Dentists, General
Examine, diagnose, and treat diseases, injuries, and malformations of teeth and gums. May treat diseases of nerve, pulp, and other dental tissues affecting oral hygiene and retention of teeth. May fit dental appliances or provide preventive care.
A wage reference for United States.
Published wage percentiles describe a distribution within the source occupation group. They provide context for a career decision; employer packages and job offers have their own terms.
This wage group may include multiple detailed occupations. The figures are for the source group, which may be broader than Dentists, General. They are not an exact-title, employer, experience or seniority match.
May 2025 · USD · United States. Annual and hourly figures are shown only when the source publishes them; neither is calculated from the other.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage data, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service.
Annual wage thresholds
USD per year
Hourly wage thresholds
USD per hour
| Percentile | Annual wage (USD/year) | Hourly wage (USD/hour) |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $86,250 | $41.47 |
| 25th | $125,710 | $60.44 |
| 50th · Median | $170,950 | $82.19 |
| 75th | $224,040 | $107.71 |
| 90th | $319,630 | $153.67 |
“≥” means at least the published amount; “≤” means at most that amount. These are bounds, not exact values. “Not published” means the source did not provide that figure. Occupational wages follow the source definition and do not establish an employer’s base salary, equity or total compensation.
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What this career involves.
Occupation definitions describe common work. Responsibilities and requirements vary by employer and specific job.
Selected title examples
Typical tasks
- Use masks, gloves, and safety glasses to protect patients and self from infectious diseases.
- Administer anesthetics to limit the amount of pain experienced by patients during procedures.
- Examine teeth, gums, and related tissues, using dental instruments, x-rays, or other diagnostic equipment, to evaluate dental health, diagnose diseases or abnormalities, and plan appropriate treatments.
- Formulate plan of treatment for patient's teeth and mouth tissue.
- Use dental air turbines, hand instruments, dental appliances, or surgical implements.
- Design, make, or fit prosthodontic appliances, such as space maintainers, bridges, or dentures, or write fabrication instructions or prescriptions for denturists or dental technicians.
Expand more tasks (14)
- Advise or instruct patients regarding preventive dental care, the causes and treatment of dental problems, or oral health care services.
- Diagnose and treat diseases, injuries, or malformations of teeth, gums, or related oral structures and provide preventive or corrective services.
- Manage business aspects such as employing or supervising staff or handling paperwork or insurance claims.
- Analyze or evaluate dental needs to determine changes or trends in patterns of dental disease.
- Remove diseased tissue, using surgical instruments.
- Write prescriptions for antibiotics or other medications.
- Apply fluoride or sealants to teeth.
- Eliminate irritating margins of fillings and correct occlusions, using dental instruments.
- Perform oral or periodontal surgery on the jaw or mouth.
- Fill pulp chamber and canal with endodontic materials.
- Plan, organize, or maintain dental health programs.
- Bleach, clean, or polish teeth to restore natural color.
- Treat exposure of pulp by pulp capping, removal of pulp from pulp chamber, or root canal, using dental instruments.
- Produce or evaluate dental health educational materials.
Skills used in this work
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Expand more skills (29)
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Management of Financial Resources
- Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
- Management of Material Resources
- Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Operations Analysis
- Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
- Equipment Selection
- Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
- Technology Design
- Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
- Troubleshooting
- Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
- Equipment Maintenance
- Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
- Programming
- Writing computer programs for various purposes.
- Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
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