BDS or MDS Dentist? What the Letters Mean and When It Matters

BDS, Bachelor of Dental Surgery, is the five year degree every practising dentist in India holds, including a year of internship. MDS, Master of Dental Surgery, is a further three years of specialist training in one of nine branches, such as periodontics, oral surgery or orthodontics. A BDS dentist is fully qualified for routine care. An MDS matters most for complex treatment within that specialist’s own field.

BDS: the degree every dentist holds

BDS stands for Bachelor of Dental Surgery. In India it takes five years, four years of study followed by a compulsory year of internship across every department. Anyone practising as a dentist here has one.

A BDS is a full licence to practise. A BDS dentist can do check-ups, cleaning, fillings, root canals, extractions, crowns and dentures, and many place implants after further training. For most of the dental care most people need, a good BDS dentist is exactly the right person.

MDS: three more years in one field

MDS stands for Master of Dental Surgery. It is a further three years of full time specialist training in a single branch, entered through a competitive national exam after the BDS. By the end, an MDS dentist has spent eight years in dentistry, the last three focused almost entirely on one kind of problem.

What changes is not permission. It is depth: the number of complex cases seen, the surgery done under supervision, and the ability to manage the case that does not go to plan.

The nine MDS specialities, in plain language

Periodontics. The gums, the bone around the teeth, gum disease and gum surgery. Implant surgery forms part of the training.
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Impacted wisdom teeth, jaw surgery, facial injuries and cysts.
Prosthodontics. Replacing teeth: crowns, bridges, dentures, full mouth rehabilitation and the teeth that go on implants.
Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics. Saving teeth: complex fillings, root canals, and redoing root canals that have failed.
Orthodontics. Braces, aligners, and correcting the bite and jaw position.
Paediatric and Preventive Dentistry. Children, including anxious children and children with special needs.
Oral Medicine and Radiology. Diagnosing conditions of the mouth, including oral cancer screening, and reading scans.
Oral Pathology. Laboratory diagnosis of disease from tissue samples.
Public Health Dentistry. Dental health across whole communities rather than individual treatment.

When a BDS dentist is exactly right

Routine check-ups, cleaning, fillings, straightforward root canals, simple extractions and most crowns. Going to a specialist for these is rarely necessary, and a good general dentist who knows when to refer is worth more than a specialist who treats everything as complicated.

When an MDS genuinely matters

Gums that bleed, recede, or teeth that are loosening. A periodontist. See pyorrhea treatment.
An impacted wisdom tooth lying close to the nerve, or jaw surgery. An oral surgeon.
A root canal that has already failed, or a tooth with difficult anatomy. An endodontist.
Crooked teeth or a bite problem, in an adult or a growing child. An orthodontist.
Many teeth worn, broken or missing, with the whole bite needing to be rebuilt. A prosthodontist. See full mouth rehabilitation.
Implants where the bone is thin, or a graft or sinus lift is needed. A periodontist or oral surgeon experienced in implants.

Degrees, fellowships and certificates are not the same thing

Clinic boards and online profiles list a lot of letters, and they do not all mean the same. BDS and MDS are university degrees. Beyond them sit fellowships from professional bodies, diplomas, and short certificate courses.

Fellowships from recognised bodies can reflect genuine further training and experience, and they are worth something. A weekend certificate course is real training too, just a very different amount of it. The useful question is simple: which of these is a degree, and in what?

That applies here as well. Dr. Desai’s degree is an MDS, and his fellowships from the ICOI in the USA, the University of Hong Kong and ICLE in the USA are further training on top of it, not additional degrees.

How to check a dentist’s qualification

Ask directly which degree and which speciality. A good clinic answers without hesitation.
Every practising dentist must be registered with the state dental council, and can tell you their registration number.
Check the speciality matches the treatment. An MDS in orthodontics is not the specialist for gum surgery, however many letters follow the name.
Ask who will actually do the procedure. At a multi-speciality clinic, the name on the board and the person doing your surgery may be different people.

A specialist, or a multi-speciality clinic?

Both work well. A specialist offers depth in one area. A multi-speciality clinic brings visiting specialists under one roof, which is convenient when treatment spans several fields. What matters is that each part of your treatment is done by someone trained for that part.

See how to choose a dentist in Ghatkopar East.

Common questions

What is the difference between BDS and MDS?

BDS, Bachelor of Dental Surgery, is the five year degree including a year of internship that every practising dentist in India holds. MDS, Master of Dental Surgery, is a further three years of specialist training in one of nine branches, such as periodontics, oral surgery or orthodontics.

Is an MDS dentist better than a BDS dentist?

Not automatically. For routine care such as check-ups, cleaning and fillings, a good BDS dentist is fully qualified. An MDS matters most for complex treatment within that specialist’s own field, such as advanced gum disease, difficult extractions or orthodontics.

What does MDS mean after a dentist’s name?

MDS means Master of Dental Surgery, a three year postgraduate specialist degree. It should be followed by the speciality, for example MDS Periodontics or MDS Orthodontics, which tells you which kind of treatment the dentist specialised in.

Which MDS specialist treats gum disease?

A periodontist, who holds an MDS in periodontics. The speciality covers gum disease, the bone supporting the teeth, gum surgery, and implant surgery.

Can a BDS dentist do root canals and implants?

Yes. A BDS is a full licence to practise, and BDS dentists routinely do root canals. Many also place implants after further training. An MDS adds depth in one specialist field rather than permission.

How do I check a dentist’s qualification in India?

Ask which degree and speciality the dentist holds, and confirm they are registered with the state dental council. Make sure the speciality matches your treatment, and ask who will actually perform the procedure.

BDS or MDS dentist: what the letters mean and when it matters