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Orthodontists

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

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.

Related: Dentists, General Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons Orthopedic Surgeons Pediatric Surgeons Prosthodontists

Industries: Health & Counseling

Summary
Details

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.
Prepare diagnostic and treatment records.
Advise patients to comply with treatment plans.
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.
Provide patients with proposed treatment plans and cost estimates.
Design and fabricate appliances, such as space maintainers, retainers, and labial and lingual arch wires.
Advise patients to comply with treatment plans.
Adjust dental appliances to produce and maintain normal function.
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.

Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
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.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
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.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.

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.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
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.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
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 Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
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.
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.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
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.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
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.
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.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
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.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.

Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
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.
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.
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.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
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.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

Education

Doctoral or professional degree

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

Internship/residency

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

239,200+/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

115+/hr

Currently Employed

100

Yearly Projected Openings

Investigative: People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out. They do well at jobs that need:

Achievement Orientation
Intellectual Curiosity
Cautiousness
Integrity
Attention to Detail
Dependability

Chemical or gas sterilizers
Cosmetic dentistry curing lights
Dental files or rasps
Dental mirrors or mirror handles
Dental mouth prop or bite block or gag
Dental placement instruments
Dental probes or explorers
Dental retractors
Dental scalers
Dental scissors
Dental tweezers
Dental x ray units
Desktop computers
Digital cameras
Dry heat or hot air sterilizers
Medical computed tomography CT or CAT scanners or tubes
Micrometers
Notebook computers
Orthodontic band drivers or pushers or setters
Orthodontic pliers
Personal computers
Safety glasses
Scanners
Steam autoclaves or sterilizers
Surgical gloves
Surgical isolation or surgical masks
Tablet computers
Ultrasonic cleaning equipment

Calendar and scheduling software
Development environment software
Graphics or photo imaging software
Internet browser software
Medical software
Office suite software
Web page creation and editing software

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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Orthodontists

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