General Dentist
Impact: Patient outcomes, Public health
Diagnoses, treats, and prevents oral health issues, including teeth and gum diseases, and performs routine check-ups and dental procedures.
What the day looks like
- People interaction
- Extensive
- Team vs solo
- 60% Team / 40% Solo
- Client facing
- Always
- Impact visibility
- High
- Travel
- Minimal
- Schedule flexibility
- Moderate
- Remote work
- On-site Only
- Typical work hours
- 35-45 hours/week
- Stress level
- High
At a glance
- Median salary
- $179,210
- Entry-level
- $104,000 - $140,000
- Senior
- $200,000+
- Growth by 2033
- 4% (as fast as average)
- Demand
- Growing
- Freelance potential
- High
- Salary growth potential
- High to 70-90% growth from entry to senior
- Typical student debt
- $150,000 - $300,000
Skills you'll use
Hard skills
- Oral Surgery
- Diagnostic Imaging
- Anesthesia Administration
- Restorative Dentistry
- Periodontics
- Endodontics
- Prosthodontics
- Practice Management
Soft skills
- Communication
- Empathy
- Problem-solving
- Attention to Detail
- Manual Dexterity
- Leadership
Technical complexity: Very High
How to get there
- Minimum education
- Doctoral or Professional Degree
- Licensing
- Yes
- Years to mid-career
- 3-5 years
- Years to senior
- 7-10 years
- Career switching
- Hard
Where this career leads
How people arrive here
Where you can go from here
Typical progression
- Associate Dentist
- Senior Dentist
- Practice Owner/Partner or Specialist
Future outlook
- Automation probability
- 1% to very low risk due to high manual dexterity, diagnostic judgment, and patient interaction requirements
- AI disruption risk
- Low
- Demand trend
- Growing
How people feel about it
- Overall satisfaction
- 3.8/10
- Meaning
- 4/10
- Work-life balance
- 3.2/10
- Prestige
- 8.5/10
- Social perception
- High