Dentists, General

Minimal Risk
8%

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Vote Comments (43)
AUTOMATION RISK
CALCULATED
0.0%
(Minimal Risk)
POLLING
15.2%
(Minimal Risk, Based on 1,273 votes)
Average: 8%
LABOR DEMAND
GROWTH
4.8%
by year 2033
WAGES
$166,300
or $79.95 per hour
Volume
121,640
as of 2023
SUMMARY
What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
8.2/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

People also viewed

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Calculated automation risk

0.0% (Minimal Risk)

Minimal Risk (0-20%): Occupations in this category have a low probability of being automated, as they typically demand complex problem-solving, creativity, strong interpersonal skills, and a high degree of manual dexterity. These jobs often involve intricate hand movements and precise coordination, making it difficult for machines to replicate the required tasks.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Some very important qualities of the job are difficult to automate:

  • Assisting and Caring for Others

  • Finger Dexterity

Some quite important qualities of the job are difficult to automate:

  • Manual Dexterity

  • Social Perceptiveness

  • Persuasion

  • Cramped Work Space, Awkward Positions

  • Originality

  • Negotiation

User poll

15.2% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted there's a minimal chance this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 0.0% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Dentists, General will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Sentiment

The following graph is shown where there are enough votes to produce meaningful data. It displays user poll results over time, providing a clear indication of sentiment trends.

Sentiment over time (quarterly)

Sentiment over time (yearly)

Growth

Moderate growth relative to other professions

The number of 'Dentists, General' job openings is expected to rise 4.8% by 2033

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Wages

Very high paid relative to other professions

In 2023, the median annual wage for 'Dentists, General' was 166.300 $, or 80 $ per hour

'Dentists, General' were paid 246.0% higher than the national median wage, which stood at 48.060 $

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Volume

Greater range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2023 there were 121,640 people employed as 'Dentists, General' within the United States.

This represents around 0.08% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 1 thousand people are employed as 'Dentists, General'.

Job description

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.

SOC Code: 29-1021.00

Comments (43)

Leave a comment
bob (Low)
08 Nov 2024 14:11
dentists make u feel comfy, robots ehh not so uch
Samuel Watanabe (No chance)
04 Feb 2024 22:35
I think no one would be ok with a machine or robot trying to fix your teeth and touching your mouth. This could be so dangerous. Besides it would be a waste of time and money trying to build ai for this function. No chance. One of the few jobs that can't be replaced by a robot.
AI will raplace dents sorry not sorry
14 Mar 2024 03:57
That is wrong, actually. More than 50% of people said they would consent to a fully automated robot to perform a surgery on them. It's because AI is better than any human on Earth. So... no. LOL!
EES (No chance)
11 May 2025 17:43
Everybody's mouths are different
Chase
23 Dec 2023 11:10
So many clueless people on this page. To be clear, I HATE dentists. However, Imagine an unfeeling robot hurting a patient. Would it be able to stop? Or will it continue operating on the patient while they're screaming? I also don't think a robot can come up with a treatment plan independently either, or consult people who are deathly afraid of dentists already.

Maybe in the year 2700 we will advance to that stage. I heard of tha Chinese robot dentist back in 2017, but have not really hear any more things about it. From what I've seen from it though, the dummy mouth it worked on was already "pre-molded" for the robot dentist to operate on. Every mouth is different, everyone's pain tolerance is different, and everyone's mental state when dealing with the dentist is different.
J
02 Jul 2023 22:48
Can a robot sense when a patient is getting an anxiety attack and stop to calm them down? Do you want a 200,000 rpm diamond bur cutting through your tooth that has a nerve in the middle of it, with a machine on the other end of that tool? Human dentists will be around for a long time.
Bella (No chance)
31 Jan 2023 15:20
Imagine a robot working in your mouth without no liability or sense of emotion. A high risk of malfunction can happen also. It could be automated but would we want it to?
Abdullah (Uncertain)
18 Jan 2020 18:03
Give Chinese people some time .
eliazk
13 Dec 2019 18:09
I want to be a dentist and I'm so happy
Allison Amodeo (Low)
27 Nov 2019 01:21
Dentists need to know what to do and need to give the child/or parent comfort. Robots wouldn't make anyone (including me) comfortable.
Yes
18 Oct 2019 10:53
A robot has much better precision than a human hand and it doesn't have big fingers that get in the way, tremble or age, nor does it have poor vision.
Albert Musco (Highly likely)
21 Sep 2019 06:57
The unaffordabilty of basic dental care will push the monetary greed out of the profession and replace humans with AI , robotics and lazers
Shadock (Highly likely)
05 Aug 2019 16:04
Remember the one fact of life. All humans are selfish. Most Dentist will do un-safe and/or un-needed operations just to make a quick dollar. Robots will have no need for money. Robots will be slaves that are perfect in the art of Dentistry. With that said, I hope robots take over the job.
Leonid
05 Oct 2019 04:49
Agreed, bingo
Nick
07 Jan 2021 20:40
Couldn’t be more wrong. You really think big business is gonna be less greedy than your dentist? Robots don't make their own decisions, their owners do.
Anonymous
28 Sep 2021 22:58
Exactly, I’d almost rather have a robot do it for this exact reason. No need to pay big dollars to the dentist if it’s a robot :)
Anonymous
25 Sep 2023 13:41
Lmao, you really think you’re gonna get it cheaper?

If there is a bigger margin it wont be going back to you, the customer.
Elrich
12 Mar 2023 12:22
Robots will do what theirs masters tell them to.

If you think that big medical facilities operating such a device won't be greedy, please research "American healthcare system"
Jake (Moderate)
09 Jul 2019 23:43
China already had a procedure done by a robot. It is only a matter of time. https://www.richmonddental.net/library/first-robotic-dental-implant/
Joe (No chance)
11 Nov 2019 06:07
I think a bigger threat to dentists are preventative measures that can be taken by people to reduce the probability that they will ever have to go to a dentist's office. Of course, as AI and machine learning are integrated in business the probability that some business will provide a product to a customer that will serve that specific purpose is nearly 100%.
Ron (Low)
25 Jun 2019 13:17
Mouths never change. AI could figure it out.
bruh
13 Sep 2019 07:32
clearly you've never seen wisdom tooth x-ray
Loompa
09 Sep 2020 03:42
they may change in the future with evolution and most peoples mouth and teeth placement are different
delta (Uncertain)
06 Jun 2019 08:56
I am not sure about my future jobs, but if there an operation devices that could do surgery, then yeah.
Brandon Young (No chance)
11 Jan 2024 16:47
I would like someone experienced and someone that know what hurts or not.
Khadiga (No chance)
27 Dec 2023 20:14
because i am a dentist and i know the challenges of this job.
deez (No chance)
10 May 2021 17:04
Dentists are needed to be people as their patients might not like a more mechanical approach to an already mechanical job
Honey Mandal
03 Sep 2023 06:53
I agree ...
Majority Patients will 😨 of machines handling their surgeries
T. Fairy (Highly likely)
30 Jan 2020 14:47
Dentistry is mainly about image recognition and operating machinery, machines excel at this.
Muddy (No chance)
28 Jan 2020 12:08
While I can see robots eventually replacing dentists, the degree of analytical creativity and personalized service makes it unlikely within 20 years .
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