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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Create a Dentistry Resume
in 5 Simple Steps

  • Step 1: Add Contact Info

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  • Step 2: Include Work Experience Details

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  • Step 3: Provide Education Details

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  • Step 4: Select Your Skills

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  • Step 5: Fill in Your Background

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Get Expert Writing Recommendations for Your Dentistry Resume

Your dentistry resume is a summation of your experience, skills and education. It should be concise and make your professional qualities shine.

LiveCareer’s Resume Builder can help you write a stand-out document by offering customized text suggestions written by our certified resume writers. Here are some suggestions our resume builder might offer for your dentistry resume:

  • Took X-rays, photographs and impressions of patients’ teeth and mouth.
  • Placed dental implants in 125 patients with a 99 percent success rate.
  • Educated 10 patients per day on postoperative care, protecting dental work and boosting healing.
  • Diagnosed and successfully treated infections, mouth ulcers and other problems with oral mucosa.
  • Supported a team of five dentists during tooth restorations, such as fillings and crowns.
  • Performed over 200 root canals for nerve and pulp issues.

8 Do’s and Don’ts for Writing a Dentistry Resume

  • Do list details of your dentistry education. Whatever your level of education or training, from dental assistant courses to a doctorate of dental surgery, potential employers need to know you have the training required to fulfill the duties in the dentistry field. Be sure to also include any internship that you have completed.
  • Do list your quantifiable achievements. Highlighting your dentistry accomplishments using data and metrics helps you stand out from the pool of other applicants. These could include the number of patients served in an average week or the number of root canals performed each year.
  • Do mentions awards and honors. Include any awards you’ve won, offices held in professional dental associations and other honors. These should be added in a special section of your resume, such as “Certifications” or “Honors.”
  • Do list your technology skills. In recent years, the field of dentistry has increasingly relied on technological advances to provide the best care possible to patients. By including the details of your skills with the latest dental equipment and procedures, you are letting potential employers know you can handle the technological side of the field.
  • Don’t get too personal. Personal information has no place in your dentistry resume unless it directly affects your dental skills, such as working with young children. Information, such as your marital status, is not pertinent to working in the field. Instead, keep the focus on your continued skill building and desire to provide the best possible service to your dental patients.
  • Don’t misrepresent your experience or training. Due to the nature of dentistry, it is important for a potential employer to know that if you’re hired, you can perform the job on day one. If you accept a position after misrepresenting your experience, such as familiarity with certain dental restorative procedures, you could find yourself overwhelmed or even fired.
  • Don’t forget the soft skills. Dentistry is a high-touch industry, where interaction with patients is often a regular part of the job. As a result, soft skills like communication, customer service and conflict resolution are in high demand.
  • Don’t state your college GPA. Some dentistry applicants believe that including their GPAs on their resumes help attest to how skilled they are. It does not. You should only list your GPA if this will be your first position in the dentistry field or if the job listing specifically asks for it.

Beat the ATS With These Dentistry Resume Skills

Potential employers and recruiters use applicant tracking systems, or ATS, to weed out applicants who don’t include expected keywords. An ATS looks for certain keywords or phrases to determine if a candidate deserves closer inspection. Although use of the ATS is relatively new to the dentistry field compared to other industries, it is a tool relied upon by many of the nationwide dental companies and their affiliates. Therefore, it is important that job seekers in the dentistry field include the proper framing of skills so the ATS does not discard their resumes.

LiveCareer’s Resume Builder suggest the addition of skills that an ATS might look for to help you get your resume to the next stage of the hiring process. Here are some dentistry-specific skills the builder might propose:

  • Educated patients on oral hygiene.
  • Knowledge of techniques for instrument sterilization.
  • Knowledge of the use of X-rays in diagnosing problems.
  • Performed basic dental procedures including tooth removal and dental cleaning.
  • Certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first aid.
  • Treated special needs children in a dental practice.
  • Knowledge of proper preparation of patients for procedures.
  • Surgically removed impacted and nonrestorable teeth.
  • Certified in the use of CEREC equipment.
  • Developed and implemented individualized treatment plans for over 200 patients.
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Dentistry Resumes for Every Professional Level

Entry-Level
Dental Intern Resume Example Functional Build my Resume

Dental Intern

The job market for entry-level dentistry positions is highly competitive. Applicants without a robust work history to show must focus on selling themselves to employers. Therefore, it is important to focus on transferable skills when creating your resume. This applicant uses a functional resume format for her resume, which allows her to focus on her skills. By doing so, potential employers will know she understands the requirements to successfully work as a dental hygienist.

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Mid-Career
Orthodontist Resume Template Chronological Build my Resume

Orthodontist

A job seeker with several years of experience and a solid educational background, such as this applicant, should rely on a combination resume format that highlights both. She places her detailed Work History at the top of the resume because it demonstrates how familiar she is with the industry and shows off her career trajectory. This format also allows her to detailher educational background and certifications to prove that she has the qualifications necessary to perform the job tasks.

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Executive-Level
Owner Dentist Resume Template Chronological Build my Resume

Owner Dentist

At the executive level, the chronological resume format is the format to choose. By highlighting his more than 17 years of experience in the dentistry field, this applicant lets potential employers know he has the skill set to perform dentistry at the highest level.

This job seeker also uses this format to point out his managerial- and operational-level skills. And, because experience is his strongest asset, the Work History section takes up most of the valuable real estate on the page.

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More Dentistry Resume Samples

Find resume examples for your desired dentistry career. Get access to expert writing recommendations, do’s and don’ts and everything you need to write a perfect resume.

general dentistJunior Dentistoral and maxillofacial surgeonprivate practice dentistrdh

Resume Success Stories

Statistics and Facts About Dentistry Jobs

Job Outlook by Job Title

Dental Assistant11% growth
Registered Dental Hygienist11% growth
Dentist7% growth
Dental Laboratory Technician11% growth
0% 10% 20%

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Salary Range by Job Title

Salary Range Mobile

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Demographic Statistics About the Dentistry Field

  • Fill 9

    All subfields of dentistry

    199,486 dentists

  • Calende

    Average retirement age

    68.9 years

Gender

Female 32.3%

Male 67.7%

Percentage of dentists by age

Under age 3516.9%
35-44 years23.4%
21.1%54%
22.8%64 %
65 years or older15.8%
0% 50% 100%

Source: American Dental Association

Number of Positions Held by Subfield

  • General Dentists: 136,900
  • Specialty Dentists: 5,200
  • Orthodontists: 6,500
  • Prosthodontists: 500
  • Oral Surgeons: 5,900

Source: Bureau of Labor: Work Environment

Locations With Highest Concentration of Dental Hygienists

Dentist Offices21.51%
Outpatient Care Centers0.16%
Other Ambulatory Health Care Services0.09%
Physician Offices0.09%
Employment Services0.08%
0% 20% 40%

Source: Bureau of Labor

Locations With Highest Concentration of Dentists

Dentist Offices10.75%
Outpatient Care Centers0.31%
Physician Offices0.11%
Other Ambulatory Health Care Services0.05%
State Government0.04%
0% 15% 30%

Source: Bureau of Labor

States With Highest Employment for Dental Hygienists

Dental Hygienists State Mobile

Source: Bureau of Labor

States With Highest Employment for Dentists

Employment State Mobile

Source: Bureau of Labor

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