The dental industry under the umbrella of the healthcare sector is progressing tremendously. People in recent years have earned knowledge about dental care and are stepping forward to make it a part of their regular health routine.

According to the data provided by Ipsos in 2018, globally 31% of adults visit or consult dental specialists once a year. In India by 2018, 28% of adults consult dental specialists at least once a year. This attention towards dental care and hygiene has enhanced the scope of the dental sector in India as well as abroad. Numerous BDS colleges in India are established to provide skilled dental education.

Let us know the best criteria that make BDS unique from MBBS.

BDS course details:

Just a brush-up into BDS course that is being provided in the best BDS colleges in India:

Course Name	Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS)
Course Description	BDS is a dental degree course that focuses on educating dental medical practices, procedures, techniques, and much more which are to be applied in treating dental ailments and maintaining dental hygiene.
Level	Undergraduate level
Duration	5 years   4 years + 1 year of compulsory rotatory internship.
Mode	Semester mode
Eligibility Criteria	●      Candidates’ age should be a minimum of 17 years of age. ●      Candidates should have completed 10+2 with physics, chemistry, and biology as compulsory subjects. ●      Candidates should have a minimum of 50% aggregate in 10+2
Admission Procedure	Admission to the BDS course is based on the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) score.
Average Course Fee	INR 1-6 Lakhs per annum
Top colleges for BDS	●      Mansarovar Dental College Bhopal. ●      Faculty of Dental Sciences, IMS BHU. ●      Government Dental College and Hospital, Mumbai. ●      Government Dental College and Hospital, Nagpur. ●      Maharashtra University of Health Sciences. ●      Gujarat University.

Having seen the details of BDS courses in BDS colleges in India, let us explore the benefits of BDS courses compared to MBBS.

Why is BDS unique from MBBS?

BDS courses have many more unique features than MBBS. Here are the top 5 reasons:

Generalized yet focused curriculum:

The heading may appear contradictory, but it is true.

The BDS course syllabus includes subjects related to general medicine and general surgery along with dental subjects. Thus generalized yet focused curriculum.

The third-year syllabus of the BDS course includes general medicine and general surgery that cover the aspects such as common infections, and systemic-based diseases, i.e., neurology, cardiology, respiratory, and nephrology which are relevant to all medical specialities.

MBBS also covers dental education, but along with other speciality basics while BDS covers general medicine along with dental-specific subjects.

This is one of the unique features of BDS.

Better gain with bachelor studies:

On studying MBBS, students will be able to practice only general medicine. Further to practice specialities such as neurology, nephrology, cardiology, etc the students have to pursue a postgraduate degree such as MD or MS.

But, BDS stands out in this condition.

Students pursuing BDS can practice their speciality in the dental field with a bachelor’s degree itself, unlike MBBS.

Good pay scale jobs:

Students completing BDS have better job scopes compared to MBBS. MBBS students have to pursue a postgraduate degree specialization to earn a good pay scale. But BDS graduates have better job prospects.

Here is a comparison between the average pay scale of BDS and MBBS graduates.

Factors	BDS Salary in India	MBBS Salary in India
Average Salary	INR 6.5 LPA	INR 4 LPA
Highest Salary	INR 9 LPA	INR 6 LPA
Lowest Salary	INR 3 LPA	INR 3.5 LPA

Wide range of job roles:

BDS graduates are exposed to a wider range of job roles than MBBS graduates. MBBS graduates can work majorly as general practitioners while BDS graduates have speciality job roles even before postgraduate education.

Here is the list of job roles available after the BDS course in India:

BDS Job Roles	Average Salary in India
Dentist	INR 4 LPA
Dental Surgeon	INR 5 LPA
Oral Pathologist	INR 4 LPA
Dental Health Consultant	INR 4.2 LPA
Dental Hygienist	INR 3 .75 LPA
Medical Writer	INR 4.8 LPA
Lecturer	INR 8 LPA

In addition, dentists are hired in both government and private sectors.

There are top government companies such as ICMR Delhi, OPSC Orissa, etc. BDS graduates are hired as Dental Scientists at ICMR for a salary of INR 8 LPA while they are hired as dental surgeons at OPSC with a salary of INR 10 LPA.

On the other hand, renowned private companies like Dentcare Dental Labs, Iskills Medical Coding Solutions, etc. hire BDS graduates for different job roles with a salary range of INR 5 LPA to INR 8 LPA.

Enhanced foreign job opportunities:

BDS students have got enhanced job opportunities all around the world while MBBS students visit abroad for their higher education mostly.

Countries like the USA, UK, Mexico, Germany, Japan, and many more concentrates much on dental health, hygiene, and beauty. Take a look at the different job roles that are available for BDS graduates abroad with their average salary.

BDS job roles	Average salary abroad
Oral Surgeon	USD 248,833
Dentist	USD 141,635
Dental Hygienist	USD 61,873
Dental Office Manager	USD 52,295
Dental Laboratory Technician	USD 51, 256
Dental Assistant	USD 35,769

Source: Payscale

All the 5 reasons discussed above are strong enough to reflect that a BDS course is way more unique than MBBS with great career preference.

Best dental colleges, like Mansarovar Dental College, a BDS college in MP, and many more offer remarkable BDS courses. Students after BDS can perform different degrees such as

• Master of Dental Surgery (MDS)
• MBA

Conclusion:

The dental services industry is expanding globally as well as in India. The global dental services market was valued at USD 359.5 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow with a CAGR of 4.4% from 2022 to 2030. Meanwhile, the Indian dental care market was valued at USD 653 million in 2022 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.40% from 2022 to 2030. This significant growth of dental services, such as hospitals and clinics has paved the way for better job scope in the upcoming years. Many BDS colleges in India successfully produce BDS doctors who are ready to serve people.

FAQs:

• How many years is BDS?

BDS is a 5 years course with 4 years of classroom training and 1 year of compulsory rotatory internship.

• Can BDS graduates be called doctors?

BDS graduates are actually to be called dental surgeons but not doctors. But there is no restriction on using a doctor before their name.

• Which is better, BDS or BAMS?

BDS is better if you want to establish a career completely in the dental care industry while BAMS is preferable if you want to become an ayurvedic doctor.

• Is BDS tougher than MBBS?

It depends on the interest of the pursuing student. If a student has more interest in the dental industry, then BDS is not tougher.

• Is BDS more costly than MBBS?

No, the BDS course fee is comparatively lower than the MBBS. Top dental colleges like Mansarovar Dental College Bhopal offer BDS with a fee of around INR 8 lakhs for the entire course.