MAADOM (Mastership) and DAADOM (Diplomate) are the second and third tiers of AADOM's voluntary distinction program for dental practice managers, sitting above the entry-tier FAADOM (Fellowship).
Each requires the tier below it already be current, and each raises the bar on continuing education, conference attendance, and — starting at Mastership — published writing.
Neither is a license or a requirement to do the job; they're a multi-year commitment for a manager who's already earned Fellowship and wants to keep going.
The two tiers above Fellowship
AADOM's distinction program has three tiers, each built on the one before it: FAADOM (Fellowship), then MAADOM (Mastership), then DAADOM (Diplomate).
Our FAADOM guide covers the entry tier — what it requires, what it costs in time, and the pay-correlation question — in full; this article is about the two tiers most managers never reach.
Both are voluntary.
No state licenses a dental office manager, and neither Mastership nor Diplomate is required to hold the job, apply for one, or keep one.
They exist as a way to formalize years of continued professional engagement on top of the role itself.
What MAADOM (Mastership) requires
MAADOM requires a current FAADOM — you cannot apply for Mastership without holding an active Fellowship first.
From there, AADOM's published requirements call for a minimum of 100 continuing-education credits within five years of the induction date, with at least 50 of those CE hours AADOM-approved and the remaining 50 allowed to come from AGD-PACE and/or ADA-CERP approved sources.
Candidates also need at least one AADOM Annual Conference attended within a three-year period, plus attendance at the induction-year conference itself.
Two requirements go beyond Fellowship's scope entirely: candidates must publish three articles in AADOM publications, and complete the OSAP-DALE Foundation Dental Infection Prevention and Control Certificate Program.
Once earned, keeping Mastership active takes 15 CE hours every year.
What DAADOM (Diplomate) requires
DAADOM is AADOM's highest distinction, and it requires a current MAADOM to apply.
The CE bar rises again: a minimum of 150 continuing-education credits within five years of enrollment, with at least 75 AADOM-approved and the remaining 75 allowed from ADA/CERP or AGD/PACE approved sources.
Required conference attendance rises too: three AADOM Annual Conferences within a five-year period, plus the induction-year conference — up from Mastership's one conference in a three-year period; after induction, the ongoing requirement becomes two conferences and one regional meeting per five years.
Publishing requirements also grow — three articles in AADOM publications, plus one article in another industry publication — and DAADOM adds a requirement neither lower tier carries: 16 hours of community service, dental or medical related.
Renewal takes 25 AADOM-approved CE hours every year, up to 12 of which may come from AGD-PACE or ADA-CERP sources instead.
The escalation, side by side
Reading the three tiers together, the shape of the program is the real story: every axis climbs at once, not just one.
Initial CE requirements run 31 hours (FAADOM) → 100 hours (MAADOM) → 150 hours (DAADOM).
Annual upkeep to stay current runs 12 → 15 → 25 CE hours a year.
Required conference attendance in the qualifying period runs 1 → 1 → 3.
Publishing follows its own curve: FAADOM asks for none, Mastership introduces a requirement to publish three articles, and Diplomate raises that to four — the same three AADOM articles plus one in another industry publication — and adds community service on top.
None of this is a course you finish in a weekend — each tier is a multi-year commitment layered on the one before it, and the association's own structure makes that explicit by requiring the prior tier stay current to even apply for the next.
Does Mastership or Diplomate raise your pay?
This site doesn't answer that question for MAADOM or DAADOM, because there's no data to answer it with.
Our FAADOM article covers AADOM's own reporting on a self-reported salary survey that found Fellowship-and-above holders reporting higher average pay than office managers overall — and even there, treats it carefully as a correlation from self-reported data, not proof the credential causes the gap.
No comparable reporting exists specifically for Mastership or Diplomate.
Extending the Fellowship-level pay association to these two higher tiers would be a guess, not a fact, so this article makes no claim either way about whether reaching MAADOM or DAADOM moves your pay.
No pay data exists for these two tiers specifically
Applying: the 2026 cycle
AADOM runs Mastership and Diplomate applications on a defined annual window rather than accepting them year-round.
For the 2026 cycle, AADOM's published dates are an application window of March 1 – July 3, 2026, with a publication deadline of Friday, May 8, 2026 for the articles both tiers require.
Treat these as this year's dates, not a permanent schedule — confirm the current cycle's windows directly on AADOM's site before planning around them.
AADOM's MAADOM page also lists a $75 enrollment fee for that tier; it's unclear from published sources whether the same fee applies to Diplomate, so confirm the current amount for whichever tier you're applying to rather than assuming. (AADOM's Fellowship page references an application fee without stating an amount — that figure isn't published anywhere this site can verify, so it isn't repeated here.)
Where this fits on the credential ladder
Mastership and Diplomate are only reachable after Fellowship, so if you haven't earned FAADOM yet, that's the article to read first — see AADOM & the FAADOM credential: is it worth it? for what Fellowship itself requires and the career stage it fits.
For the broader path into the role these credentials sit on top of, see how to become a dental office manager and the dental front-office career ladder.
By construction, the pool narrows at each tier: Mastership requires a current Fellowship and Diplomate requires a current Mastership, on top of each tier's own rising CE, conference, and publishing bar.
See the dental office manager role guide for the job these tiers all sit on top of.
This article is general career information, not financial or association-membership advice. AADOM's fees, requirements, application windows, and continuing-education rules are set by AADOM and can change — confirm current details on AADOM's official site before applying or budgeting for Mastership or Diplomate.