How To Become A Periodontist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a periodontist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

A periodontist is a dental specialist that focuses on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of periodontal disease. He/she performs dental examinations and recommends routine dental cleaning to help prevent gum diseases. They also treat patients with severe gum problems by employing a range of surgical procedures. Periodontists keep the records of their patients and record progress reports.

Periodontists mostly work in dental clinics, hospitals, schools, universities, and outpatient clinics. In order to succeed in their role, they should have extensive knowledge and experience in dental operations and other technical skills, organizational skills, communication skills, attention to detail, and analytical skills.

Periodontists work 40 hours per week from Monday to Friday between 9 and 5. They may be required to work additional hours in the late evenings and over the weekends depending on their patients' schedules.

ScorePeriodontistUS Average

Salary

10.0

Avg. Salary $227,065

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.23%

Asian 17.63%

Black or African American 3.06%

Hispanic or Latino 9.03%

Unknown 3.24%

White 66.80%

Gender

female 78.81%

male 21.19%

Age - 45

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 45

Key steps to become a periodontist

Explore periodontist education requirements

Most common periodontist degrees

Associate

39.9 %

Bachelor's

23.1 %

Doctorate

15.0 %

Start to develop specific periodontist skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	62.29%
Dental Care	8.67%
Soft Tissue	5.68%
DR	3.16%
Perio	3.14%

Research periodontist duties and responsibilities

Manage Invisalign treatments and procedures.
Assist DR. in dental procedures mainly dentures and crowns.
Provide patients with single visit crowns and onlays using Cerec 3 CAD/CAM technologies
Carry out new patient and emergency patients screening/treatment appointments, and documenting observations and treatment.

Prepare your periodontist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your periodontist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a periodontist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable periodontist resume templates

Build a professional periodontist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your periodontist resume.