Are dentists in MD doctors? The answer is yes, but with some qualifications. Both DDS (Doctor of Dental Surgery) and DMD (Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry or Doctor of Dental Medicine) are the same degrees, meaning that dentists who have a DMD or DDS have the same education. However, dentists are not the same as a doctor, as they do not need to complete a residency program after graduation before they can begin practicing. Dentists have doctoral degrees and are therefore considered “doctors” in some cases.
For example, oral surgeons who undergo such rigorous and extensive training that they have a DDS and an MD behind their name are considered “dental doctors”. But is a dentist considered to be a doctor (i.e., doctor) in the whole body sense? No. But you don't want to go to the family doctor for a tooth abscess, a cyst in the jaw, a retained wisdom tooth, or anything else. Your doctor would send you back to a dentist to get the right level of care you need to stay healthy.
Once in dental school, dental students undergo two rigorous years of training in biomedical sciences and then two years of clinical dentistry (making it a 4-year degree in addition to their undergraduate degree, that is, between 7 and 8 years of school). In the United States, the First Dental Practice Act required dentists to pass the medical board examination of each specific state in order to practice dentistry in that particular state. There are more than a hundred oral diseases treated by dentists (specifically oral medicine and oral pathologists) medically. If a dentist wants to specialize in a specific area of dentistry, they will be required to complete a graduate program that can add years to their time in school.
In addition, they also need to be aware of the side effects, adverse reactions and drug interactions that occur from what other doctors prescribe, as well as what dentists prescribe. Physicians, properly speaking, not doctors or dentists, will always be far superior to their counterparts in dentistry. Ask your dentist about recent training and experience specifically related to your condition and gender. To sum up, yes, dentists are doctors but not in the whole body sense. They have doctoral degrees and can treat more than a hundred oral diseases medically. However, they do not need to complete a residency program after graduation before they can begin practicing.