Also called: Army Dental Corps 63A, Navy Dental Corps
Dentist who keeps troops 'dentally ready' to deploy and treats them in clinics and the field.
Military dentists do fillings, extractions, and oral surgery, and make sure no one deploys with a tooth that could become an emergency. Some deploy on hospital ships for humanitarian missions. Afterward they open private practices without dental school debt.
Military physicians are officers (O-3 to O-6). Figure combines RMC with medical special pays and board-certification incentives, 2026 estimate; surgical specialties sit at the top of the range. Residents earn the lower end.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Professional degree (MD, JD, DVM…), about 8 years after high school. Bachelor's, then dental school via the HPSP scholarship; residency optional. Free-college benefits: Tuition Assistance (up to $4,500/yr) while serving, the Post-9/11 GI Bill (36 months of tuition + housing stipend) afterward, and SkillBridge internships before separating.
Ways in: Military, Professional school. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Biology, Chemistry.
Growing about average. Military specialties are not in BLS projections. The services recruit for this job every year and openings track force size and retention rather than market growth.
Low risk for 10 years. AI reads X-rays; fillings, extractions and oral surgery stay hands-on.
Classes: AP Biology, AP Chemistry, Art / sculpture.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.