and average DAT scores are only slightly better than those of accepted students at other schools at just 20.5. What’s more, given its status as a public school, tuition fees north of $45,000 per year verge on prohibitive. The program has an ace up its sleeve, however, in the form of grants and funding. Ranking second in the nation in National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) funding, UCSF allocated over 11 million dollars to dentistry, orthodontics, and oral surgery in 2016 alone. This funding guarantees that students are afforded rare opportunities to work with the best medical equipment and participate in cutting-edge research during their time studying, an experience not offered in many other programs.
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1. University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Dentistry
Without a doubt, UCLA’s school of dentistry represents the total package to students interested in pursuing orthodontics. Class sizes are on par with other schools–the school admits 88 students annually–and DAT scores (22) and GPAs (3.66) are well above the mean relative to other dental schools. Beyond this, UCLA is a tremendous value for its in-state and out-of-state admittees. In-state students can expect to pay just over $15,500 per year, about 60% less than the average of all other dental schools, while out-of-state students pay roughly $28,000, still slightly less than the national average. UCLA’s patient care services in Westwood, Los Angeles provides over 60,000 patient visits per year with the capacity to attend to 100 dental patients at any given time. The school also ranks 6th overall in NIDCR funding at just over $7 million annually, making it a very attractive destination for students everywhere and number one on our list of best schools for orthodontics.
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