An orthodontist is a dental specialist who diagnoses and corrects misaligned teeth and jaws — straightening teeth and fixing bites with braces, clear aligners, and other appliances.
Every orthodontist is first a dentist, then completes an accredited residency in orthodontics of at least 24 months.
The specialty's formal name — orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics — is one of the 12 dental specialties the ADA recognizes, and it's among the highest-paid, with care that is largely elective.
What is an orthodontist?
An orthodontist is a dentist who has specialized in orthodontics — the diagnosis, prevention, and correction of misaligned teeth and jaws (malocclusion).
Where a general dentist handles the broad range of oral health, an orthodontist focuses specifically on moving teeth into proper position and correcting how the upper and lower teeth fit together.
The distinction is training: an orthodontist is a general dentist who then completed a multi-year residency in orthodontics.
That extra training is what separates the specialist from a general dentist who offers some aligner treatment.
The formal definition comes from the ADA's National Commission on Recognition of Dental Specialties and Certifying Boards (NCRDSCB), which recognizes orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics as the specialty covering the diagnosis, prevention, interception, and correction of malocclusion and of neuromuscular and skeletal abnormalities of the orofacial structures.
It's one of 12 recognized dental specialties.
In plain terms: the dental specialist for straightening teeth and correcting how the bite comes together.
Orthodontist career description
Condensed to a job-description style summary: an orthodontist is a licensed dentist who completed an accredited orthodontics residency and now diagnoses alignment and bite problems, plans tooth movement over months or years, and places and adjusts braces, clear aligners, retainers, and appliances that guide jaw growth.
A few numbers size the career.
ADA HPI counted 10,844 professionally active dentists holding an orthodontics certificate or degree in 2025.
The training gate is narrow: 69 CODA-accredited orthodontics programs graduated 414 new orthodontists in 2025, and accredited programs averaged 31.2 months in 2025–26 against CODA's 24-month minimum.
On the outcome side, BLS reports a median wage of $289,140 for orthodontists (May 2025) and projects 6% employment growth from 2025 to 2035.
Whether those numbers add up to a career you'd want — weighing a decade of training and largely elective demand against the pay and the work itself — is its own question: see is orthodontics a good career? for the outlook, pros, and cons in full.
What does an orthodontist do day to day?
The core work is planning and guiding tooth movement over time.
Orthodontists diagnose alignment and bite problems using exams, x-rays, and scans; design a treatment plan; and place and adjust appliances — traditional braces, clear aligners, retainers, and devices that guide jaw growth in children.
Much of the day is progress visits: adjusting braces, tracking aligner stages, and monitoring how teeth and bites respond over months of treatment.
Because treatment runs over months and years, orthodontics is a long-relationship specialty built on steady, incremental care.
Orthodontist vs. general dentist
General dentists and orthodontists overlap at the edges, which causes confusion.
A general dentist can offer clear-aligner treatment for simple cases, and some patients start there.
But an orthodontist has years of dedicated training in the biomechanics of moving teeth and in correcting complex bite and jaw problems — training a general dentist doesn't have.
There's no fixed rule, but in practice general dentists refer complex alignment, significant bite issues, and cases involving jaw growth to an orthodontist.
The specialist handles the difficult work and the full range of appliances; the GP handles routine care and refers out.
For the full comparison — who treats what, and how the referral mix is shifting — see orthodontist vs. general dentist.
How you become an orthodontist
The path is dental school plus a specialty residency.
First you become a dentist — a bachelor's degree, four years of dental school for a DDS or DMD, and licensure.
Then you complete an accredited orthodontics residency focused entirely on the specialty — CODA's accreditation standard sets a minimum of 24 months and 3,700 scheduled hours.
Many orthodontists also earn board certification from the American Board of Orthodontics (ABO) — voluntary but a mark of distinction.
All told it's roughly a decade of education after high school, which is part of why the specialty commands the pay it does — see the step-by-step guide to how to become an orthodontist.
How much does an orthodontist earn?
Orthodontists are among the highest-paid dental professionals.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median wage of $289,140 per year for orthodontists (OEWS, SOC 29-1023, May 2025), with a wide range — $99,850 at the 10th percentile to $416,000 at the 90th.
An owner's or partner's earnings blend clinical pay with practice profit, so estimates vary by source and release.
And BLS wage estimates don't cover the self-employed or owners and partners in unincorporated firms, so the median above describes orthodontists on a payroll rather than self-employed practice owners.
Ownership isn't the only arrangement, either — see what an associate orthodontist is for how the employed path and its contracts work.
See how much orthodontists earn for the percentile breakdown, state figures and how the pay compares with general dentists and oral surgeons, or browse current orthodontist openings.