From Dental School to Fellowship: Dr. Kirti Chopra's Training in Comprehensive Dentistry
Reviewed by Dr. Kirti Chopra, DDS, FAGD- Smile Design Studio by KC, Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia. Last updated August 2026.
Dr. Kirti Chopra, DDS, FAGD, earned her Doctor of Dental Surgery at Indiana University School of Dentistry, where she was inducted into Omicron Kappa Upsilon, the national dental honor society. She is a Kois Center Graduate with Honors, holds Fellowship in the Academy of General Dentistry, and is an AACD Accreditation Candidate, having passed the written examination. She has completed more than 900 hours of continuing education.
Every dental license requires continuing education. What a dentist studies past that requirement, and how far, is a choice. This page traces what Dr. Chopra has completed since dental school, what each program asked for, and how that training shows up in the way a case is evaluated at Smile Design Studio by KC.
Doctor of Dental Surgery, Indiana University
Dr. Chopra earned her Doctor of Dental Surgery at Indiana University School of Dentistry. While there, she was inducted into Omicron Kappa Upsilon, the national dental honor society, whose student members are elected on academic standing during dental school.
Dental school supplies the foundation every dentist practices on. The programs that follow are where a particular way of practicing takes shape.
Kois Center Graduate with Honors
The Kois Center is a continuing education center in Seattle, Washington, whose curriculum is built around comprehensive diagnosis: evaluating the bite, the joints, periodontal health, and esthetics together, and building a treatment plan for the whole mouth from that evaluation rather than tooth by tooth.
Dr. Chopra completed the curriculum and went on to earn the Center's honors distinction, which requires passing a 110-question examination on the Center's diagnostic protocols. Passing that exam is also what qualifies a graduate to sit for the Center's Oral Mentor Exam.
This is the source of the diagnostic sequence used at the practice today: teeth, gums, bite, and airway evaluated together before any treatment is planned.
Fellowship in the Academy of General Dentistry
Fellowship (FAGD) is awarded by the Academy of General Dentistry and requires four things: 500 hours of AGD-approved continuing education with at least 350 earned through live course attendance, three continuous years of active Academy membership, passing the AGD Fellowship Exam, and attending the AGD Convocation ceremony.
Dr. Chopra passed the Fellowship Exam in October 2024. She has since completed more than 900 hours of continuing education, well past the 500 hours the award requires, spanning cosmetic, restorative, and digital dentistry, and is continuing toward Mastership (MAGD), which requires 1,100 total hours including 400 hours of participation coursework.
FAGD is not a dental specialty credential. Recognized specialties require accredited specialty training programs and are announced separately. Dr. Chopra practices as a general dentist.
The Training in Sequence
Each stage built on the one before it. The Kois Center curriculum supplied a diagnostic method; Fellowship broadened the base across general dentistry; Accreditation candidacy is extending it into cosmetic case work now.
AACD Accreditation Candidate
Dr. Chopra is an Accreditation Candidate with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, having passed the written examination, the step that opens a five-year window to complete the rest of the process.
What remains is the demanding part. Candidates submit clinical cases for evaluation against the Academy's published criteria, on submission deadlines twice a year, and successful submissions lead to an oral examination of roughly two hours covering case knowledge and treatment planning. Her case work is in progress.
How the Training Shows Up in Care
Comprehensive dentistry means treating the mouth as a connected system, teeth, gums, bite, and joints together, rather than starting with whatever problem is most visible.
At Smile Design Studio by KC, every treatment plan begins with a full evaluation of teeth, gums, bite, and airway before anything is recommended. That sequence matters most when a case is not straightforward: a tooth that chips because of how the bite loads it, a restoration that keeps failing for a reason that is not visible at first look, a smile that needs more than one type of treatment before the result will hold.
The same evaluation catches smaller things early: a wear pattern starting on one side, a restoration nearing the end of its useful life, an early change in the gum tissue. Finding those early usually means treating them with less.
Schedule an Evaluation
Smile Design Studio by KC is located at 255 S. 17th Street, Suite 2507, in Rittenhouse Square, Center City Philadelphia. Dr. Kirti Chopra, DDS, FAGD, sees every patient personally, beginning with a full evaluation of teeth, gums, bite, and airway.
Call 215-545-4024 or request an appointment online.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where did Dr. Kirti Chopra go to dental school?
She earned her Doctor of Dental Surgery at Indiana University School of Dentistry, where she was also inducted into Omicron Kappa Upsilon, the national dental honor society.
What is Omicron Kappa Upsilon?
Omicron Kappa Upsilon (OKU) is the national dental honor society. Student members are elected during dental school on the basis of academic standing.
What does "Kois Center Graduate with Honors" mean?
It means completing the Kois Center's curriculum in comprehensive diagnosis, occlusion, and treatment planning, and then passing a 110-question examination on the Center's diagnostic protocols. The Kois Center is a continuing education center in Seattle, Washington.
What does FAGD Fellowship require?
500 hours of AGD-approved continuing education with at least 350 hours earned through live course attendance, three continuous years of Academy membership, passing the AGD Fellowship Exam, and attending Convocation. Dr. Chopra passed the Fellowship Exam in October 2024 and has completed more than 900 hours of continuing education.
What credentials is Dr. Chopra working toward now?
She is an AACD Accreditation Candidate, having passed the written examination, with clinical case submissions and the oral examination still ahead. She is also continuing toward Mastership in the Academy of General Dentistry.
How does this training affect the care patients receive?
It supports evaluating teeth, gums, bite, and airway as a connected system rather than one visible problem at a time, which matters most in cases involving more than one issue at once.