The DDS (Doctor of Dental Surgery) and the DMD (Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry or Doctor of Dental Medicine) are the same degrees. Dentists who have a DMD or a DDS have the same education. It's up to universities to determine which degree is awarded, but both degrees use the same curriculum requirements. There is no difference between the two degrees; dentists who have a DMD or a DDS have the same education.
Both degrees use the same curriculum requirements established by the Dental Accreditation Commission (CODA). It generally takes three or more years of college education plus four years of dental school to graduate and become a general dentist. State licensing boards accept either degree as equivalent, and both degrees allow licensed individuals to practice the same field of general dentistry. DMD can stand for Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry or Doctor of Dental Medicine.
DDS stands for Doctor of Dental Surgery. The American Dental Association (ADA) states that, although the names look different, these professionals have received the same training and have obtained the same accreditation. At some universities, a dental student can graduate with a DMD, others with a DDS, but in any case, the requirements for having that degree are the same. You know: there's no difference between a DDS dental degree and a DMD dental degree, except that the dentist who has a DMD received his dental degree from Harvard.
In addition, all dental students in the DDS or DMD programs must pass the same National Dental Board exams. Both the DMD (doctor of dental medicine) and the DDS (doctor of dental surgery) indicate that a person is a certified doctor of dental medicine. Harvard tradition dictates that their degrees have names in Latin, so the Dentariae Medicinae Doctor (Doctor of Dental Medicine) or DMD debuted when they opened a dental school that same year.
