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Kraena Pre-Health
Career Library

Diagnose & Treat

Endodontist

The root canal specialist — precise microscope work that takes people out of severe pain.

Years after high school

10-11

Degree

DDS or DMD plus specialty certificate

Entrance exam

DAT

Median pay

$224,990 is the BLS May 2025 median for 'dentists, all other specialists,' the grouped category that includes specialties not separately reported. BLS does not publish an endodontist-only median.

What the job is actually like

Working under a surgical microscope through a small opening in a tooth, cleaning and sealing canals a fraction of a millimetre wide. Patients often arrive in genuine pain and leave relieved, which is the core satisfaction of the job.

The path

  1. 014 years undergraduate with science prerequisites
  2. 02DAT examination
  3. 034 years dental school (DDS or DMD)
  4. 042-3 year endodontic residency
  5. 05State licensure plus specialty credentials

Good fit if

  • You want extremely fine, precise procedural work
  • Relieving acute pain quickly appeals to you
  • You want specialist income with a predictable schedule

Think twice if

  • Repeating variations of one procedure would wear on you
  • You want broad clinical variety
  • Working with anxious, sometimes hostile patients would drain you

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All salary figures here are median annual wages from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025 — the most recent full national dataset. 'Median' means half of workers earn more and half earn less. Three things to keep in mind: (1) pay varies enormously by state, city, setting, and experience — a nurse in California and a nurse in rural Alabama earn very different salaries; (2) training lengths are typical, not guaranteed, and programs differ; (3) these numbers change every year. Always verify current figures at bls.gov/ooh before making a decision. For context, the BLS median wage for all U.S. occupations was $50,980, while healthcare practitioner and technical occupations had a median of $86,530 — one of the reasons health care is such a stable field.