What a BDS means on a doctor's profile
The BDS is the primary dental degree in India; a BDS holder is a dentist registered with a state dental council, not a medical doctor.
The BDS is the primary qualification of dentistry: four years of study and a year of internship, entered through NEET-UG, awarded by universities under regulations now made by the National Dental Commission. A BDS holder registers with a state dental council and may practise general dentistry — fillings, extractions, root canals, crowns, cleaning. The MDS is the three-year postgraduate degree that makes a dental specialist.
Dentists use the title "Dr", and patients sometimes assume a dental qualification is a medical one. It is not: a BDS holder is not on the medical register, cannot prescribe outside dentistry, and is regulated by a different body. On this site dentists are listed under dentistry, with the BDS as the primary qualification and the registering council named on each profile.
How to check whether a dentist holds a BDS
Dental qualifications are recognised by the National Dental Commission — the Dental Council of India until 19 March 2026 — and the Indian Dentists Register records the qualification each state dental council registered. Search the dentist there, and confirm the college was recognised for the course; the awarding university can verify the certificate itself. On this site a dental qualification is marked as supplied until a person has checked it, because the automated worker reads only the NMC's medical register.
1,970 doctors record a BDS
None of them has the qualification checked against the awarding body yet. All are recorded as supplied. Counts are read from the live database and refresh hourly.
Specialities they practise
Where they practise
Questions people ask
- Is a BDS a recognised qualification in India?
- Yes, when awarded by an institution recognised for it. The National Dental Commission maintains the list of recognised qualifications and of the institutions permitted to award each; a BDS from a college that was not recognised for the course in that year is not a recognised qualification, and a registering body can refuse to enter it on the register.
- Is a dentist a doctor?
- A dentist is a doctor of dental surgery, registered with a dental council, and entitled to the title. A dentist is not a medical doctor and is not on the medical register; the qualification and the register on the profile tell you which you are looking at.
Every profile lists its qualifications as supplied and says which of them have been checked against the awarding body and when. Where none has, the profile says so.
General information about medical qualifications in India, checked against the sources listed on 25 Sep 2026. Not advice about your situation. Errors can be reported through the corrections process.