Dental Assistants
Perform limited clinical duties under the direction of a dentist. Clinical duties may include equipment preparation and sterilization, preparing patients for treatment, assisting the dentist during treatment, and providing patients with instructions for oral healthcare procedures. May perform administrative duties such as scheduling appointments, maintaining medical records, billing, and coding information for insurance purposes.
387,790 people do this job in the US. $48,070 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 17%
- 5%
- 78%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 6%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 17%. Today's estimate: 17%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 16 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prepare patient, sterilize or disinfect instruments, set up instrument trays, prepare materials, or assist dentist during dental procedures.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 26% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Clean teeth, using dental instruments.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 8% | 38 min17 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Fabricate temporary restorations or custom impressions from preliminary impressions.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Expose dental diagnostic x-rays.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 10 min4 min to 21 min | Stays with people | |
| Assist dentist in management of medical or dental emergencies.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Order and monitor dental supplies and equipment inventory.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 6% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | 98%Half by now | |
| Fabricate and fit orthodontic appliances and materials for patients, such as retainers, wires, or bands.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 5% | 1.1 h25 min to 2.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Instruct patients in oral hygiene and plaque control programs.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 13 min8 min to 21 min | Stays with people | |
| Take and record medical and dental histories and vital signs of patients.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 13 min8 min to 21 min | Stays with people | |
| Record treatment information in patient records.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 7 min3 min to 13 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Clean and polish removable appliances.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 17 min8 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Schedule appointments, prepare bills and receive payment for dental services, complete insurance forms, and maintain records, manually or using computer.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | 100%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).