BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) - Course, Admission, Eligibility, Syllabus, Salary, Scope

Edited By Team Careers360 | Updated on Sep 3, 2022 - 4:30 p.m. IST

What is BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery)?

After MBBS, one of the most desirable courses in the health sector is a Bachelor of Dental Surgery, commonly known as BDS. Candidates who wish to groom their careers in dental surgery can know all about BDS from this page. To have comprehensive knowledge and skills in Dental Surgical & Training, BDS is only an undergraduate approved and recognized degree in India. B.D.S. is an undergraduate course for five years duration, of which four years will be for theory, while one year will be for a rotatory internship. The curriculum of BDS is being regulated by the Dental Council of India (DCI). In order to get the admission to BDS course, it is mandatory for students to appear and qualify in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), for admission to a total of 26,949 BDS seats offered in 313 government, private, and deemed institutes of the nation. As no other exam will be considered for granting BDS admission, interested applicants can check the article for more information on, eligibility, admission procedure, exams, colleges, and other details below.
IMPORTANT: NEET admit card released!

BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) - Course, Admission, Eligibility, Syllabus, Salary, Scope

BDS Highlights

Course name	Bachelor of Dental Surgery
Abbreviation	BDS
Type	Degree Programme
Level	Undergraduate
Field	Oral Health
Average Fees	Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 1,200,000
Average Salary	Rs. 400,000 to Rs. 600,000
Career Opportunities	Dental Technician, Prosthodontist, Dental Hygienist, Dental Consultant, Dentist

Advantages of BDS

BDS stands for Bachelor of Dental Surgery. It is an undergraduate level degree programme in the field of oral healthcare. It is focused on extraction of tooth, tooth fillings, scaling, and smile design through the procedure of tooth alignment which requires putting braces on an individual’s upper and lower tooth surfaces for a duration of time. Several people go through extreme pain due to wisdom teeth, such people go to dental clinics for extraction of it. BDS graduates with required certification also perform anaesthesia to calm the patient and avoid extreme pain while extraction of tooth. Graduates of Bachelor of Dental Surgery usually gets the opportunity to work in dental clinics and perform all such tasks. They may work full-time in a hospital or own their dental clinic. BDS graduates can opt for numerous careers such as dental technician, prosthodontist, dental hygienist, dental consultant and numerous other roles.

Types of BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery)

BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) is an undergraduate course for five years duration. Under this degree duration, four years will be for theory and one year will be for a rotatory internship. Dental Council of India (DCI) regulates dental education in the country.

BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) Eligibility

Candidates have to fulfill the specified criteria in terms of nationality, age limit if any, qualifying exam, pass percentage, and more. In addition, they must also qualify NEET. The eligibility criteria for BDS admissions as per NEET are given below.

BDS Eligibility Criteria

Parameters	Eligibility Criteria
Nationality	Indian Nationals Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) Foreign Nationals (for 15% quota All India Quota only). The norms for state admissions will be different.
Qualifying Exam	Candidates have to pass a recognized Higher/Senior Secondary Examination or the Indian School Certificate Examination equivalent to 10+2 Higher/Senior Secondary Examination after a period of 12 years study NIOS candidates are eligible for now subject to the matter subjudice in the court. Students from Foreign/International Boards are eligible if their qualified exam meets the equivalency determined by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) as per regulations of the Dental Council of India and the concerned University.
Subjects to be studied in the qualifying exam	Physics, Chemistry, Biology/Biotechnology (including practical tests in these subjects) AND Mathematics or any other elective subject with English as prescribed by the NCERT. Note: Candidates who have studied Biology/Biotechnology as an additional subject can also apply to the judgment of the Supreme court where the matter is subjudice.
Required Pass Percentage in 10+2 or equivalent	Unreserved candidates and OCI, NRI, foreign candidates must have secured at least 50% in their qualifying exam in Physics, Chemistry and Biology/ Biotechnology. Candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes or Other Backward Classes (OBC)must have secured 40% PwD candidates must have secured 45% in their qualifying exams.
Age Limit	Candidates must have completed 17 years at the time of admission or before December 31 of the year of admission. The upper age limit criteria have been removed subject to the judgment pending in the Supreme Court.
NIOS candidates	Candidates who have passed 10+2 from Open School or as private candidates are eligible subject to the ruling of the court as the matter is subjudice.
Percentile obtained in NEET UG	Candidates belonging from the general category must have to obtain a minimum of 50th percentile. For SC/ST/OBC candidates, the minimum marks shall be at the 40th percentile. In respect of candidates with locomotor disability of lower amendments, the minimum marks shall be at 45th percentile.”
State Admissions	While the eligibility for NEET applies to all the BDS admissions, domicile and residency regulations in addition to other eligibility criteria will be applicable as per the regulations of the respective states. Admissions will be on the basis of the State Merit List announced by each state.

BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) Admissions

Since in India, NEET is the single dental entrance examination, no exam is conducted for granting undergraduate dental admission in the country. So, the admission to BDS degree will be done only on the basis of NEET scores. In order to pursue a BDS degree, aspirants are required to appear and qualify the National Eligibility Entrance Test. The admission process of the BDS degree comprises filling the application form of NEET, followed by admit card, conducting the exam, result, and counseling. Candidates are required to fill the NEET BDS application form by paying the requisite amount within the due dates. Successfully registered candidates will be issued the admit card for a BDS degree, that needs to be carried at the exam center for verification purposes.

After the conduction of the NEET BDS exam, authorities will release the results as per their schedule. The result of BDS will be released in online mode in the form of a scorecard. Aspirants can download the BDS result-cum-scorecard by logging in using the required credentials. Aspirants who will secure the BDS cutoff will only be considered qualified and eligible for the counselling process. Qualified candidates are required to participate in the counselling process by registering themselves for successful granting of BDS admission within the due dates.

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BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) Courses

As per the Dental Council of India, the BDS course shall be of four academic years with 240 teaching days in each academic year, plus a year paid rotating Internship in a recognized dental college. All candidates will be required to undergo one year paid rotating internship after passing the final BDS examination. The internship is compulsory and BDS Degree shall be granted after completion of one year paid Internship and passing of BDS examination.

All candidates pursuing their 5th year BDS Course must complete their theory in 4 (four) subjects with 160 Lecture hours within a period of 6 (six) months as given below:

BDS subjects and lecture hours

Subject	Lecture Hours
Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery	30
Conservative Dentistry & Endodontics	50
Prosthodontics and Crown & Bridge	50
Public Health Dentistry	30
Total	160

BDS rotatory internship

After passing the examination, all candidates shall be allowed to do a one-year mandatory rotating internship program in all the departments for the duration indicated against each department as given below:

BDS internships department and period of posting

Department	Period of Posting
Oral Medicine & Radiology	1 Month
Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery	1 and a half Month
Prosthodontics	1 and a half Month
Periodontics	1 Month
Conservative Dentist	1 Month
Pedodontics	1 Month
Oral Pathology & Microbiology	15 days
Orthodontics	1 Month
Community Dentist/Rural Service	3 Months
Elective	15 days
Total	12 months

Note: Any student who does not clear the BDS Course in all the subjects within a period of 9 years, including a year mandatory rotatory paid internship from the date of admission shall be discharged from the course.

BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) Syllabus

Candidates can go through the below-mentioned syllabus of BDS degree, which an aspirant has to go through while completing the degree.

BDS Syllabus for 1st & 2nd Year

First Year	Second Year
General Human Anatomy including Embryology and Histology	General Pathology and Microbiology
General Human Physiology and Biochemistry, Nutrition and Dietetics	General and Dental Pharmacology and Therapeutics
Dental Anatomy Embryology and Oral Histology	Dental Materials
Dental Materials	Preclinical Conservative Dentistry
Pre-clinical Prosthodontics and Crown & Bridge	Pre-clinical Prosthodontics and Crown & Bridge
	Oral Pathology & Oral Microbiology

BDS Syllabus for 3rd & 4th Year

Third Year	Fourth Year
General Medicine	Orthodontics & Dentofacial Orthopaedics
General Surgery	Oral Medicine & Radiology
Oral Pathology and Oral Microbiology	Paediatric & Preventive Dentistry
Conservative dentistry and Endodontics	Periodontology
Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery	Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery
Oral Medicine and Radiology	Prosthodontics and Crown & Bridge
Orthodontics & Dentofacial Orthopaedics	Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics
Paediatric & Preventive Dentistry Periodontology	Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics
Prosthodontics and Crown & Bridge	Public Health Dentistry

BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) Salary

The salary of dental graduates depends upon their caliber and experience. Aspirants can earn a handsome salary both in the private and government sector. The experience wise salary after completing the graduation is mentioned below.

Year wise salary for BDS

Experience (in years)	Salary scale (Average)
0-6 years	3 to 4 lakh per annum
6-12 years	6 to 9 lakh per annum
12-20 years	10 to 12 lakh per annum

Scope of BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery)

In today's world, where oral health is one of the primary concerns for everyone, the scope of BDS in India and abroad is very high. People like to visit the dentist for their oral checkup in a month or two. The scope of Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) in India is very vast and increasing at a rapid speed day by day. It depends on the respective aspirant’s skills, knowledge, calibers, and the place they are practicing. The course of BDS is very career-oriented and serves society with its application. BDS graduates can easily earn a handsome salary by working in both private or government organizations. Some of the employment area after graduating from BDS are mentioned below

Dental Clinics
Government hospitals
Dental Institutions
Pharmaceutical Companies
Dental Products Manufactures
Private Practice

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Careers opportunities after BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery)

A plethora of career choices is open for students after BDS. The most obvious choice would be to practice as a dentist. However, that in itself has choices of where for whom and as what. An important point is that students must register with the Dental Council of India to be able to practice as a dentist. Some of the career options are mentioned below:

Set up private practice: A common option followed by many dentists who have passed and registered themselves with the Dental Council of India. This will require some amount of funds and a good location. It also will take sometime before the dentists can establish themselves.
Consultant: In case setting up one’s own practice is not appealing, working as a consultant with established hospitals is another option. Here, one would be like an employee who is required to take on the patients who visit the hospital for their dental problems.
Teaching: Generally freshers are not taken in for teaching. The job requires experienced doctors who can answer queries and teach well. Mostly the doctors attached to the Govt hospitals also work as consulting professors to the students at the attached colleges. However, teaching is an option for dentists who have an inclination for it albeit after gaining some experience working as a dentist.
Government Job: Most Govt hospitals, organizations, PSUs require doctors including dentists. So students can go in for these jobs for job security.
Options Abroad: To work abroad or practice as a dentist, one needs to check the regulations of the country and fulfill them to start work.
Further Study: Another option would be to go in for a Masters in Dental Surgery. The specializations available allow the dentist to choose the area in which they would like to mark their career. They have a choice of 9 specializations to choose from while pursuing their masters as given below.

Oral Medicine, Diagnosis, and Radiology
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
Oral Pathology and Microbiology
Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics
Orthodontics
Prosthodontics
Periodontal Surgery and Oral Implantology
Pedodontics
Public Health Dentistry

MDS is not just the only option that is open for students. Dentists can also pursue a management course like MHA (Masters in Hospital Administration) or MPH (Masters in Public Health). This will allow them to step into the management side of health organizations or hospital chains.

Frequently Asked Question (FAQs) - BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) - Course, Admission, Eligibility, Syllabus, Salary, Scope

Question: What is BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery)?

Answer:

Question: What is the scope of BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery)?

Answer:

In today's world, where oral health is one of the primary concerns for everyone, the scope of BDS in India and abroad is very high.

Question: How many marks are required in NEET for BDS?

Answer:

The cutoff marks depend on various factors like the category of the candidate, sanctioned seats, the performance of candidates in the exam. Also, the cutoff varies from one year to another.

Question: Who regulates BDS education in India?

Answer:

The curriculum of BDS is being regulated by the Dental Council of India.

Question: Is it necessary to clear NEET for BDS?

Answer:

Yes, only NEET qualified candidates will be considered for admission to the BDS course, apart from the MBBS course. Please note that the qualifying percentile and marks will be different for different categories.