Talk:Dental degree

Attempt
I've attempted to add a little bit to the article. I hope it helps improve it, although someone else might want to look over what I wrote for factual accuracy. I don't have any references, but I'll look for some :)--72.141.60.5 23:29, 17 December 2006 (UTC)
 * The edit is much appreciated. Hopefully we can find some references to help improve the article. Keep up the work! - Dozenist  talk  23:52, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

Needed references
I would like some references on:

1) dmd programs providing training with general medical students as a requirement for the degree

2) dds programs summer time, "clerkships," equating a six year degree

3) "DDS graduates could confidently practice oral and maxillofacial surgery at a specialty level until 1997" reference?

4) "1997 when the American Dental Association House of Delegates revised the definitions of specialties; at this time the two degrees were deemed equal." reference?

5) "Until 1992 the United States government Medicaid and Medicare systems recognized the significant difference and denied DMD graduates from participating as providers due to their lack of surgical training."

To clear this the ADA has clarified that there is no distinction between the two.

"According to the American Dental Association (ADA): "There is no difference between the two degrees; dentists who have a D.M.D. or D.D.S. have the same education. Universities have the prerogative to determine what degree is awarded. Both degrees use the same curriculum requirements set by the American Dental Association's Commission on Dental Accreditation. Generally, three or more years of undergraduate education plus four years of dental school is required 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 scope of general dentistry. Additional post-graduate training is required to become a dental specialist, such as an orthodontist, periodontist or oral and maxillofacial surgeon."" -http://www.atsu.edu/asdoh/programs/dental_medicine/index.htm

This article as it stands is seriously flawed and misinformed. I doubt the above-requested references will be forthcoming because:

1) dmd programs did not hold class time with medical students as a requisite for the degree, ever.

2) summer clerkships don't make a six year degree.

3) dds graduates (as well as dmd graduates for that matter) have required a separate dental residency to practice Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery for decades.

4) the degrees have always been "equal"--there never was a 1997 revision of the definition os specialities concerning dds and dmd degrees.

not true: http://www.ada.org/prof/ed/specialties/definitions.asp   (As adopted by the 1997 ADA House of Delegates)

5) medicaid and medicare have never made a distinction between dds and dmd. Sorry.

—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 129.112.109.253 (talk • contribs) 19:42, 10 May 2006.


 * The disputed information can be confirmed by contacting the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Thanks —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 209.208.85.219 (talk • contribs) 17:36, 21 May 2006.

I am a dentist and graduated from the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine. Students of that program graduate with DMD degree. It is true that our first two years of basic medical science courses were taken with the medical students. That is not the case for DDS programs, which have separate classes for dental students.

I deleted the rest of the original article because it is blatantly false. I showed it to a collegue of mine who graduated from a DDS program and he agreed that the rest of it was incorrect. There is no point in asking for references. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.90.196.25 (talk • contribs).
 * I am currently in a dds program, and the program has 1 class where pharmacy and dental students share classtime. Also, the program used to have dental and medical students share classes. I really doubt that the differences between the two program are based on med/dental class time, and references will always be needed. Even if what I think is right, the article will be much improved with references. - Dozenist  talk  23:59, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

Comments on "Lifestyle" in this article might be constructively deleted and/or moved to the article on dentists. Done. Articles look and read much better when the proper style for citing references is used, corrected today. Anyone besides me wonder why the author references admissions guidelines for a Canadian dental school in an article on a US dental degree:) I'll get to that later. Exdmd 07:46, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Nice work on cleaning up the article. It reads and looks much better.  I would not be surprised if Canada also has DDS degrees, and thus it may be a good idea to include any information we get on that or any other DDS degrees. Oh, and I readded the other language versions of the article and academic degree templates to this article and the DMD article.  They were previously there but may have gotten lost in the new edits. - Dozenist  talk  13:12, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

2) dds programs summer time, "clerkships," equating a six year degree

I attend the UNLV School of Dental Medicine and take a total of eleven full semesters. Three for the first three years and two the final year. Each semester has more than 30 hours of class/clinic time and no more than 36 hours of class/clinic time. There is some talk among dental educators to extend beyond that because of the drastic influx in new information. We do not have a six year degree but surely it is more intense than undergraduate courses.

§== DMD vs DDS ==

Just a short comment: Whether or not DDS and DMD degrees are identical, as a non-dentist I think a few sentences that explain how the difference came to be in the first place would be interesting, and would provide some historical context. I came to this article hoping to find that out. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.17.168.82 (talk) 03:10, 24 November 2007 (UTC)

In the United States, DDS and DMD degrees are equivalent. The American Dental Association specifies:

The DDS (Doctor of Dental Surgery) and DMD (Doctor of Dental Medicine) are the same degrees. They are awarded upon graduation from dental school to become a General Dentist. The majority of dental schools award the DDS degree; however, some award a DMD degree. The education and degrees are, in substance, the same.[11]

Harvard University was the first dental school to award the DMD degree.[12] Harvard only grants degrees in Latin, and school administrators thought the Latin translation of Doctor of Dental Surgery ("Chirurgae Dentium Doctoris," or CDD) was too cumbersome. A Latin scholar was consulted and suggested "Medicinae Doctor" be prefixed with "Dentariae." This is how the DMD, or "Dentariae Medicinae Doctor" degree, was started. Other dental schools made the switch to this notation, and in 1989, 23 of the 66 North American dental schools awarded the DMD. There is no meaningful difference between the DMD and DDS degrees, and all dentists must meet the same national and regional certification standards in order to practice.[13] — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.22.164.250 (talk) 20:17, 7 March 2015 (UTC)

Even if the two degrees are effectively the same, at least some historical explanation of why there came to be two separate degrees would be useful. Perhaps links to DMD and DDS could provide an initial brief discussion of what they are, with a suggested link to a longer article under the title of something like Dentistry: professional training, that would also include the discussion of residency, the history of the traning of dentists et. al.Tschurin (talk) 19:25, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

I agree, I came to this article to see what exactly a DDS is, vs a DMD. The article does not specify in any way; I had to read the talk page to see why. Even if you can't agree on whether there is or was a difference, it would have been nice to see some mention of it.cheezfri 14:40, 4 January 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cheezfri (talk • contribs)

DDS v DMD and their possible combination
Article isn't bad, but neither this one nor its counterpart on the DMD (which is duplicative) explains the distinction (if any) between the DDS and DMD degrees. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.27.73.102 (talk) 08:50, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

Yes, DDS and DMD desperately need to be combined, call it "Dental Education" instead of going by the degrees. I also concur that an explanation of the historical difference between DDS and DMD would be most helpful. Additional the two degrees seem to be somewhat regional in the US. Wistungsten (talk) 22:21, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

BDS as a DDS Equivalent?
I can't find any WP:V ref which states that BDS and DDS are equivalent, although they in practice seem to be handled that way. ADA, etc. no help. BDS really seems to be a bachelor's course (undergraduate), usually a 5-6 year program that someone completes following high school. How then is it even considered as equivalent? --InsufficientData (talk) 14:20, 16 January 2009 (UTC)


 * First professional degree talks about this in some detail. Perhaps parts of this could be incorporated here? --InsufficientData (talk) 14:28, 16 January 2009 (UTC)

Yes, BDS is 100% equivalent to DDS. They are both entry level first professional degrees in dentistry. They both qualify someone to be a dentist of equivalent standing. It just depends on which university is granting the degree. Jwri7474 (talk) 14:49, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Cirujano Dentista
Editor Jwri7474 has repeatedly added CD as an abbreviation for Doctor of Dentistry, stating that this is "common knowledge." The editor at one point also deleted DD as an abbreviation for Doctor of Dentistry. The editor has now provided a link to a Spanish-language web page for a Licenciatura de Cirujano Dentista degree. That web page does not at any point use the abbreviation "CD." It is not a verifiable source for the use of that abbreviation.

With minimal Spanish, one can see that "Cirujano Dentista" is Spanish for Dental Surgeon. The Licenciatura degree is Bachelors-level, not Doctoral. (See academic degrees.) So CD, even if it were widely used, would not be an abbreviation for Doctor of Dentistry. It's more like an abbreviation for Bachelors in Dental Surgery.

But it's unclear whether CD or even Cirujano Dentista is widely used. The editor still has not provided a verifiable source for CD. Incidentally, in the Spanish-language Wikipedia, there is no "Cirujano Dentista" article.

A larger question is whether an article in an English-language encyclopedia ought to start with a list of translations for "dentist" in other languages. No doubt there are different abbreviations for "dentist" in Arabic and Chinese, too. Should those be at the beginning of the article as well? It just seems odd to start an English-language encyclopedia article with Spanish translations.

I have two suggestions, for the editor or anyone else would like to pursue this.

1) Write an article for Cirujano Dentista in the Spanish-language Wikipedia and link to it.

2) Expand the English-language article on "dental degree" to actually cover dental degrees in non-English speaking countries. Currently there is no section on Mexico--it would be okay to add one.  Until there is a section on Mexico, the introduction to the article should not list translations for Mexican degrees.  See WP:LEAD for more information on introductions--"The lead should define the topic and summarize the body of the article with appropriate weight" and "Significant information should not appear in the lead if it is not covered in the remainder of the article."

And, again, the CD abbreviation needs a verifiable source.

Gracias. Logical Cowboy (talk) 13:18, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Prof. Enrique Bimstein, CD Happy with that? Jwri7474 (talk) 14:38, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

You seem very passionate about this topic? Are you offended that I listed it as a doctor of dentistry degree? BTW.. there are bachelor of dentistry degrees in this list as well. We already have other degrees listed from most of the world. The article [dental degree] is simply that.. a list of dental degrees from around the world. ... so Yes.. I DO think that there should be a list of dental degrees from China and Arabic countries as well. To not include them would be against wiki's world view policy! I'm not pushing some agenda.. I'm simply listing dental degrees from around the world in the article. Thanks. Jwri7474 (talk) 14:41, 13 September 2010 (UTC)


 * Jwri7474, no need to get personal. Please have another look at WP:V.  Prof Bimstein's website is self-published; it's not too strong as a reliable source.  There is still the problem of WP:LEAD.  Please read that again.  "The lead should define the topic and summarize the body of the article with appropriate weight" and "Significant information should not appear in the lead if it is not covered in the remainder of the article."  The article does not list degrees from "most of the world."  It lists degrees from several English-speaking countries.  If you want to add a section on Mexican dental degrees, go ahead.  But until then, Mexican dental degrees should not appear in the article summary.  Muchas gracias.  Logical Cowboy (talk) 14:54, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

The lead of this article says, "There are a number of academic degrees in dentistry offered by schools in various countries around the world. These include the following:"

1. BDS (offered all throughout the British Commonwealth: india, china, malaysia, singapore, etc, etc) 2. Cand.odont. offered in many scandinavian countries 3. Dr.Med.Dent offered in Germany and Switzerland 4. BDM, BChD offered in Africa and China 5. You yourself are listing DD which you're stating is offered in non-english speaking countries.. (you're references are from Cambodia and Russia)

soo.. Again.. I'm not sure why you're picking on CD and why you feel it should be isolated and not allowed in the list with every other dental degree. This I feel is discrimination towards the CD degree, agenda pushing, and not following wiki world view policy which applies to this article. Jwri7474 (talk) 15:05, 13 September 2010 (UTC)


 * Jwri7474, again, it's a shame that you are getting personal about this. I am referring to policies, WP:V and WP:LEAD, and you are talking about discrimination and agenda pushing.  Let's stick to the policies, and not question people's motives.  Anyway, this has been referred to WP:3 Logical Cowboy (talk) 15:39, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Third opinion
wants to offer a third opinion. To assist with the process, editors are requested to summarize the dispute in a short sentence below.


 * Viewpoint by Logical Cowboy: Other editor is repeatedly inserting information without a reliable source WP:V and is inappropriate for the summary of an article because it is not covered in the main article WP:LEAD. Logical Cowboy (talk) 15:48, 13 September 2010 (UTC)


 * Viewpoint by (Jwri7474 (talk) 21:46, 13 September 2010 (UTC)): My contention is that Logical Cowboy is contradicting his own policy. He said that I shouldn't list degrees from non-english speaking countries on this page (for some reason) and then he listed the DD (doctor of dentistry) and provided references from a Russian and Cambodian website?? Also, over half of all of the other degrees already present in the list are also offered in non-english speaking countries from around the world.. yet the ONLY one he wishes to continually delete from the list is the CD degree from South America.  This is against the wiki equal worldview policy.  This page is simply a list of academic degrees in dentistry available.  Second, he asked for a reference.. I provided (a verifiable ) one WP:V!  Yet he still wishes to continue to Vandalism by continually deleting of the CD dental degree which is offered by many South and Central American Dental Schools.  Then... he states that the (next) reason he feels the CD degree should not be included in the article is because of WP:LEAD.  However, the main lead of the article is explaining that simply "There are a number of academic degrees in dentistry offered by schools in various countries around the world. These include the following:"  In my opinion this can only be construed as Vandalism.

Thank you.


 * Response by Logical Cowboy: I thought we were supposed to only write one short sentence.  My involvement with this article started when I noticed that Doctor of Dentistry was abbreviated as CD.  Indeed, CD does not stand for Doctor of Dentistry.  It stands for Dental Surgeon (in Spanish).  I was not the person who introduced Doctor of Dentistry in the first place.  I corrected the abbreviation as DD instead of CD, and provided references just to establish that the correct abbreviation is DD rather than CD.  As far as I am concerned, Doctor of Dentistry can be dropped from the introduction altogether.  Again, I was not the one who put Doctor of Dentistry there in the first place.  Per WP:LEAD, it would be fine with me to drop anything from the introduction that is not covered in the main article.  With regard to CD, the problem is that it still does not have a reliable source, per WP:V.

I have to note the increasingly personal nature of the other editor's comments. The other editor should assume good faith. Logical Cowboy (talk) 00:27, 14 September 2010 (UTC)


 * Response by Jwri7474: I apologies.  I didn't mean to come across that way.  I think I became frustrated when I didn't understand why you referenced non-english speaking countries and then told me that I wasn't able to do the same.  I do feel as though they should all (all degrees) be included in this article.  Why do you feel the University of Florida source which I have provided for a dental professor with a CD dental degree is not adequate, but that the links to Russian and Cambodian Universities that you have provided are adequate?

I propose we delete the references for both the DD and the CD and simply leave both in the list. (if you feel the other degrees don't require a reference.. why not delete the references for these two as well)  Thanks. Jwri7474 (talk) 00:57, 14 September 2010 (UTC)


 * Third opinion by E. Ripley: ....
 * Just a note of apology: I had a bit of an unexpected wikibreak and will be evaluating the discussion here today. Thanks for being patient. &mdash; e. ripley\talk 14:08, 15 September 2010 (UTC)
 * The question presented is whether CD is appropriately sourced for inclusion in this article. My opinion is that it is not.  Its inclusion is supported by one link to one gentleman's CV who is employed by the University of Florida.  While circumstantially it would appear that this degree is legitimate or else presumably the university wouldn't accept his being associated, we need a better source than this.  It would be better to find a degree-granting institution that we could link to.  Do you have such a source?  If not, CD should probably be removed.
 * Right now, both CD and DD appear to be unsourced; what is the sourcing for DD? &mdash; e. ripley\talk 02:01, 16 September 2010 (UTC)


 * Response by Jwri7474:Thank you E. Ripley for helping out with this article. That is the way I felt about the CD reference at the University which is why I included it.  However.. I also have a question... why only references for DD and CD?  Are you suggesting that we "require" a reference for DDS and BDS.. any or all degrees in this list or do only some require references?  What if this is a more of a disambiguation page?..  do items in the list require references then?  What about the similar articles of Medical degree and First professional degree?  None of the degrees in these lists seem to require references..  why should the items in Dental degree then require them?  We are not debating points of view.. we are simply creating a list of available world academic dental degrees.  Thank you for your time.  Jwri7474 (talk) 03:57, 16 September 2010 (UTC)


 * Response by Logical Cowboy: Thanks for your comments, E. Ripley.  I was not the person who put Doctor of Dentistry there in the first place.  However, I provided two sources for the DD abbreviation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dental_degree&oldid=383463350

These sources were deleted by the other editor, as a matter of WP:POINT.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dental_degree&action=historysubmit&diff=384720574&oldid=384720349

What's your advice? Logical Cowboy (talk) 04:00, 16 September 2010 (UTC)


 * Response by Jwri7474:At first it seems we were conflicting on the representative degree for "doctor of dentistry" CD or DD or both. I agree that DD is more appropriate for "Doctor of Dentistry" and that CD is for the "Dental Surgeon" degree.  Both titles are now listed separately in the list which I thought would settle the issue.  As far as I'm concerned the initial disagreement has been settled.  Now, I'm not sure where you want to go from here.  Are we all happy to leave the titles alone as they are in the list and call it a day?  ... or do we want to only reference the lesser known degrees? .. or do we want to leave everything in the list and references for degrees as we find them?  Personally, I feel the CD degree has a place in this article as it is a list of world degrees.  If you want a reference.. I'll find another.  Demanding "immediate deletion" of every degree listed without a reference I feel is too aggressive and destructive as it would not only imply destroying this entire article but many others on wikipedia as well.  Please let me know what you both prefer to do.  Just using similar wiki articles as examples, I'm quite happy to leave it as it stands now.  Thanks again both of you.  Jwri7474 (talk) 04:43, 16 September 2010 (UTC)


 * Response by Logical Cowboy: Jwri7474, what I think we should do is exactly what E. Ripley said, delete CD altogether because there is no reliable source for that. I don't care whether Doctor of Dentistry (DD) stays or goes.  But if we keep DD, we should restore the reliable sources that you deleted.  Also, I think you should avoid terms like "aggressive" and "destructive."  Let's stick to the policies.  Anyway, I won't edit this further until hearing back again from E. Ripley.  Logical Cowboy (talk) 04:51, 16 September 2010 (UTC)


 * Response by Jwri7474:I found another source in english citing the title Título de Cirujano Dentista (CD) (aka "Dental Surgeon" degree) " . I could reference a source in spanish if you like.  These are valid sources.  We also have English Universities (as per my previous example of the University of Florida) recognizing the CD degree.  Again, the purpose of this article is listing all world degrees in dentistry.  So, as per WP:LEAD  considering the focus of the article and because of Wiki's | Global View policy I feel it is important that this South/Central American degree not be excluded from the list.  Thanks Jwri7474 (talk) 06:24, 16 September 2010 (UTC)


 * Response by Logical Cowboy: That PDF does not refer to the CD abbreviation. I think there is a reason why it is so hard to find a reliable source for CD.  Logical Cowboy (talk) 15:49, 16 September 2010 (UTC)


 * Response by E.Ripley: I apologize, but now this extended discussion has confused me a bit. Is the dispute not only over whether the Cirujano Dentista degree exists, or whether it is appropriate to abbreviate it as CD?  The .PDF would seem to be adequate to support the notion that this degree does exist.  Why is it necessary to reference how it's abbreviated?  (Just a note: English-language sources are preferred as this is the English Wikipedia, though foreign-language sources can be used in some instances.) Also, in general something that is widely accepted as fact does not necessarily need to be sourced (think "the sky is blue"), however if something is challenged then the person seeking its inclusion must be able to produce sourcing for it.
 * I think part of the problem with this article, which leads to some of the current consternation about WP:LEAD, is that it's a bit schizophrenic. If this is to be more than a simple list of degrees, then there are a lot more problems with WP:LEAD than are being discussed here.  It's inappropriate to start with a list, for instance.  Is it supposed to be a simple list of degrees?  Or is it an informational article containing written prose about those degrees?  Right now it's a little bit of both.  If this is to be a simple list of degrees, no further prose is necessary and it should be retitled List of dental degrees consisting of a simple list of things.  Then the written prose in paragraph form should be created into a real article housed here at Dental degrees.  &mdash; e. ripley\talk 16:55, 16 September 2010 (UTC)


 * Response by Logical Cowboy: Hi, E. Ripley. I agree that this article has a split personality.  With regard to Cirujano Dentista, it's totally unclear to me whether this is the name of a job (dental surgeon) or a degree.  If it's the name of a degree, it's unclear whether CD is a standard abbreviation for it, like MD is a standard abbreviation.  And, yes, I did challenge CD, so that is why I am asking for a reliable source.  Thanks.  Logical Cowboy (talk) 17:19, 16 September 2010 (UTC)


 * Response by E. Ripley: Ah, I see. Well, let's set aside the abbreviation question for the moment and see if we can even adequately support the existence of this degree at all.  The source that Jwri presented here  lists Titulo de Cirujano Dentista as being part of a "full undergraduate degree" that is achieved 4-5 years after completing primary education. In other words, it sounds like the equivalent of an American bachelor program.  So, looking further in the section, it says:  lead to professional practice and to graduate admission; titulo awarded).  That would seem to indicate that at least some kind of title has been conferred, and "lead to professional practice" is fairly unequivocal.  I would still like to see some links to this being referred to by an actual degree-granting institution, though. &mdash; e. ripley\talk 17:44, 16 September 2010 (UTC)
 * Response by jwri7474: This is where we run into a problem.. I'm happy to provide links from CD degree granting institutions.. however, they of course will be in spanish as this is a degree that is granted exclusively by central and south american dental schools.  This is why I felt as though the University of Florida source would be appropriate in this instance.  They are an English speaking University who have ackowledged both the existance of the Titulo de Cirujano Dentista and have demonstrated the appropriate abbreviation to be "CD".  By the way..  just like many other professional programs outside of the United States (Law school, Vet school, Medical school, etc) many programs are completed in 5-6 years right out of high school.  These degrees are equivalent professional degrees to their counterparts in North America.  Here is an example from a British source, "All qualified dentists will have the letters BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) or LDS (Licentiate in Dental Surgery) after their name. The letters LDS are awarded by the Royal College of Surgeons, whilst the letters BDS are awarded by individual universities. Any dentist qualifying from Leeds Dental Hospital will have the letters BchD after their name. A dentist who has qualified overseas, will possibly have the letters DDS (Doctor of Dental Surgery) which is the equivalent of the letters BDS.".   Jwri7474 (talk) 21:44, 16 September 2010 (UTC)
 * if you feel the direction of the article needs to go one way or the other.. I would prefer to maintain the list and then provide a link at the bottom of the page to another article on wiki which goes into more detail about each country's education system for dentistry.. as this information is already listed elsewhere. Jwri7474 (talk) 21:48, 16 September 2010 (UTC)
 * Hi Jwri, thanks for your answer. Our sourcing policy does not categorically exclude foreign-language sources, in particular they are acceptable when there are no English-language sources.  Here is the pertinent part from our policy, located at WP:Foreign sources: Because this is the English Wikipedia, English-language sources should be used in preference to non-English ones, except where no English source of equal quality can be found that contains the relevant material. When quoting a source in a different language, provide both the original-language quotation and an English translation, in the text or in a footnote. Translations published by reliable sources are preferred over translations by Wikipedians. When citing a source in a different language, without quotations, the original and its translation should be provided if requested by other editors: this can be added to a footnote, or to the talk page if too long for a footnote. If posting original source material, editors should be careful not to violate copyright.
 * So, what I would ask you to do is provide some Spanish-language sources that would be considered reliable -- in this instance, I think our preference would be links to degree-granting institutions, or something similarly reliable -- and then see if you or someone else could provide a translation for them.
 * I do still think that this article needs to be one or the other: either a simple list, or a prose article.  But let's tackle the sourcing question first, then we can discuss everyone's feelings about the structure of the article. &mdash; e. ripley\talk 14:37, 17 September 2010 (UTC)
 * Nothing forthcoming? &mdash; e. ripley\talk 19:55, 29 September 2010 (UTC)


 * Response by jwri7474: If we have to go one way or the other.. I think its better off as a simple list of world dental degrees. As for the spanish source... I'll have a look around this weekend (sorry, been pretty busy these past couple of weeks). Thanks! Jwri7474 (talk) 21:53, 29 September 2010 (UTC)

Finland
Added Finland and corrected a few typos. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.101.2.225 (talk) 19:33, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

Link 2 leads to empty page.
Not sure what the protocol for this is, so I'll leave it up to you (yes, you!). 174.99.111.243 (talk) 03:00, 17 February 2012 (UTC)

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Introduction
The whole introduction to this article is "There are a number of professional degrees in dentistry offered by dental schools in various countries around the world.". Comparing it with that of Medical degree - "A medical degree is a professional degree admitted to those who have passed coursework in the fields of medicine and/or surgery from an accredited medical school. Obtaining a degree in medicine allows for the recipient to continue on into specialty training with the end goal of securing a license to practice within their respective jurisdiction. Medical graduates may also pursue non-clinical careers including those in basic research and positions within the healthcare industry. A worldwide study conducted in 2011 indicated on average: 64 university exams, 130 series exams, and 174 assignments are completed over the course of 5.5 years. As a baseline, students need greater than an 85% in prerequisite courses to enroll for the aptitude test in these degree programs." - I wonder whether it should be expanded. Mcljlm (talk) 00:33, 14 October 2021 (UTC)