Dentist job description

A general dentist spends the day removing decay, filling cavities, repairing broken teeth, and reading x-rays to decide what comes next. BLS reported 124,390 general dentists on payrolls in May 2025, with a median of $170,950, or $82.19 an hour. That line excludes specialists and the self-employed. Its tenth percentile was $86,250 and its ninetieth $319,630. The Handbook's figure for all dentists, with specialists and owners included, is $176,110 across 161,400 jobs.

Core Duties and Responsibilities

The task O*NET weights most is protective: masks, gloves, and safety glasses for every procedure. After that come examining teeth and gums with instruments and imaging to diagnose and plan treatment, administering anesthetic, and working with air turbines, hand instruments, and surgical implements. Dentists write prescriptions, advise on prevention, and design or fit bridges, dentures, and space maintainers, or write the instructions a dental technician builds from. Root canal work, from pulp capping to filling the canal, stays within a general dentist's reach. So does the business side: hiring and supervising staff, handling paperwork, and dealing with insurance claims.

Common Skills and Technologies

Critical thinking and judgment tie for the highest skill ratings, with complex problem solving and active learning close behind. Leadership matters more here than in most clinical jobs, because dentists in private practice, per the Handbook, employ and supervise hygienists, assistants, lab technicians, and receptionists. Job ads for dentists mention Henry Schein Dentrix and eClinicalWorks, and the Handbook adds lasers and digital scanners to the drills, probes, and forceps of the operatory.

Education, Training, and Career Path

This is Job Zone Five, and 81.4 percent of O*NET respondents said the work requires a doctoral degree: the DDS or DMD from one of the 79 accredited dental schools the American Dental Association counts. Every licensing jurisdiction requires the Integrated National Board Dental Examination, and most boards add a clinical exam. New York instead requires a year of approved clinical residency for first-time licensure. General dentists need no training after dental school, while each of the 12 recognized specialties requires a residency, usually two to four years. The Handbook projects 6 percent growth for dentists from 2025 to 2035.

Sources: O*NET 30.0, 29-1021.00 Dentists, General, https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/29-1021.00. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, 29-1021, https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Dentists, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/dentists.htm. American Dental Association, https://www.ada.org/resources/research/health-policy-institute/dental-education. Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations, https://jcnde.ada.org/inbde.