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Premedical Office
Xavier University
1 Drexel Drive
Box 120C
New Orleans, LA 70125

Full-Time Staff
Quo Vadis Maria Webster, MA, LPC
Premedical Adviser
xupremed@yahoo.com
(504) - 520-7437
 
 
Part-Time Staff
 
 
 
JW Carmichael, Jr.
Director of Premed Program
Professor of Chemistry
 
 
 
 

 
Premed

An Overview of Dentistry (Info #8-updated 8/7/12)

This document is one in a series designed to provide basic information about mainline health professions and the Premedical Office at Xavier University of Louisiana.

Have You Considered Dentistry? Choosing an occupation is one of the most important decisions you'll ever make. Now is the time to start. This leaflet will help you investigate one exciting possibility—dentistry. If you enjoy helping people, would like a career with potential for advancement, and would enjoy the prestige and challenges of a profession in health care, dentistry could be for you.

Why Dentistry?

  • Security: Dentistry can provide considerable financial reward. And the need for professional dental services will remain strong in the years ahead.
  • Advancement: Dentistry offers excellent opportunities for professional growth. Dentists often advance from positions as hired associates to senior partners to owners of independent practices with satellite offices. In terms of financial growth, the outlook is also quite good.
  • Flexibility: Dentists in private practice have considerable freedom to plan their work schedules around their individual needs and desires.
  • Variety: Dentistry is a rapidly changing, expanding profession. The number and range of services dentists provide keeps growing. Dentists treat people of all ages, from many backgrounds, and develop unique treatment plans for each.
  • Creativity: Dentists constantly make creative decisions to produce maximum results for patients. Much of dentistry involves careful, precise handwork and artistic judgment.

What Dentists Do: In addition to providing primary health care, dentists educate patients and the community about dental health and its relationship to total well-being, provide leadership in practice settings, and handle business and financial matters. Dentists often conduct research or teach at the university level and are sometimes called upon to lend their expertise to criminal and legal investigations.

Dental Specialties: Though most dentists become general practitioners, the profession offers several specialties, allowing practitioners to concentrate exclusively on special areas of interest and patients with specific types of problems. Some dentists care solely for children. Others treat only diseases of the gums. And some work in laboratories, performing tests needed to diagnose diseases. From oral surgery to public health dentistry, dentistry's specialties offer a wide variety of opportunities to help others.

Basic Data

  • Time Required to Complete Dental Education: Usually 4 years, 2 taking general science and two gaining clinical experience. The fourth year of dental school is generally much like serving as an apprentice to a dentist. Dentists are not required to complete an internship or residency unless they wish to specialize.
  • Educational Requirements for Entry: A basic minimum of 40 semester hours of mathematics and science in specified courses. An undergraduate degree and a course in which one must develop manual dexterity, such as sculpture or ceramics, are also often recommended (see Info4 and Info5 for additional information). Individual schools may also have additional requirements (e.g. some schools now require a course in statistics). It is imperative that students review the admissions requirement book published by the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) ADEA Official Guide to Dental Schools to determine ALL courses that are required for application to dental school. A copy of the book is available in the Premedical Office. Information regarding admissions requirements may also be found on the official websites of individual dental schools.
  • Admissions Test: The Dental Admission Test (DAT). The DAT is offered in a computerized version ONLY. For registration information, visit http://www.ada.org/dat.aspx
  • Content of Dental Admissions Test (DAT): There are four parts to the DAT...
    • Natural Sciences (40 questions from General Biology, 30 from General Chemistry, 30 from Organic Chem.),
    • Quantitative Reasoning (40 math and applied math problems),
    • Reading Comprehension (3 reading passages on various scientific topics with 50 questions total),
    • Perceptual Ability (90 2-D and 3-D problems)
  • Scoring on the Dental Admissions Test (DAT): Five scores are reported for the DAT, one for each of the four areas tested (above) as well as an average for the Science, Reading, and Quantitative sections. Each score is based on a scale of 1-30 with "17" being the average. Generally, a "14" on each section is the absolute minimum needed to gain acceptance into dental school. Additionally, the Total Science score should be no lower than "16" to be considered for acceptance into dental school. DAT and GPA ranges for matriculants at each dental school in the U.S. can be found in ADEA Official Guide to Dental Schools, a publication from the American Dental Education Association (ADEA). A copy of the current publication is available for review in the Premed Office.
  • Where one submits an application for dental school: Most dental schools in the U.S. participate in the American Dental Education Association's (ADEA) centralized application service Associated American Dental Schools Application Service (AADSAS). Dental Schools in Texas participate in the Texas Medical and Dental Schools Application Service (TMDSAS). Then, at some later time, most schools ask for a brief supplemental application.

Where to Get Additional Information:

  • About the general requirements/application process:Attend ALL scheduled Premed Meetings (group and individual) for your class during your enrollment at Xavier (look for signs in NCF Buildings announcing the date, time, and place) and check for information in and around the Premed Office. Also, be sure to check your email DAILY for important messages announcing meetings, deadlines, summer programs, etc. Information may also be obtained by visiting http://www.xula.edu/premed/.
  • About Xavier's Pre-Dental Club: Visit XU's Biology Department (NCF Science Addition, 4th floor) for more information.
  • About the DAT: American Dental Association, Dental Admission Testing Program, http://www.ada.org/dat.aspx for additional information and on-line registration.
  • About the application process: Associated American Dental Schools Application Service (AADSAS), http://www.adea.org for additional information or an on-line application. If you are applying to dental schools in Texas that participate in the Texas Medical & Dental Schools Application Service (TMDAS) you must go to www.utsystem.edu/tmdsas/.
  • About requirements for individual schools:

 
 
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