A prosthodontist is a dentist who specializes in restoring missing or deficient teeth and oral tissues with prosthetics — crowns, bridges, dentures, and implant restorations — per the American College of Prosthodontists' own definition, quoting the ADA.
In practice, a prosthodontist is the specialist a general dentist refers complex restorative cases to.
Becoming one takes a CODA-accredited residency of at least 34 months after dental school, and board certification — where a prosthodontist pursues it — comes from the American Board of Prosthodontics.
What is a prosthodontist?
A prosthodontist is a dentist who specializes in dental prosthetics, according to the American College of Prosthodontists' position statement, which quotes the ADA's definition: prosthodontics is "the dental specialty pertaining to the diagnosis, treatment planning, rehabilitation, and maintenance of oral function, comfort, appearance, and health of patients with clinical conditions associated with missing or deficient teeth and/or oral and maxillofacial tissues using biocompatible substitutes." The ACP describes the training as "three years of extended training in several areas of restorative dentistry."
The accreditation standard behind that training is a floor, not a typical length: the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) requires an advanced dental education program in prosthodontics to encompass "a minimum of 34 months" (Standard 4-1).
A program that includes integrated maxillofacial training must run a minimum of 45 months (Standard 4-2).
Treat 34 months as the minimum a program cannot go below, not as how long programs typically run.
What does a prosthodontist do day to day?
A prosthodontist restores and replaces teeth and, where needed, oral or maxillofacial tissues with biocompatible substitutes — crowns, bridges, dentures, and implant-supported restorations among them — for patients whose teeth are missing or deficient.
Cases arrive largely by referral: a general dentist identifies a restorative case beyond routine care and sends it to a prosthodontist for diagnosis, treatment planning, and rehabilitation.
A prosthodontist who completes an additional 12-month advanced dental education program in maxillofacial prosthetics — which must be preceded by successful completion of an accredited prosthodontics program, per CODA Standard 4-3 — can also treat patients needing prosthetic rehabilitation of missing or defective oral and facial structures.
The ACP describes this added training as requiring "one additional year of fellowship training." A dental lab technician fabricates the crowns, bridges, dentures, and implant restorations a prosthodontist designs and fits.
How you become a prosthodontist
The path starts the same way as every dental specialty: a bachelor's degree, four years of dental school for a DDS or DMD, and licensure.
From there, an advanced dental education program in prosthodontics accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) must encompass a minimum of 34 months (Standard 4-1) — 45 months for a program that includes integrated maxillofacial training (Standard 4-2).
A further 12-month advanced program in maxillofacial prosthetics can follow, but only after successfully completing an accredited prosthodontics program (Standard 4-3).
See what CODA requires for a prosthodontics residency for the full standards, including the scholarly-activity requirement.
Board certification is voluntary and comes from the American Board of Prosthodontics.
The board's certification pathway is mid-transition: the legacy Section A written examination was offered for the final time in 2026 and is being replaced by a new Qualifying Examination beginning in April 2027, paired with an Oral Certifying Examination that became effective October 22, 2025.
See how ABP certification actually works for both pathways in full.
For the broader framework of how CODA accreditation, the match, and certifying boards work across all 12 dental specialties, see dental residency & board certification.
For the full step-by-step path, see how to become a prosthodontist.
How competitive is matching into a prosthodontics residency?
In the 2026-2027 cycle of the Postdoctoral Dental Matching Program (National Matching Services), 234 applicants competed for 130 prosthodontics residency positions, and 116 were matched — see how competitive prosthodontics residency actually is for the full numbers, why there's no published acceptance rate, and why prosthodontics doesn't have a multi-year trend the way orthodontics, oral surgery, and pediatric dentistry do.
Prosthodontist vs. general dentist, and where the specialty fits
A general dentist provides broad-scope primary oral care and refers complex restorative and prosthetic cases that go beyond routine treatment; a prosthodontist has completed the additional CODA-accredited residency described above and focuses on rehabilitating patients with missing or deficient teeth and oral tissues.
Prosthodontics sits alongside periodontics among the 12 recognized dental specialties, and, like endodontics and periodontics, it runs mostly on referrals from general dentists rather than patients booking directly.
To see current openings, browse prosthodontist jobs.
How much does a prosthodontist earn?
There's no salary page for this role on DentistryHires — the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics does track prosthodontics under its own occupational code (SOC 29-1024), but no published median wage for it is in our data.
See which dental specialty pays the most, which explains the dental SOC codes that do have a published figure and ranks them side by side.