Professionals · code 2261
Dentists
Dentists diagnose, treat and prevent diseases, injuries and abnormalities of the teeth, mouth, jaws and associated tissues by applying the principles and procedures of modern dentistry. They use a broad range of specialized diagnostic, surgical and other techniques to promote and restore oral health. Tasks include - (a) diagnosing diseases, injuries, irregularities and malformations of teeth and associated structures in the mouth and jaw using a range of methods such as radiographs, salivary tests and medical histories; (b) providing preventative oral health care such as periodontal treatments, fluoride applications and oral health promotion; (c) administering anaesthetics to limit the amount of pain experienced by patients during procedures; (d) prescribing medication for relief of ongoing pain after procedures (e) providing restorative oral care such as implants, complex crown and bridge restorations and orthodontics, and repairing damaged and decayed teeth; (f) providing surgical treatments such as extraction of teeth and biopsy of tissue, and performing orthodontic treatment; (g) measuring and taking impressions of patients’ jaws and teeth in order to determine the shape and size of dental prostheses; (h) designing, making, and fitting prosthodontic appliances such as space maintainers, bridges and dentures, or writing fabrication instructions or prescriptions for dental prosthetic technicians; (i) restoring oral function with removable and fixed oral prostheses; (j) assisting in diagnosing general diseases having oral manifestations such as diabetes; (k) educating patients and families on dental hygiene, nutrition and other measures to take care of oral health; (l) supervising dental hygienists, dental assistants and other staff. Examples of the occupations classified here: - Dental practitioner - Dental surgeon - Dentist - Endodontist - Oral and maxillofacial surgeon - Oral pathologist - Orthodontist - Paedodontist - Periodontist - Prosthodontist - Stomatologist Note Occupations included in this category normally require completion of university-level training in theoretical and practical dentistry or a related field. Although in some countries “stomatology” and “dental, oral and maxillofacial surgery” may be considered as medical specializations, occupations in these fields should always be classified here.
None of this job's tasks scored high enough to count. It ranks 75 of 427 for holding up against AI.
Also known as
- dental practitioner
- specialist dentist
Job titles from the EU's ESCO list. Search for any of them on the jobs page and you'll end up here.
against AI Not Exposed
AI could take on 14.9 of 100, on average
so it holds up at 100 − 14.9 = 85.1
That's the whole sum, and you can check it against the ILO's study.
out of 100
From O*NET, averaged across 4 US jobs
and cramped
finger skill 65.1 · hand skill 62 · cramped spaces 26.3 · averaged
Kind of hands-on work · hands-on 50+ · caring 4+ of 7 Hands-on, helping and caring for others
Physical work where helping and caring for people is a big part of the job. For care work, whether a machine could do the movements is only half the question. The other half is whether anyone wants one to. The US data counts helping workmates too, so a few trades end up here.
estimated O*NET 31.0 BLS occupational crosswalk chain ISCO-08 to 2010 SOC (Aug 2012, rev. Jun 2015); 2010 to 2018 SOC (Nov 2017); O*NET-SOC 2019 taxonomy data 0.7-work-setting measures chosen by Frey & Osborne (2017) · the grouping is a sorting, not a measurement
This number is probably too high
This score only looks at AI tools like chatbots. It doesn't look at robots at all — and this job rates 51.3 out of 100 for how hands-on it is, which is exactly where robots come in.
Have a look at the tasks below and judge for yourself. The ILO scored them low because a chatbot can't do them. Whether a machine with hands could is a different question, and we can't answer it yet.
The tasks behind the score
The score is the average of these. A job is really a bundle of tasks, and an average can hide how uneven that bundle is.
The task AI could do most of scores 26.8, while the average is 14.9. A big gap means some of this job is wide open to AI and some of it barely at all. That's quite different from a job where everything sits somewhere in the middle, even when the averages match.
- 26.8
Supervising dental hygienists, dental assistants and other staff.
Low - 25.5
Educating patients and families on dental hygiene, nutrition and other measures to take care of oral health
Low - 20.5
Assisting in diagnosing general diseases having oral manifestations such as diabetes
Very Low - 16.8
Prescribing medication for relief of ongoing pain after procedures
Very Low - 15
Designing, making and fitting prosthodontic appliances such as space maintainers, bridges, and dentures, or writing fabrication instructions or prescriptions for dental prosthetic technicians
Very Low - 13.5
Diagnosing diseases, injuries, irregularities and malformations of teeth and associated structures in the mouth and jaw using a range of methods such as radiographs, salivary tests and medical histories
Very Low - 12
Providing preventative oral health care such as periodontal treatments, fluoride applications and oral health promotion
Very Low - 11.5
Providing surgical treatments such as extraction of teeth, biopsy of tissue, and performing orthodontic treatment
Very Low - 11
Restoring oral function with removable and fixed oral prostheses
Very Low - 10.5
Measuring and taking impressions of patients' jaws and teeth in order to determine the shape and size of dental prostheses
Very Low - 9.5
Providing restorative oral care such as implants, complex crown and bridge restorations, and orthodontics, and repairing damaged and decayed teeth
Very Low - 6.6
Administering anaesthetics to limit the amount of pain experienced by patients during procedures
Very Low
12 tasks · the High to Very Low labels are the ILO's
from the source Working Paper 140, Generative AI and Jobs 2025 index data 0.7-work-setting
Helped, or replaced?
The score above can't tell a tool that makes you faster from one that does the task instead of you. Jobs and Skills Australia looked at those two things separately, and this is their result, matched to this job.
One Australian job matches, but only partly: not everyone in it does this job. Treat the numbers as a rough guide.
- AI helps you
- 66
- AI does it for you
- 19
Helping wins by 47 points.
estimated Our Gen AI Transition (Gen AI Capacity Study) September 2025 detailed data release data 0.7-work-setting matched to Australian jobs 2523
Compared with similar jobs
There are 92 jobs in the “Professionals” group, averaging 61.1. This one is above that.
- Creative and performing artists not e… 87.1
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- Early childhood educators 79.2
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- Paramedical practitioners 76.7
- Optometrists and ophthalmic opticians 76.3
- Audiologists and speech therapists 76.2
- Nursing professionals 74.8
- Primary school teachers 73.9
- Specialist medical practitioners 72.9
- Environmental and occupational health… 72
- Musicians, singers and composers 72
- Social work and counselling professio… 71.7
- Physiotherapists 71.6
- Special needs teachers 71.6
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- Generalist medical practitioners 71.3
- Mining engineers, metallurgists and r… 70.7
- Secondary education teachers 70.2
- Midwifery professionals 70.1
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- Judges 68.7
- Electrical engineers 68.6
- Actors 68.6