What the letters mean
A DDS is awarded after four years of dental school and is followed by regional or state examinations and a state licence. The degree covers the whole of general dental practice; the recognised specialties each require a further residency.
The other degree is the DMD, Doctor of Dental Medicine. Which one a dentist holds depends only on the school they attended: the requirements and the licensing route are the same and state boards treat the two as equivalent. Neither tells you whether a dentist is a specialist - the specialty codes on the record do that.
Dentists on the public record
Counted from what providers file about themselves, with suppression applied before anything is counted, refreshed 2026-10-05. Names, specialties and practice locations are public; work email and phone are for signed-in customers.
| State | On record | With work email | With practice phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 54,774 | 38,361 70% | 54,770 |
| Texas | 32,127 | 20,335 63% | 32,124 |
| Florida | 23,596 | 16,075 68% | 23,592 |
| New York | 23,430 | 17,469 75% | 23,426 |
| Illinois | 16,203 | 11,027 68% | 16,202 |
| Pennsylvania | 13,605 | 9,783 72% | 13,604 |
| Michigan | 12,345 | 8,491 69% | 12,345 |
| Massachusetts | 12,344 | 8,217 67% | 12,342 |
Closely related, and where to find them.
Closely related
Find them
- Dentists list counts by state, the fields a record carries, a sample record.
- Dentists dentists and dental specialists, with the practices they own and work in.
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