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Kraena Pre-Health
Career Library

Diagnose & Treat

Periodontist

Treats gum disease and places implants — surgical dentistry with long patient relationships.

Years after high school

10-11

Degree

DDS or DMD plus specialty certificate or master's

Entrance exam

DAT

Median pay

$224,990 is the BLS May 2025 median for 'dentists, all other specialists.' BLS does not publish a periodontist-only median.

What the job is actually like

Surgical days placing implants, grafting bone and tissue, and treating advanced gum disease, alongside maintenance visits for patients you may follow for decades.

The path

  1. 014 years undergraduate with science prerequisites
  2. 02DAT examination
  3. 034 years dental school (DDS or DMD)
  4. 043 year periodontics residency
  5. 05State licensure plus specialty credentials

Good fit if

  • You want surgical work within dentistry
  • You like managing chronic disease over years
  • Implant dentistry interests you

Think twice if

  • You would be frustrated that general dentists increasingly place their own implants
  • You want a broad scope
  • High debt before a referral-dependent practice builds would worry 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.