Becoming an endodontist means first becoming a dentist, then completing an accredited endodontics residency — at least 24 months of full-time study, CODA's published minimum — and, if you choose, earning board certification from the American Board of Endodontics (ABE).
The residency is where the training goes deep on non-surgical and surgical endodontic treatment and retreatment, the areas CODA's standards require.
All told, the standard plan comes to about ten years after high school — the table below breaks the stages down, and the paragraphs after it separate what's a published minimum from what isn't.
The short answer
You become a dentist first, then complete an accredited endodontics residency — CODA's minimum is 24 months of full-time study — and can then pursue ABE board certification, which is voluntary.
The residency adds what general dentists don't have: accredited training in non-surgical and surgical endodontic treatment, retreatment of root canals that didn't heal, and the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and injuries of the pulp and the tissues around the root.
For how specialty training works in general — CODA accreditation, the match, and boards — see dental residency & board certification.
What schooling does an endodontist need?
The schooling runs in three stages, each a prerequisite for the next: a bachelor's degree, dental school, and the specialty residency.
Most dental programs require applicants to have at least a bachelor's degree and certain science courses, so undergraduate coursework is aimed at those prerequisites.
Dental school ends in a DDS or DMD — four academic years on the standard plan, with the University of the Pacific's year-round three-year DDS the published accelerated exception; licensure usually requires that degree from an accredited program plus written and clinical exams, and requirements vary by state.
The dental school guide covers the four-year structure, the DAT, and what programs cost.
Then comes the stage that separates an endodontist's schooling from a general dentist's: the endodontics residency, where the specialty training covers non-surgical and surgical endodontic treatment and retreatment, the areas CODA's standards require.
What the residency requires — program counts, tuition, and stipends included — is covered in depth on its own page.
The step-by-step path
Four steps make up the path:
Earn a bachelor's degree with prerequisites
Complete undergrad with the science courses most dental programs require — the prerequisite layer before you apply.Complete dental school (DDS or DMD)
Dental school earns a DDS or DMD — the degree every endodontics applicant applies from. The dental school guide covers the four-year structure and the application season.Complete an endodontics residency (24-month CODA minimum)
Apply to an accredited endodontics program after dental school. The residency — a minimum of 24 months of full-time study under CODA's standards — centers on non-surgical and surgical endodontic treatment and retreatment. See what the residency requires for the CODA-accredited minimum and what is and isn't published about getting in.Earn ABE board certification
After residency, endodontists can pursue certification from the American Board of Endodontics — voluntary, and not required to practice. See how ABE certification works.
How long does it take to become an endodontist?
Stage by stage, the years behind the title look like this.
The undergraduate and dental-school rows are the standard plan — not lengths this page's cited standards set, and they vary with the program you attend — while the residency's 24-month minimum comes from CODA's accreditation standard:
| Stage | What you complete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Undergraduate | Bachelor's degree with the science courses dental programs require | About 4 years on the standard plan |
| Dental school | DDS or DMD, then licensure in the state where you work | 4 years on the standard plan — the University of the Pacific's year-round DDS runs 3 |
| Endodontics residency | CODA-accredited specialty training | 24-month minimum; 25.3-month program average in 2025-26 |
| ABE board certification | Voluntary, after residency | Optional step after the residency |
Add the stages up on that plan and the path comes to about ten years after high school.
No source publishes a single "years to become an endodontist" figure — the total is the stages added up, not a rule — and only one training stage has a floor set in black and white: CODA's 24-month accreditation minimum for the residency.
The CODA/ADA HPI survey put the average length of accredited endodontics programs at 25.3 months in 2025-26, an average across programs rather than a fixed length for any one of them.
The dental school guide covers the four-year DDS structure and the accelerated exception behind the two school rows.
The residency floor also shows up on the recognition side: the National Commission on Recognition of Dental Specialties and Certifying Boards' 2025 eligibility table lists endodontics board certification at 2 years of advanced education beyond the DDS/DMD — the two advanced-education years the 24-month residency provides, not more school on top of it.
ABE certification itself is voluntary, and it isn't required to practice.
What it takes — and what it pays
Endodontics is a referral-driven specialty — building relationships with the general dentists who send cases is part of the career.
Pay is best read as directional: BLS does not report endodontics separately, and the role falls under the broad "Dentists, all other specialists" category (median $224,990, SOC 29-1029, May 2025).
ADA HPI's latest published endodontist median is $279,040 in net income, private practice — for 2021; the figures for every year since are suppressed.
For the full role, see what an endodontist does.
This article is general career information; pay figures are directional and vary by source, ownership, and location.
Endodontist pay figures are directional