Orthodontists
In short: today's best AI models could do about 39% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about the same by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 61% of the time, stays with people.
Examine, diagnose, and treat dental malocclusions and oral cavity anomalies. Design and fabricate appliances to realign teeth and jaws to produce and maintain normal function and to improve appearance.
6,210 people do this job in the US. $289,140 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on15 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people25 h
Orthodontists, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 15 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 25 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Study diagnostic records, such as medical or dental histories, plaster models of the teeth, photos of a patient's face and teeth, and X-rays, to develop patient treatment plans (about 5 h); Diagnose teeth and jaw or other dental-facial abnormalities (about 3 h); Prepare diagnostic and treatment records (about 3 h).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 39%
- 16%
- 45%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days 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, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 39%. Today's estimate: 39%.
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.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, no reportable share went to this job's tasks in May 2026; 0 of its 11 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.0039% to 0.004% (released February and March 2025); 0.0047% to 0.0053% (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.0039% | 635 of 708 | 1 of 11 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.004% | 602 of 703 | 2 of 11 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.0047% | 537 of 655 | 1 of 11 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.0058% | 560 of 672 | 2 of 11 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.0053% | 568 of 677 | 1 of 11 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 11 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 11 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 60% of this job's working time as physical work. For 4% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 4% in a purpose-built cell. 0.04 of 3, the 596th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 40%
- No robot shown 56%
- In a purpose-built cell 4%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 11 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Design and fabricate appliances, such as space maintainers, retainers, and labial and lingual arch wires.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Align Technology aligner/retainer manufacturing line (3D printer farms, automated thermoforming, automated trimming and laser marking) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 16% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Fit dental appliances in patients' mouths to alter the position and relationship of teeth and jaws or to realign teeth.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 15% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Instruct dental officers and technical assistants in orthodontic procedures and techniques.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 13% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Study diagnostic records, such as medical or dental histories, plaster models of the teeth, photos of a patient's face and teeth, and X-rays, to develop patient treatment plans.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 13% | 50 min25 min to 1.3 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Diagnose teeth and jaw or other dental-facial abnormalities.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 9% | 25 min13 min to 38 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Adjust dental appliances to produce and maintain normal function.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 21 min13 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Examine patients to assess abnormalities of jaw development, tooth position, and other dental-facial structures.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 21 min13 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Prepare diagnostic and treatment records.Done several times a day by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 7% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Provide patients with proposed treatment plans and cost estimates.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 7% | 29 min17 min to 42 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Coordinate orthodontic services with other dental and medical services.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Advise patients to comply with treatment plans.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 3% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | Stays with people |
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).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Orthodontists is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 39% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 39% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Orthodontists come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Study diagnostic records, such as medical or dental histories, plaster models of the teeth, photos of a patient's face and teeth, and X-rays, to develop patient treatment plans (100% of the task's time now); Diagnose teeth and jaw or other dental-facial abnormalities (100% of the task's time now); and Prepare diagnostic and treatment records (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Orthodontists stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Design and fabricate appliances, such as space maintainers, retainers, and labial and lingual arch wires; Fit dental appliances in patients' mouths to alter the position and relationship of teeth and jaws or to realign teeth; and Instruct dental officers and technical assistants in orthodontic procedures and techniques. Together such tasks are about 61% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Orthodontists?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 0%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Orthodontists?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 60% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 4% of the working time. Its index is 0.04 of 3. One example: Align Technology aligner/retainer manufacturing line (3D printer farms, automated thermoforming, automated trimming and laser marking) for "design and fabricate appliances, such as space maintainers, retainers, and labial and lingual arch wires". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 11 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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