Orthodontist Job Description Template
Copy it, edit the bracketed parts, and say where the patients come from.
Most orthodontist postings are a general-dentist template with the specialty swapped in. The two things a specialist actually reads for are missing from those: whether they are inheriting a referral base or building one, and whether the role leads anywhere beyond an employed wage.
At a glance
national middle 50% — the lower half is the associate range
Salary to quote
$146,580–$342,300
not board certification, unless you mean to filter on it
Credential line
Licence + residency
established base, shared column, or build-your-own
The line most templates miss
Referral source
What to include
Name the referral situation in the first few lines: an established referring-GP base you are handing over, a shared column alongside an existing doctor, or a market you expect the associate to help build.
Every candidate is trying to work this out from between the lines of your posting — saying it plainly is an advantage, not a disclosure.
State the comp structure and whether a partnership or buy-in path exists.
In a specialty where most practitioners eventually own, an employed-only role is a legitimate offer but needs to be stated as one.
Describe the case mix concretely: appliance systems in use, how aligner cases are triaged against referrals from GPs who treat simple cases themselves, whether surgical-orthodontic cases stay in-house or go out, and whether you treat growing patients.
State the credential precisely — an active [STATE] dental licence and completion of an accredited orthodontics residency.
Add board certification only if you actually intend to filter on it; it is voluntary, and requiring it narrows your pool sharply.
Give the schedule shape: days per week, chairs, whether the role covers more than one location, and what the assistant and treatment-coordinator support looks like.
A specialist's throughput depends on that support more than on their own speed.
The template
Paste this and replace the bracketed parts. The referral line and the partnership line are the two that decide whether a strong candidate reads the rest.
[PRACTICE NAME] — Orthodontist ([FULL-TIME / PART-TIME], [DAYS] days/week) Compensation: [STRUCTURE AND NUMBER — e.g. $[X]/day guarantee, or [X]% of production] Path: [EMPLOYED ASSOCIATE / PARTNERSHIP TRACK — describe it in one line] Schedule: [DAYS AND HOURS], [N] chairs, [ONE LOCATION / N LOCATIONS] Location: [CITY, STATE] About the role We are hiring an orthodontist for a [SIZE]-chair practice in [CITY]. Patients come primarily from [ESTABLISHED REFERRING GENERAL DENTISTS / A SHARED COLUMN WITH DR. X / DIRECT-TO-PATIENT MARKETING], and the case mix is [DESCRIBE — e.g. adolescent comprehensive, adult aligner, growth modification, surgical-orthodontic]. What you'd do - Diagnose, treatment-plan and treat [DESCRIBE PATIENT BASE] - Work with [APPLIANCE SYSTEMS YOU USE] - [IF APPLICABLE: coordinate surgical-orthodontic cases with an oral surgeon] - Maintain referring-dentist relationships, including [CASE REPORTS / REFERRAL VISITS / EVENTS] - Work with [N] assistants and [A TREATMENT COORDINATOR, IF YOU HAVE ONE] - Maintain clinical documentation to [YOUR PMS] standards What we're looking for - Active [STATE] dental licence, in good standing - Completion of an accredited orthodontics residency - [ONLY IF YOU MEAN IT: American Board of Orthodontics certification — voluntary, and requiring it narrows the pool] - [YEARS] experience preferred; new graduates [WELCOME / NOT CONSIDERED] - [ANY SYSTEM-SPECIFIC EXPERIENCE] What we offer - [COMP STRUCTURE AS ABOVE] - [PARTNERSHIP OR BUY-IN PATH, OR SAY THE ROLE IS AN EMPLOYED POSITION] - [BENEFITS: health, PTO, CE allowance, malpractice coverage, retirement] - [REFERRAL-BASE DETAIL: what you're handing over on day one] To apply: [HOW TO APPLY]
The credential line is where a general-dentist template does the most damage. "DDS/DMD required" describes a general dentist; what distinguishes the specialist is completion of an accredited orthodontics residency, which is the thing to name and the thing to verify.
Adding "board certified" on top of it, copied from a template, filters out a large share of practising orthodontists for no gain — American Board of Orthodontics certification is voluntary.
The comp line needs care too, because the published wage data is easy to misread.
The BLS band for this specialty is unusually wide, and most orthodontists own or partner in practices, so the upper half describes ownership income rather than an employed salary.
Quoting a national median as the offer will read to a candidate as either uninformed or an ownership offer you did not mean to make.
Say what happens after year two.
You do not need a formal buy-in to answer it — "employed associate, no ownership track" is a clean answer that the right candidate will accept.
What loses candidates is silence, because in this specialty silence reads as a track that does not exist.
After you post
Verify the licence with the state board and residency completion with the program before the first shift, and keep the record.
Expect the first substantive question to be about referrals, not pay.
Have the actual numbers ready — how many referring practices, how consistent, and what you are handing over on day one.
Ready to post it?
Your listing goes in front of orthodontists actively looking, and you can edit it after it is live.