The Dental Council of India recognises nine MDS specialities in dentistry. Seven see patients in clinics — Prosthodontics, Periodontology, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Orthodontics, Paediatric and Preventive Dentistry, and Oral Medicine and Radiology — while Oral Pathology works mainly in the laboratory and Public Health Dentistry in the community. Implantology and cosmetic dentistry are run as clinic desks but are not separate MDS branches.
What are the 9 dental specialities recognised in India?
The Dental Council of India’s MDS regulations list nine branches in which a dentist can take the three-year Master of Dental Surgery degree after the BDS.
| # | MDS speciality | Specialist | Where the work happens |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prosthodontics and Crown & Bridge | Prosthodontist | Clinic |
| 2 | Periodontology | Periodontist | Clinic |
| 3 | Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery | Oral and maxillofacial surgeon | Clinic and hospital |
| 4 | Conservative Dentistry & Endodontics | Endodontist (conservative dentist) | Clinic |
| 5 | Orthodontics & Dentofacial Orthopaedics | Orthodontist | Clinic |
| 6 | Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology & Oral Microbiology | Oral pathologist | Laboratory |
| 7 | Public Health Dentistry | Public health dentist | Community and school programmes |
| 8 | Paediatric & Preventive Dentistry | Paediatric dentist (pedodontist) | Clinic |
| 9 | Oral Medicine & Radiology | Oral medicine specialist and oral radiologist | Clinic and imaging |
The National Dental Commission Act, 2023 provides for a National Dental Commission to take over the Dental Council of India’s role. If you need the official list for a document, a signboard or an advertisement, check the regulator’s current notifications.
What does each specialist do, in plain words?
- Orthodontist — straightens teeth and corrects the bite with braces, clear aligners and retainers, and guides jaw growth in children.
- Endodontist (conservative dentist) — saves damaged teeth: fillings, root canal treatment, redoing an old root canal, and rebuilding broken or worn teeth.
- Prosthodontist — replaces and rebuilds teeth: crowns, bridges, complete and partial dentures, teeth fixed on implants, and full-mouth rehabilitation.
- Periodontist — treats the gums and bone around the teeth: bleeding gums, deep cleaning, gum surgery and teeth loosened by gum disease.
- Oral and maxillofacial surgeon — surgery of the mouth and jaws: difficult extractions and wisdom teeth, cysts, jaw fractures and corrective jaw surgery.
- Paediatric dentist — dentistry for children: check-ups, prevention such as fluoride and sealants, fillings and nerve treatment in milk teeth, and helping anxious children through treatment.
- Oral medicine and radiology specialist — diagnoses conditions of the mouth such as ulcers, white or red patches and burning mouth, screens for oral cancer, and reads X-rays, OPGs and CBCT scans.
- Oral pathologist — examines biopsy samples under the microscope and reports what a lesion is; patients rarely meet one.
- Public health dentist — runs community and school dental programmes, screening camps and prevention for whole populations.
Which treatment belongs to which speciality?
Use this as a routing guide, not a rule. A general dentist (BDS) does many of these treatments too; the table shows which specialist a clinic usually calls when a case is complex or when one is available.
| What the patient says | Usual treatments | Speciality |
|---|---|---|
| “My teeth are crooked” / “I want aligners” | Braces, clear aligners, retainers | Orthodontics |
| “Tooth pain” / “I have a cavity” | Filling, root canal, redoing a root canal | Conservative Dentistry & Endodontics |
| “My gums bleed” / “My teeth feel loose” | Deep cleaning, scaling and root planing, gum surgery | Periodontology |
| “I have a missing tooth” | Implant, bridge, partial denture | Prosthodontics (the implant itself may be placed by a prosthodontist, periodontist or oral surgeon) |
| “I need a cap” / “My denture is loose” | Crown, bridge, complete or partial denture | Prosthodontics |
| “My wisdom tooth hurts” / “This tooth must come out” | Extraction, wisdom tooth surgery | Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery |
| “My child’s first visit” / “My child has a cavity” | Check-up, fluoride, sealants, milk-tooth fillings and nerve treatment, space maintainers | Paediatric & Preventive Dentistry |
| “An ulcer that won’t heal” / “A white patch” | Examination, imaging, referral for biopsy | Oral Medicine & Radiology |
| “I want a better smile” | Whitening, veneers, smile design | Cosmetic desk (prosthodontist or conservative dentist) |
Are implantology and cosmetic dentistry specialities?
Not as separate MDS branches. Implant work is usually done by prosthodontists, periodontists and oral surgeons, and by general dentists who have taken further implant training. Cosmetic dentistry — whitening, veneers, smile design — draws mainly on prosthodontics and conservative dentistry. Clinics still run both as desks: an implant desk and a smile desk make sense to patients and in your reports, even though the doctors behind them belong to other specialities. When you describe a doctor on a signboard, website or advertisement, use the qualification they actually hold.
How does a multi-speciality clinic route patients?
- Record the complaint in the patient’s words at booking or registration — “gum problem”, “braces”, “child’s visit”.
- A general dentist examines first in most clinics, takes the X-rays needed and records the findings on the tooth chart.
- Each treatment in the plan gets a speciality — a root canal to endodontics, a crown to prosthodontics, an extraction to oral surgery.
- Each item is booked with the right doctor — in-house the same day, or on the visiting specialist’s next day.
- The specialist treats and hands back. The general dentist keeps the patient for check-ups and recall, so the patient stays with the clinic rather than with one doctor.
How do you run visiting specialists well?
Many clinics do not employ every specialist full-time; instead an orthodontist, endodontist or oral surgeon visits on set days. To make those days work:
- Size the visits from your own numbers. For example, 30 braces patients seen every four weeks for 15 minutes each need 30 × 15 = 450 minutes — about 7.5 hours, so one full day every four weeks, or two half-days.
- Book in blocks. Back-to-back appointments on the specialist’s day, filled from the list of patients waiting for that speciality.
- Prepare each case. X-rays, medical history and consent ready, and the plan and fee explained, before the specialist arrives.
- Agree terms in writing. How the specialist is paid (a share of the fee or a fixed amount per case), who pays for materials and lab work, and who sees the patient for follow-ups. Ask your CA how tax deduction applies to fees paid to visiting specialists.
- Track how full the day is. Booked minutes ÷ available minutes shows how well each specialist day is used; fill the day before adding another one.
The practical side of booking these days is in our guide to scheduling a multi-chair clinic.
How should you measure each department?
Once every treatment carries a speciality, the clinic can see which desks carry it. Each month, look at treatments done and revenue by speciality; treatment planned but not yet done, by speciality — for example, root canals and crowns that were planned but never booked; new patients by complaint; and each specialist’s booked hours against available hours. If the implant desk earns well but has a long waiting list, add specialist days before spending more on advertising. See dental clinic KPIs and reports and treatment plan acceptance.
How Odontra organises specialities
In Odontra, treatments are placed in a speciality automatically by their name, and a clinic can set the speciality of a whole section of its treatment list; a new clinic’s treatment list starts with a standard list for every speciality. Each doctor’s specialities can be ticked in Settings → Team, or are read from their role, such as “Orthodontist”. A treatment plan shows each item’s speciality and offers “Book with Dr X” for a visiting specialist, the Schedule suggests the specialist for a treatment, and Reports show work and revenue by speciality. In the patient app, patients choose what they are coming for: “Braces / aligners”, “Gum problem”, “Root canal / filling”, “Missing teeth / implant”, “Crown, bridge or denture”, “Wisdom tooth / extraction” or “Child’s dental visit”. See the platform, the patient app, or book a demo.