Dentist vs Orthodontist: What Is the Difference and Who Should You See?

Every orthodontist in Australia is a dentist. Not every dentist is an orthodontist. The difference is specialist registration: after completing a dental degree and at least two years of general practice, an orthodontist completes an accredited three year full-time postgraduate university program in orthodontics and is then registered as a specialist with the Dental Board of Australia.

“Specialist orthodontist” is a protected title under Australian law. A dentist cannot use it without holding specialist registration, and you can check any practitioner’s registration yourself on the public Ahpra register in under a minute.

For routine dental care, see your dentist. For moving teeth and correcting bites, particularly in a growing child or a complex case, a specialist orthodontist is the practitioner trained specifically for that work.

Quick answers

What is a general dentist?

A general dentist is your primary oral health practitioner and holds general registration with the Dental Board of Australia. Their scope covers examinations and preventive care, fillings and restorations, cleaning and periodontal care, crowns and bridges, extractions, root canal treatment, and the diagnosis of oral disease. They are the practitioner who looks after the health of your teeth over your lifetime, and orthodontic treatment does not replace that relationship. You continue seeing your dentist throughout orthodontic treatment.

What is a specialist orthodontist?

An orthodontist is a dentist who has gone on to complete specialist training in one thing: the diagnosis, prevention and correction of irregularities of the teeth and jaws. The training is not a short course or a weekend certification. According to the Australian Society of Orthodontists, the pathway requires an Ahpra registered general dental degree, the equivalent of at least two years of clinical experience as a dentist, an accredited three year full-time university degree in orthodontics, and registration as a specialist in orthodontics.

Those three years are spent almost entirely on tooth movement, facial growth and development, biomechanics, bite correction and complex treatment planning. They are not spent on fillings, crowns or extractions.

Orthodontics is one of thirteen dental specialties approved in Australia. It is also a small field. Research published in the Faculty Dental Journal, drawing on Ahpra registration data, recorded 1,932 registered dental specialists in Australia as at June 2023, of whom 640 were registered as orthodontists.

So what is the actual difference in practice?

Can a general dentist provide braces or clear aligners?

Yes. Australian dentists work under a scope of practice registration standard that requires them to practise within the scope of their education, training and competence. A general dentist who has undertaken relevant further training may provide orthodontic treatment. Many do, and for straightforward cases many do it well.

What a general dentist cannot do is describe themselves as an orthodontist or a specialist without holding specialist registration. That is the line the law draws, and it is the line worth understanding as a patient.

The useful question is therefore not “is my provider allowed to do this”. It is “who is the right practitioner for what is actually wrong with my bite”. That is a question about the case, not about the practitioner.

When does the difference matter most?

There are situations where specialist training is doing real work rather than functioning as a credential.

• Growing children. Timing treatment to jaw growth is a core part of specialist training. Some corrections are only possible while the jaws are developing, and recognising that window is a diagnostic skill.
• Bite problems rather than crowding. Overbite, underbite, crossbite and open bite are skeletal and functional problems. Straightening the visible front teeth without correcting the underlying bite can produce a result that looks better and functions no better, and is less stable.
• Extraction planning. Deciding whether teeth need to be removed to create space, and which ones, materially changes the facial result and is difficult to reverse.
• Impacted or missing teeth. Bringing an impacted canine into position, or managing space where an adult tooth never formed, is specialist work.
• Previous treatment that has relapsed or not worked. Retreatment is harder than first treatment.
• Multidisciplinary cases. Where orthodontics has to be coordinated with implants, crowns, periodontal treatment or jaw surgery.
• Adults with worn or drifted teeth. Rebuilding a bite that has changed over decades involves sequencing with restorative work.

For a simple case in an adult who wants mild crowding of the front teeth improved, the difference matters less. An honest practitioner will tell you which situation you are in.

What are those three years actually spent on?

It is a fair question, given that a dental degree already covers teeth.

Specialist orthodontic training is full time and is largely occupied with things a general dental degree touches only briefly. Growth and development of the face and jaws, and how to predict it. Biomechanics, meaning the physics of how force applied to a tooth moves it and what happens to the bone and root while it does. Cephalometric analysis, the interpretation of skull x-rays to distinguish a dental problem from a skeletal one. Diagnosis and treatment planning across a large volume of supervised cases. Management of complex situations such as impacted teeth, missing teeth and cases requiring coordination with jaw surgery. Programs also include a research component.

What it is not spent on is general dentistry. A specialist orthodontist does not spend those three years improving at fillings, crowns or root canal treatment, which is precisely why your general dentist remains the right person for that work.

How the two roles work together

The relationship is a division of labour rather than a competition, and treatment goes better when both practitioners are in contact.

• Your dentist keeps the mouth healthy. Orthodontic treatment should not begin on active decay or untreated gum disease, and moving teeth through unhealthy bone is a poor idea.
• You keep seeing your dentist during treatment. Cleaning around fixed appliances is harder, so routine check-ups matter more during orthodontics, not less.
• Your dentist often spots the problem first. They see your child every six to twelve months and are well placed to notice a developing bite issue and suggest an assessment.
• Some work has to be sequenced. Where crowns, implants or bridges are planned, the order in which orthodontic and restorative work happens changes the result. This needs both practitioners talking to each other.
• Extractions are frequently done by the dentist, on the orthodontist’s plan.

If you are being treated by an orthodontist, tell your dentist, and vice versa. It is a small thing that prevents most coordination problems.

What about remote or mail-order aligner services?

A third category has appeared alongside dentists and orthodontists: services that plan and supply clear aligners with limited or no in-person examination.

The distinction worth understanding is not about the aligners themselves, which are a legitimate appliance used by dentists and orthodontists every day. It is about what an assessment includes. Moving teeth changes the relationship between roots and the bone that holds them. An in-person assessment establishes, through examination and x-rays, whether the roots and bone can tolerate the planned movement, whether there is active decay or gum disease that should be treated first, and whether the underlying problem is dental or skeletal.

Rather than judging a category, ask any provider the same set of questions:

• Who is the registered practitioner responsible for my treatment, and can I find them on the Ahpra register?
• Will I be physically examined before treatment starts?
• Will x-rays be taken and reviewed, and by whom?
• Who reviews my progress, how often, and in person or remotely?
• What happens, and who is responsible, if something goes wrong or the result is not achieved?

Those five questions apply equally to a specialist practice, a general dental practice and a remote service. A provider who answers all five clearly is one you can make an informed decision about.

How to check someone’s registration yourself

This takes about a minute and is worth doing before any significant treatment.

1. Go to the Ahpra website and open the Register of practitioners.
2. Search the practitioner’s name. The register is public and free.
3. Check the registration type. You are looking for a dentist with specialist registration, and for the specialty listed as orthodontics.
4. Check for conditions or undertakings, which are also published on the register.
5. If you cannot find them, ask. Practitioners registered in Australia appear on the register.

At Liverpool Orthodontics, treatment is provided by registered specialist orthodontists, and we welcome patients verifying that on the Ahpra register.

Who should you see first?

Frequently asked questions

Is an orthodontist a dentist?

Yes. Every orthodontist in Australia first completes a dental degree and qualifies as a dentist. An orthodontist then completes an accredited three year full-time postgraduate program in orthodontics and holds specialist registration with the Dental Board of Australia.

Can a dentist call themselves an orthodontist?

No, not unless they hold specialist registration in orthodontics. Specialist titles are protected under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, and general dental practitioners are expected to avoid terms such as “specialises in” that could suggest specialist registration they do not hold.

Is it better to get braces from an orthodontist than a dentist?

It depends on the case. A general dentist may provide orthodontic treatment within their scope of practice, and many do so competently for straightforward cases. Specialist training is most relevant where jaw growth, bite correction, extraction planning, impacted teeth or previous failed treatment are involved. The right question is which practitioner suits your specific diagnosis, which is something an assessment answers.

How do I check if someone is a registered specialist orthodontist?

Search their name on the public Ahpra Register of practitioners. Look for a dentist with specialist registration and orthodontics listed as the specialty. The register is free, public and updated, and it also shows any conditions on registration.

Do I need a referral from my dentist to see an orthodontist?

No. You do not need a referral to see an orthodontist in Australia. Many patients are referred by their dentist, but you can book an assessment directly.