Orthodontists
Examine, diagnose, and treat dental malocclusions and oral cavity anomalies. Design and fabricate appliances to realign teeth and jaws to produce and maintain normal function and to improve appearance.
Also Known As:
Board Certified Orthodontist
Orthodontic Dentist
Orthodontic Specialist
Orthodontics Doctor
Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics Specialist
Orthodontist
Wages
Annual wages for Orthodontists in United States
Job Outlook
Average
New job opportunities are likely in the future
United States
2034 Projected Employment
6,200
4% Change From 2024
Explore Orthodontists video
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Study diagnostic records, such as medical or dental histories, plaster models of the teeth, photos of a patient's face and teeth, and X-rays, to develop patient treatment plans.
- Diagnose teeth and jaw or other dental-facial abnormalities.
- Advise patients to comply with treatment plans.
- Prepare diagnostic and treatment records.
- Coordinate orthodontic services with other dental and medical services.
- Examine patients to assess abnormalities of jaw development, tooth position, and other dental-facial structures.
- Instruct dental officers and technical assistants in orthodontic procedures and techniques.
- Advise patients to comply with treatment plans.
- Provide patients with proposed treatment plans and cost estimates.
- Fit dental appliances in patients' mouths to alter the position and relationship of teeth and jaws or to realign teeth.
- Design and fabricate appliances, such as space maintainers, retainers, and labial and lingual arch wires.
- Design and fabricate appliances, such as space maintainers, retainers, and labial and lingual arch wires.
- Adjust dental appliances to produce and maintain normal function.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")