Dentist
Diagnose, prevent and treat oral diseases and injuries in private practice and public dental services.
Registration: AHPRA registration as a dentist
Salary
Cited figures only: median full-time weekly earnings for the ANZSCO unit group Dental Practitioners (2523) from Your Career (Jobs and Skills Australia), and where available the QILT graduate starting salary for the matching study area.
| Figure | AUD | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Median full-time weekly earnings | $3877 | Your Career (2026-09-23) |
| Graduate starting salary | $103,100 | QILT (2026-08-31) |
Jobs, demand and who does this work
Figures for the ANZSCO occupation Dentist (252312), the closest official match for dentist, from Your Career (Jobs and Skills Australia data, sourced 2026-09-23).
- People employed
- 14,200
- Future demand
- Very strong
- Work full-time
- 48%
- Average full-time hours
- 41 a week
- Women
- 49%
- Median age
- 39
Where the jobs are (share of workers)
| NSW | 31.4% |
| VIC | 25.4% |
| QLD | 21.5% |
| WA | 10.8% |
| SA | 6.9% |
| TAS | 1.6% |
| ACT | 1.8% |
| NT | 0.6% |
Highest qualification held by workers
| Postgraduate qualification | 25.4% |
| Bachelor degree | 70% |
| Diploma or advanced diploma | 0.8% |
| Certificate I-IV | 0.5% |
| Year 12 | 1% |
| Below Year 12 | 0.3% |
What a dentist actually does
Dentists run a booked clinic with patient appointments stacked in 30 to 60-minute blocks. A typical day mixes routine check-ups and cleans (often shared with a hygienist) with restorative work, extractions, crown preparations and root-canal therapy. There's a constant cycle of reviewing imaging, charting findings, talking patients through treatment options and quoting fees. Public-system dentists in community clinics see more children, emergency presentations and concession card holders, often with limited materials budgets. Private practitioners have more control over the cases they take on but carry the practice overhead. Most dentists work 4 to 5 days a week, around 38 hours, with some evening or Saturday clinics for patient access. The physical toll is real - long periods of magnified close-up work and awkward posture cause back and neck issues, so most experienced dentists pay for professional posture training and ergonomic chairs.
Typical tasks
- Examine and diagnose dental and gum disease.
- Perform restorations, extractions and other procedures.
- Educate patients on oral health.
Skills you'll use
- Manual dexterity and fine motor control under magnification
- Reading 2D and 3D dental imaging (OPG, periapical, CBCT)
- Local anaesthesia and pain management
- Restorative procedures (fillings, crowns, bridges)
- Endodontic root-canal therapy
- Surgical extractions and minor oral surgery
- Treatment-plan presentation and informed-consent conversations
- Practice management including infection control and waste streams
How to become one
- 1Finish Year 12 with high ATAR plus a UCAT score sufficient for dental entry
- 2Complete a Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) or Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD), typically 4-5 years
- 3Pass all clinical placement requirements set by the Australian Dental Council
- 4Apply for AHPRA registration as a dentist in your final year
- 5Start as an associate in a private practice or take a public-dental graduate placement for guided early years
- 6Consider postgraduate training in a specialty (orthodontics, oral surgery, endodontics, paediatrics) after 2-5 years of general practice
- 7Decide whether to remain an associate, buy into a practice or open your own clinic
Where you can work
- Private general-dental practices
- Specialist clinics (orthodontic, endodontic, paedodontic)
- Public dental services and community health clinics
- Hospital oral and maxillofacial units
- Defence Force dental services
- Rural and remote outreach programmes
- Tertiary teaching clinics
Career progression
Typical stages and roles. Years of experience are a rough guide; pay at each stage depends on the employer, award or agreement.
- Graduate dentist0-2 yearsTypical roles: Associate dentist, Public-dental graduate
- Experienced general dentist3-8 yearsTypical roles: Senior associate, Lead dentist
- Specialist or practice owner8+ yearsTypical roles: Specialist orthodontist, Oral surgeon, Practice principal
Is this for you?
You might love this if
- You have excellent fine motor control and steady hands
- You're patient with anxious or phobic patients
- You're comfortable running a small business or being part of one
- You don't mind looking at the same anatomical area for hours
- You can stay focused through tight, repetitive precision work
This might not suit you if
- You can't stand the smells and sights of dental work
- You need constant intellectual variety rather than craft repetition
- You don't want the financial pressure of student debt around 200K
- You can't sit hunched over a chair for hours every day
Ways in
Uni and TAFE routes for dentist. We only list pathways that actually lead to this occupation.
University
Bachelor degrees that lead to this career.
TAFE / VET
Nationally accredited Certificate and Diploma qualifications.
No direct TAFE pathway to this career.
Sources
ExamExplained does not publish predictive salary figures. For current Australian earnings data check Your Career (yourcareer.gov.au) directly. Career classifications follow the ABS ANZSCO 2022 release.