Also called: Dental Health Aide Therapist
A mid-level provider, like a PA for dentistry, who fills cavities and pulls teeth in underserved communities.
Works in places like rural Alaska villages, tribal clinics, or Minnesota community health centers, doing exams, fillings, and simple extractions where dentists are scarce. A newer career now legal in a growing number of states.
Estimate.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Dental therapy program (about 3 years); some require dental hygiene first.
Ways in: 4-year college, Certification. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Dental Therapy, Dental Hygiene.
Growing much faster than average. Expanding as more states authorize dental therapists.
Low risk for 10 years. Teledentistry links therapists to dentists; fillings and extractions in rural and tribal clinics stay hands-on.
Classes: Biology, Chemistry, Health-science CTE.
Official data: O*NET occupation 29-1299.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.