- What "FAAID Salary" Actually Means
- What the Fellow of the AAID Credential Is
- Where the Earnings Effect Comes From
- Who Pays and Who Hires Implant Clinicians
- The Cost Side of the Earnings Equation
- The Five-Case Portfolio as a Business Asset
- Timeline: Fitting Preparation Around a Working Practice
- Fellow Credential at a Glance
- FAQ
- No verified salary figure exists for Fellow of the AAID (FAAID); any precise dollar claim you see should be treated skeptically.
- Fellow requires five years of implant experience, 400 CE hours (75 hands-on), and five cases with prostheses in function at least one year.
- Listed fees are USD 1,085 for the Fellow exam and USD 695 annual dues, though official fee schedules conflict, so confirm.
- The next application window opens November 2026 and closes February 1, 2027; the virtual oral/case exam is April 3, 2027.
What "FAAID Salary" Actually Means
Search for a salary figure attached to Fellow of the AAID and you will find a problem: there is no verified, published number. The American Academy of Implant Dentistry does not publish an earnings schedule for Fellows, and no pass-rate or compensation survey tied specifically to the FAAID designation was verified for this guide. Anyone quoting a precise "FAAID salary" is either guessing or borrowing numbers from an unrelated credential that happens to share the acronym.
That matters because the FAAID is not a job title and not an employment certification. It is an authorized professional designation awarded to licensed dental practitioners who have demonstrated surgical and prosthetic competence in implant dentistry through a rigorous virtual oral/case examination. Its financial effect works through your practice, your referral network and your professional standing, not through a pay grade.
What the Fellow of the AAID Credential Is
Fellow is the AAID's advanced credential, authorized for use as the designation FAAID. Candidates must be licensed dental practitioners. They must either be Associate Fellows in good standing or have passed Associate Fellow Part 1 and meet Fellow eligibility. The credential is not an entry-level step; the experience bar alone filters the pool.
Eligibility in brief
- At least five years of implant-dentistry experience.
- 400 hours of implant continuing education, including 75 participatory/hands-on hours.
- Demonstrated surgical and prosthetic competence, with surgical and/or prosthetic treatment personally provided for each submitted case.
- Alternatively, a qualifying full-time implant dentistry, periodontal, oral/maxillofacial surgery or prosthodontics program of at least one year can satisfy the educational requirement.
For the full qualification path, our FAAID requirements guide walks through each prerequisite. If you are still orienting yourself, What Is FAAID? covers the basics.
Where the Earnings Effect Comes From
Because there is no salary schedule, the honest way to analyze earnings is to ask mechanisms: how could holding this designation plausibly change what you earn? Four mechanisms are worth examining, and none of them can be reduced to a verified percentage.
1. Referral Credibility
General dentists, periodontists and other colleagues choosing where to send complex implant cases look for signals of demonstrated competence. A Fellow designation is a peer-reviewed signal: your cases were examined by AAID examiner teams.
- Peer review of real, long-term cases carries more weight than attendance-based credentials.
- Referral flow is a practice-level outcome that varies by market and reputation.
2. Patient Case Acceptance
Patients considering full-arch rehabilitation or sinus augmentation are making high-trust decisions. Being able to say your implant work has been independently examined can support the conversation, though the effect on acceptance rates is not quantified in any verified source.
3. Scope and Case Mix
The preparation itself forces you to document complex cases: full-arch overdentures, sinus augmentation, anterior esthetics, extraction protocols and fixed complete prostheses. Clinicians who build systems around that case mix may find themselves better positioned to offer it consistently.
4. Professional Standing and Teaching
Fellowship ties you to the AAID community, including governance and induction at the Annual Business Meeting. Opportunities in study clubs, mentoring and continuing education often flow from that standing, though income from them depends entirely on individual choices.
Who Pays and Who Hires Implant Clinicians
The credential does not come with an employer. Fellows work in a range of settings, and the setting shapes how the designation converts to income:
- Private practice owners capture the benefit most directly, through referrals, case acceptance and marketing credibility.
- Associates and employed clinicians may use the designation in negotiations or when moving to a practice with a strong implant focus, but compensation structures (production percentages, base pay) are set by the practice, not by AAID.
- Specialty and multi-specialty groups may value documented competence when assigning complex implant work.
- Academic and teaching roles can overlap with a Fellow's profile, particularly where program time satisfies educational requirements.
Curious about the employment side? Our FAAID jobs overview looks at where credentialed implant clinicians practice. Whether the investment is justified for your situation is the subject of Is the FAAID Certification Worth It?
Key Takeaway
Think of FAAID as an asset that compounds inside a practice, not a raise you receive. Estimate the benefit using your own referral patterns, case mix and local market rather than a headline salary number.
The Cost Side of the Earnings Equation
Net earnings effect depends on what the credential costs. The published figures from AAID's fee pages are concrete, but note a caveat: official schedules conflict. The live fee page lists USD 1,085 for the Fellow examination, USD 599 for the alternative route after Associate Fellow Part 1, and USD 400 for re-examination. A linked 2024 guide instead lists USD 1,185, USD 699 for substitution and USD 500 for re-examination. Confirm which schedule applies to your route before budgeting. The substitution fee is an alternative fee, not an additional charge.
| Cost Item | Current Live Fee Page | Linked 2024 Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Fellow examination | USD 1,085 | USD 1,185 |
| Alternative route after Associate Fellow Part 1 | USD 599 | USD 699 |
| Re-examination | USD 400 | USD 500 |
| Regular Fellow dues (annual, due January 1) | USD 695 | |
Costs that do not appear on the fee page
- Equipment readiness: an Internet-capable computer with webcam, a cellular device and a prior equipment check are required.
- Interpreter: the exam is in English; an AAID-supplied interpreter may be arranged at the candidate's expense.
- Case documentation time: narratives, diagnostic photographs, radiographs and patient releases for five cases represent real chair-time and administrative hours.
- Induction travel: successful oral candidates must attend an Annual Business Meeting for induction within two years.
- Ongoing membership: maintenance requires active AAID membership, so the annual dues are a recurring cost for as long as you hold the designation.
Our full FAAID certification cost guide expands on budgeting, and FAAID exam dates covers the calendar side.
The Five-Case Portfolio as a Business Asset
The Fellow examination is not a multiple-choice test. Candidates discuss five standardized clinical cases and defend five submitted cases on different patients, in a virtual oral/case format lasting approximately three hours, or up to four hours including equipment testing. The preparation scope is organized around the four principal headings of the Fellow Examination Case Report Outline: Patient Examination, Development of the Treatment Plan, Surgical and Prosthetic Report and Clinical Résumé. These are required case-report preparation headings, not an official exam-domain count, and no weights are published for them.
The required case types double as a map of the implant market's higher-value work:
- A removable full-arch implant overdenture.
- Posterior maxilla with sinus augmentation.
- Anterior maxilla.
- Extraction with immediate placement, or ridge preservation with delayed placement.
- A fixed complete implant prosthesis.
All five require final prostheses in function for at least one year by the examination period, implants at least 3 mm in diameter, narratives, diagnostic photographs and radiographs, and patient releases.
Domain 1: Patient Examination
Your documented diagnostic process for each case.
- Medical and dental history, risk assessment and clinical findings.
- Radiographic and imaging evidence supporting your diagnosis.
Domain 2: Development of the Treatment Plan
The reasoning bridge between findings and intervention.
- Alternatives considered and why the chosen plan fits the patient.
- Sequencing for staged procedures such as sinus augmentation or delayed placement.
Domain 3: Surgical and Prosthetic Report
What you did, how you did it and how it performed.
- Surgical technique, components, restoration design and one-year-plus function.
- Evidence that you provided surgical and/or prosthetic treatment for each case.
Domain 4: Clinical Résumé
Your experience, education and implant CE presented coherently.
- Alignment with the five-year experience and 400-hour CE requirements, including 75 hands-on hours.
Each case you document is also a marketing and teaching asset: a fully worked, peer-examined example of your approach. For deeper coverage of each heading, see FAAID exam domains explained. For difficulty context, read how hard the FAAID exam is; note that no current numeric passing threshold has been verified, as discussed in our passing score article.
Timeline: Fitting Preparation Around a Working Practice
Because the case outcomes require a prosthesis in function for at least a year, your calendar is partly dictated by clinical reality. The next application window opens November 2026 and closes February 1, 2027, and the virtual Fellow oral/case exam is scheduled for April 3, 2027 (as of October 7, 2026). Here is one way to sequence preparation, tied to the report headings rather than generic study blocks.
Audit Candidate Cases
- Confirm each of the five required case types is covered by a patient with a prosthesis in function at least one year by the exam period.
- Check implant diameters (at least 3 mm), releases and available imaging.
Patient Examination and Treatment Plan Narratives
- Write Domain 1 and Domain 2 content first, since they depend on records you already hold.
- Practice explaining alternatives you rejected.
Surgical and Prosthetic Reports
- Draft Domain 3 for the most complex cases (sinus augmentation, fixed complete prosthesis) first.
- Compile photographs and radiographs.
Résumé, Equipment Check and Oral Rehearsal
- Finalize the Clinical Résumé and verify the webcam, computer and cellular device setup.
- Run mock oral defenses of both standardized-case discussion and your submitted cases.
For a broader approach, see our FAAID study guide, and keep the FAAID cheat sheet handy for must-know facts. If you want structured practice to complement case-based work, try the practice test site.
Fellow Credential at a Glance
| Element | Fellow of the AAID (FAAID) |
|---|---|
| Awarding body | American Academy of Implant Dentistry (AAID) |
| Exam format | Virtual oral/case examination by AAID examiner teams |
| Case work | Five standardized cases discussed; five submitted cases defended |
| Duration | Approximately three hours; up to four including equipment testing |
| Language | English; AAID-supplied interpreter possible at candidate's expense |
| Election | Admissions and Credentials Board approval, then Board of Trustees vote |
| Maintenance | Active AAID membership; regular Fellow dues USD 695 annually |
| Published pass rate or numeric passing score | None verified |
Still sorting out terminology? FAAID meaning and what FAAID stands for clarify the designation, and the FAAID certification overview ties the pieces together.
FAQ
No verified average exists. AAID does not publish compensation data for Fellows, and the credential is a professional designation rather than a job with a pay scale. Income effects flow through referrals, case acceptance and professional standing in your own practice.
The live fee page lists USD 1,085 for the Fellow examination, USD 599 for the alternative route after Associate Fellow Part 1, and USD 400 for re-examination. A linked 2024 guide lists higher figures, so confirm your applicable route fee. Regular Fellow dues are USD 695 annually.
As of October 7, 2026, the application window opens November 2026 and closes February 1, 2027, with the virtual Fellow oral/case exam scheduled for April 3, 2027. Verify details on the AAID exam schedule page before planning.
No. It is a peer-reviewed signal of surgical and prosthetic competence, which may support referrals and patient trust, but no verified source guarantees or quantifies a pay increase.
Maintenance requires active AAID membership. Regular Fellow dues are USD 695 per year, payable January 1. New Fellows must also attend an Annual Business Meeting for induction within two years of a successful oral exam.
The bottom line: treat the FAAID as a long-horizon professional investment, weigh the published costs against your own practice economics, and prepare your cases with the rigor the Fellow examination demands. For your next steps, review the eligibility requirements and start building your case documentation well ahead of the February 1, 2027 deadline.