DDS, DMD, and Combined Degrees

Unlike medicine, dentistry does not have a meaningful distinction between its degree titles. Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) and Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) are the same degree under two different names—the choice of title is historical and tied to the institution, not the curriculum, licensure, or scope of practice. Graduates of both degrees sit for the same licensing exams and practice general or specialized dentistry identically.

A small number of schools offer combined DDS/PhD or DDS/MPH programs for students pursuing research-intensive or public health–oriented careers, similar in spirit to the MD/PhD pathway in medicine, though dental dual-degree programs are far less common and worth discussing individually with your Health Professions advisor if you’re considering one.

Healthcare Competencies for Dental School

Beyond high-level benchmarks like GPA and DAT scores, dental schools assess applicants holistically across personal attributes, academic metrics, and experiences. The ADEA AADSAS application is structured to assess these collectively, meaning your activities, letters of evaluation, and personal statement should work together to demonstrate these competencies:

*Manual Dexterity
In order to perform dental procedures, a dentist must be able to work with precision on an extremely small scale. Additionally, superior eye-hand coordination is critical to ensuring the safety of patients and the integrity of the profession.

View the ADEA resource on The Importance of Manual Dexterity for more information about the importance of this competency, as well as information about how to build those skills, and demonstrate them on your application.

Experiential Opportunities

The primary experiential categories AADSAS asks applicants to document are Shadowing, clinical Dental Experience distinct from shadowing, Research (dental, biomedical, or otherwise), Volunteering & Community Service, and Employment (dental or non-dental).

Schools want to see evidence that you understand the day-to-day realities of dentistry—not just that you’re academically capable. Dental schools place particular weight on whether an applicant has spent significant time in a dental setting, and shadowing and clinical exposure therefore carry particular importance.

There is no universal hour requirement, and schools are intentionally vague about specific benchmarks, but competitive applicants typically aim for exposure across more than one practice setting or specialty. Quality and variety of exposure matter more than a single large hour count from one office.

You should visit the Experiential Opportunities webpage for more detailed explanations and suggestions, and use the Health Professions Portfolio to track your experiences and reflect on how each connects to the competencies above.

Students are also encouraged to explore jobs, internships, fellowships and other opportunities on Handshake, especially through use of the Health Professions Collection.

Growth Years

Many pre-dental students take one or more Growth Years between graduation and matriculation. This is often used to deepen dental-specific clinical exposure (for example, working as a dental assistant) or to strengthen a research record before applying. If you’re aiming to matriculate the fall immediately after graduation, you’ll need your application materials largely complete by the winter or spring of your junior year, a timeline that isn’t recommended for most students.

Having time between undergraduate and dental school offers many advantages. One advantage is that you are able to complete the required courses at a pace that will allow you to make the most of Wesleyan’s liberal arts curriculum. You are also likely to be a stronger candidate because of the additional clinical, volunteer, employment, or academic experience you will gain by the time of your application.

Undergraduate schedules rarely allow for the depth of clinical experience dental schools are looking for, so many students use their growth year(s) to boost their clinical experience.

Competitive fellowships like the Fulbright, Watson, or Humanity in Action can serve as meaningful growth year experiences, particularly for students whose interests bridge medicine and global health, policy, and social justice. Students may also choose to pursue service-oriented healthcare work, through organizations like AmeriCorps.

Standardized Testing: the DAT

The Dental Admission Test (DAT) is required by nearly all U.S. dental schools. In 2025 the exam was revised to a 3-digit scoring system intended to yield more precise and accurate estimates of candidates’ skills. DAT scores can range from 200 to 600 in 10-point increments.

The DAT is up to five hours and fifteen minutes long, inclusive of a tutorial at the start, a break, and a post-test survey—all of which are optional. Excluding breaks and the optional parts, the test is 4 hours and 15 minutes long. 

The exam includes the following sections:

• Quantitative Reasoning: 45 minutes
• Survey of the Natural Sciences: 90 minutes
• Perceptual Ability Test (PAT): 60 minutes
• Optional Scheduled Break: 30 minutes.
• Reading Comprehension: 60 minutes

The DAT is typically taken after completion of organic chemistry, in the spring or summer before the application year.

For more information about the DAT, view the Standardized Tests & Competition section of our Academic Preparation resource.

Sample Dental School Application Timeline

Here is a sample timeline for an applicant looking to matriculate to dental school in the fall of 2028. You can extrapolate this to your own schedule, keeping in mind that the benchmarks are typically standard year-to-year.