Many people wonder what their options are when they need to have some serious cosmetic work done on their teeth. This could technically be done by a general dentist, but there is a better way. Just like how people like to see specialists for things because they are experts, there are experts when it comes to the cosmetic side of dentistry as well. That is basically what a Prosthodontist does for a living.
This type of dentistry requires an extra three years of schooling to become a specialist in replacing missing teeth and restoring natural teeth when damage of almost any kind has occurred. They also specialize in other things like facial deformities as well as any complicated or simple restorations anywhere in the entire mouth. Most people who see a Prosthodontist are looking for help with common procedures that may need full dentures, partial dentures, implants, fixed bridges, and veneers. This does not include the term “cosmetic dentistry” as that is usually in reference to simple procedures. The problems usually treated under the term “Prosthodontics” are much more complex and involve reconstructions specific to the patient’s needs.
There are a lot of extra, rigorous courses required to be able to get the desired qualifications to do the job and carry the title of Prosthodontist. Some of these courses are basic sciences, but they are generally much more specific like head and neck anatomy, biomaterial sciences, and biomedical sciences. On top of these there are also job-specific classes like function of occlusion or the bite, TMJ, learning full-mouth reconstruction, and esthetics. Since they do a lot of reconstructing, they need to know every little detail that they can and know how to make it work perfectly as well as look as normal and natural as possible.
There are significantly fewer Prosthodontists in the United States than Dentists. For a good comparison of the difference, the numbers show that there are only 3,200 Prosthodontists while there are approximately 170,000 general Dentists. There are not a lot of schools that offer the training and certification necessary either because of how few there are that go on to get it. There are a lot of
Dentists around Hollywood, Florida that have many advantages since they live relatively close to one of the schools and therefore know more professionals to refer patients to, but not everyone really has that luxury. People in small and rural towns usually have to travel long distances to see anyone but a regular dentist.
Not only are there extra courses that Prosthodontists have to go through, but they also have to prove that they know what they are doing. This is not an easy serious of tests to go through. The board certification is awarded by the American Board of Prosthodontics only after the students have successfully completed four sections of examinations. The first part is a written examination while the other three parts are oral examinations. Each has different timing requirements such as that the written and one of the oral exams may be taken during the third year of specialty training while the rest must be taken following completion of the entire training program.
