To specialize in pediatric dentistry, you first become a dentist — a bachelor's degree, four years of dental school for a DDS or DMD, and licensure — then complete a pediatric dentistry residency accredited by CODA, with a floor of at least 24 months.
From high school, the path takes about ten years at minimum.
Board certification from the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry (ABPD) is an optional step after that — and pediatric dentistry offered the most residency positions of the dental specialty matches this site tracks in 2026.
The short answer
You specialize in pediatric dentistry by completing a residency, not by adding a second license: you become a dentist first, then complete a pediatric dentistry residency accredited by CODA — a floor of at least 24 months — and can then pursue ABPD board certification.
From high school, the whole path takes about ten years at minimum; the breakdown is in the next section.
The residency is where the child-specific layer gets built: behavior guidance, sedation, growth and development, and special-needs care.
See what the residency itself requires for the CODA specifics.
For how specialty training works in general — CODA accreditation, the match, and boards — see dental residency & board certification.
How long does it take to become a pediatric dentist?
About ten years at minimum after high school: roughly four years of undergraduate study, four years of dental school for a DDS or DMD, and a pediatric dentistry residency of at least 24 months.
Every step builds on the one before it — pediatric dentistry residencies are postdoctoral training, entered after a dental degree.
The residency figure is a floor, not a forecast: CODA's accreditation standard requires at least 24 months of full-time formal training, and the CODA/ADA HPI survey of advanced dental education put the average length of accredited pediatric dentistry programs at 24.3 months in 2025-26.
For what fills those months — the sedation case records, the comprehensive-care suite, the behavior-guidance training — see what the residency requires.
By accreditation minimum, pediatric dentistry sits at the shorter end of the dental specialties: endodontics and orthodontics carry the same 24-month floor, while oral and maxillofacial surgery requires at least four years of full-time study.
Board certification through the ABPD comes after residency and runs on its own clock — seven years from residency completion to finish it — so it extends the timeline only if you pursue it; see how ABPD certification works.
The step-by-step path
Four steps take you from dental student to pediatric specialist:
Earn a bachelor's degree with prerequisites
Complete undergrad with the required science coursework and a competitive GPA — the foundation for dental school and, later, residency.Complete dental school (DDS or DMD)
Four years of dental school earns a DDS or DMD. Strong grades, board scores, and clinical experience strengthen a pediatric residency application.Match into a pediatric dentistry residency (CODA floor: 24 months)
Apply to an accredited pediatric dentistry program through the Postdoctoral Dental Matching Program. The pipeline is comparatively wide: the CODA/ADA HPI survey counted 88 accredited pediatric dentistry programs with 515 first-year residents in 2025-26, and 489 graduates in 2025. CODA's accreditation standard sets a floor of at least 24 months of full-time training, and CODA's standards require resident case records tracking nitrous oxide, sedation and operating-room cases, and require a suite equipped for comprehensive care under general anesthesia and/or sedation. The specialty's patient base — infants through teens, including children with special health-care needs — is what makes behavior management, growth and development, and special-needs care the focus of that training.Earn ABPD board certification
After residency, pediatric dentists can certify through the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry — voluntary, but a recognized mark of expertise in the field. See how ABPD certification works for the exam structure and the seven-year window to finish it.
What it takes — and what it pays
Pediatric dentistry offers a shorter specialty path than surgical residencies like oral and maxillofacial surgery — CODA's floor is 24 months against OMS's four years — and its 2026 Match offered the most positions of the dental specialty matches this site tracks.
Pay is best read as directional — the role falls under the broad BLS "Dentists, all other specialists" category (SOC 29-1029, median $224,990), which is not a pediatric-specific figure.
For the full role, see what a pediatric dentist does.
This article is general career information; pay figures are directional and vary by source, ownership, and location.