Dentist Resume Examples & Guide for 2023

What your dentist resume should highlight may differ depending on your particular job title and branch of dentistry. The dental industry consists of various branches of dentistry specialties, such as:

• Orthodontics — a branch of dentistry that specializes in dental irregularities. It involves the diagnosis, prevention, and correction of improper positioning of teeth, jaws, and bites. This is usually done through the use of teeth braces.
• Prosthodontics — a branch of dentistry, also known as dental prosthetics or prosthetic dentistry. It specializes in cosmetic dentistry. This involves the dental treatment and replacement of missing teeth and related mouth and jaw structures. This is done through dental prostheses such as dentures, dental implants, crowns, bridges, and so on. 
• General dentistry — also known as family dentistry, provides primary dental care treatments. Treatments are usually done by general dentists, and include tooth fillings, routine x-rays, and teeth cleaning, to name a few. 
• Periodontics — a branch of dentistry that specializes in periodontal diseases. It involves the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases such as gum disease.
• Endodontics — a branch of dentistry that specializes in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of dental pulp or root canals.
• Pediatric dentistry – a branch of dentistry that focuses on children’s dental needs from birth to their teenage years. 

A good dentist resume showcases a dentist’s hard skills and expertise, as well as important soft skills that make them great with their patients. Soft skills, such as interpersonal skills, make a big impact on a dentist’s capability to retain happy and satisfied patients.

 

It can be hard to land the perfect dentist job or promotion in today’s competitive job market. This is true whether you’re an experienced dentist or are applying for an entry-level dentist job. Regardless of level of experience, a dentist’s resume needs to grab a hiring manager’s attention and stand out in a pool of other similarly skilled candidates. At the same time, a dentist’s resume needs to highlight relevant dental skills, competencies, and qualifications.

 

Dentist resume samples and resume templates are great for dentists to review. By doing so, they are able to better understand what makes up a job-winning resume. By reviewing the perfect resumes in the dental industry, dentists can understand what elements they need to show on their resume.

A dentist’s resume gives dentists the perfect chance to leave a good first impression with potential dental clinics. Also, it allows them to show their dental skills and years of experience for the position they’re applying for.

 

When dentists show their perfect dentist resumes, they put their best foot forward. They are setting a positive tone for the rest of the hiring process. Dentists should use the right dentist resume templates and resume builders to do this. This will increase their chances of landing the job interview for the perfect dentist position.

 

Regardless of your branch of dentistry, every dentist’s resume should highlight:

• Relevant dentist education, licenses, and certifications as a dentist
• Expertise in vital dental qualities, hard skills, and soft skills
• The field of dentistry you’re in and your experience and expertise in it
• Real data that showcases your most significant dentist accomplishments, for example a high patient retention rate
• Types of dental procedures and equipment you have expertise in

The format of your dentist resume will largely depend on your level of dentist experience and particular skills. But, most dentists go with the reverse-chronological format because it puts their most valuable experiences as a dentist up top instead of lower in the resume.

 

The three dentist resume formats dentists can choose from are:

• Reverse-chronological: This format lists relevant dentist soft and hard skills while featuring your work experience in reverse-chronological order, with your most recent dentist job at the top. 
• Functional: This resume format focuses on dentists’ soft and hard skills instead of work experience. This is an ideal format for recently graduated dentists. 
• Combination/Hybrid: This format combines the reverse-chronological and functional resume formats and equally features work experience and dentist skills. This is a good format for dentists with a lot of experience.

Regardless of the dentist resume format you go with, you should include these resume sections to best showcase your dentist abilities:

Contact information

Your dentist resume header section with your contact information should be visually appealing and include information about yourself, such as:

• Your name and professional title. Most dentistry professionals have either a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) or Doctor of Dental Medicine (DDM) degree. These abbreviations (DDS and DDM) are typically included after their name in their signatures or other formal documents. In a resume, you can include it in your header and also mention it in the Education section. 
• Type of dentist (general dentist, dental assistant, endodontist, orthodontist, etc.). Most dentist resumes follow the format of listing your name and your field of dentistry right below it. 
• Contact information

Resume summary

Hiring managers will read the dentist resume summary first, so it should stand out and sell your greatest strengths as a dentist. The header section should, in a few short written lines, showcase your:

• Years of dental experience
• Best achievements as a dentist in your specialty
• Top technical skills in your specialty 

Skills

The skills section in your dentist resume should highlight the relevant soft and hard skills in your branch of dentistry tailored to the dentist position you’re applying for. Hiring managers typically look at hard skills first before moving to soft skills, as hard skills can vary depending on the branch of dentistry.

Hard Skills

• Oral hygiene
• Providing fluoride treatments
• X-Ray 
• Anesthetic
• Oral surgery
• Fillings
• Root canals
• Extractions
• Maxillofacial surgery
• Veneers
• Experience in preventative dentistry 

Soft Skills

• Communication
• Spacial awareness 
• Detail-oriented
• Problem-solving
• Compassionate
• Empathetic
• Organizational skills
• Time management
• Proper bedside manner
• Interpersonal skills

Work experience

You should emphasize your most important achievements and skills when listing your previous dentist jobs. At the same time, you should showcase your successful dental procedures and duties management. Whenever possible, you should use quantitative data to showcase your achievements, such as the revenue you grew for the clinic and your patient retention rate.

Here’s a good example of an achievement with quantifiable data for dentists:

• Examined and treated over 300 patients with a variety of dental care needs. Fostered professional and friendly relationships with patients which increased patient retention by 55%.

Education

The education section of your dentist resume is very important and should include:

• Your doctorate, Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) or Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD), listed above the educational institution where you studied
• List your bachelor’s degree followed by the college or university you attended
• Any specialized courses or fields of study

Certifications and licenses

Your relevant certifications and licenses should always be in their own separate section. You should always start with the certifications and licenses that the job description seeks. Certifications commonly found on Dentist resumes include:

• Certified Dental Assistant (CDA) certification
• National Entry Level Dental Assistant (NELDA) certification
• Registered Dental Assistant (RDA) certification

Below is a list of some valuable do’s and don’ts when it comes to crafting the best resume:

 

Do:

• Use an applicant tracking system (ATS)-friendly dentist resume template. An ATS is software used by hiring managers to filter out irrelevant dentist resumes and select the resumes that best fit the job description and needs of the clinic.
• Proofread your resume for any typos or errors. Ensure that your dentist resume is compatible on all devices such as desktop, mobile, and tablet.
• Use a resume summary if you’re a dentist with a lot of experience, and use a resume objective (which focuses on your career goals and top skills) if you have limited experience.

Don’t:

• Send the same dentist resume for every job application. Tailor your dentist resume to include the listed technical skills most dentist job positions require.
• Use the reverse-chronological format if you have only recently finished your dentist training, and don’t have much professional experience. Instead, use a functional resume format, which emphasizes skills and training.
• Include information for dentist positions held more than 10 years ago.