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Dentist resume example

A resume for a Dentist needs to show the work itself: examine, diagnose, and treat diseases, injuries, and malformations of teeth and gums. Day to day that means work like this: use masks, gloves, and safety glasses to protect patients and self from infectious diseases; examine teeth, gums, and related tissues, using dental instruments, x-rays, or other diagnostic equipment, to evaluate dental health, diagnose diseases or abnormalities, and plan appropriate treatments. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

  • Dentists, General
  • Family Dentist
  • General Dentist
  • Pediatric Dentist
  • Dental Surgery Doctor
  • DDS
  • Doctor of Dental Medicine
  • DMD
  • Doctor of Dental Surgery
  • Dental Medicine Doctor
  • Dental Officer
  • Endodontist
  • Periodontist
  • Public Health Dentist

What people in this job call themselves

Titles reported by people actually doing this work, which is often not the title on the job posting.

  • Dental Surgery Doctor (DDS)
  • Dentist
  • Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD)
  • Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS)

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

  • Use masks, gloves, and safety glasses to protect patients and self from infectious diseases.
  • Examine teeth, gums, and related tissues, using dental instruments, x-rays, or other diagnostic equipment, to evaluate dental health, diagnose diseases or abnormalities, and plan appropriate treatments.
  • Administer anesthetics to limit the amount of pain experienced by patients during procedures.
  • Use dental air turbines, hand instruments, dental appliances, or surgical implements.
  • Formulate plan of treatment for patient's teeth and mouth tissue.
  • Diagnose and treat diseases, injuries, or malformations of teeth, gums, or related oral structures and provide preventive or corrective services.
  • Write prescriptions for antibiotics or other medications.
  • Advise or instruct patients regarding preventive dental care, the causes and treatment of dental problems, or oral health care services.
  • Design, make, or fit prosthodontic appliances, such as space maintainers, bridges, or dentures, or write fabrication instructions or prescriptions for denturists or dental technicians.
  • Fill pulp chamber and canal with endodontic materials.
  • Treat exposure of pulp by pulp capping, removal of pulp from pulp chamber, or root canal, using dental instruments.
  • Remove diseased tissue, using surgical instruments.

20 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

  • Use masks, gloves, and safety glasses to protect patients and self from infectious diseases, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Examine teeth, gums, and related tissues, using dental instruments, x-rays, or other diagnostic equipment, to evaluate dental health, diagnose diseases or abnormalities, and plan appropriate treatments, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Administer anesthetics to limit the amount of pain experienced by patients during procedures, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Use dental air turbines, hand instruments, dental appliances, or surgical implements, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

  • ABELSoft ABELDent
  • Accounting software
  • ACE Dental
  • AlphaDent
  • AltaPoint Data Systems AltaPoint Dental
  • Data Team DDS
  • Dental charting software
  • Dental clinical records software
  • Dental digital radiology software
  • Dental imaging software
  • Dental intra-oral imaging software
  • DentiMax
  • DSN Software Dental-Exec
  • DSN Software Oral Surgery-Exec

42 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

  • Air compressors
  • Air/water syringe tips
  • Air/water syringes
  • Amalgam bands
  • Amalgam carriers
  • Amalgam condensers
  • Amalgam retainers
  • Amalgam wells
  • Angle dental handpieces
  • Angled pliers
  • Anterior forceps
  • Anterior scalers

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

  1. 01Critical Thinking
  2. 02Judgment and Decision Making
  3. 03Active Listening
  4. 04Complex Problem Solving
  5. 05Monitoring
  6. 06Reading Comprehension
  7. 07Speaking
  8. 08Active Learning
  9. 09Service Orientation
  10. 10Social Perceptiveness

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

  • Medicine and Dentistry
  • Customer and Personal Service
  • English Language
  • Biology
  • Psychology
  • Education and Training
  • Administration and Management
  • Personnel and Human Resources

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

  • 81%Doctoral Degree
  • 7%Some College Courses
  • 6%Master's Degree

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Extensive Preparation Needed”. Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.

Common questions

What does a Dentist do?
Examine, diagnose, and treat diseases, injuries, and malformations of teeth and gums. Day to day that includes work like use masks, gloves, and safety glasses to protect patients and self from infectious diseases and Examine teeth, gums, and related tissues, using dental instruments, x-rays, or other diagnostic equipment, to evaluate dental health, diagnose diseases or abnormalities, and plan appropriate treatments.
What skills should a Dentist put on a resume?
O*NET rates Critical Thinking, Judgment and Decision Making, Active Listening, Complex Problem Solving, and Monitoring among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Dentist list?
Software recorded for this occupation includes ABELSoft ABELDent, Accounting software, ACE Dental, AlphaDent, and AltaPoint Data Systems AltaPoint Dental. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Dentist work?
O*NET records 14 titles for this occupation, including Dentists, General, Family Dentist, General Dentist, and Pediatric Dentist. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Dentist need?
In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 81% reported their level of education as "Doctoral Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Dentist role?
No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

  • No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
  • This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
  • Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.