Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Wide pay band SOC 29-1021

Dentists, General

The published band from $86,250 to $319,630 is the distinctive signal for this role, not a twin of Radiologists.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Dentists, General: Radiologists ($421K) , Physicians, All Other ($266K) , Obstetricians and Gynecologists ($293K) , Surgeons, All Other ($414K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Dentists, General publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 29-1021 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Use masks, gloves, and safety glasses to protect patients and self from infectious diseases
  2. 2. Examine teeth, gums, and related tissues, using dental instruments, x-rays, or other diagnostic equipment, to evaluate dental health, dia…
  3. 3. Administer anesthetics to limit the amount of pain experienced by patients during procedures
  4. 4. Use dental air turbines, hand instruments, dental appliances, or surgical implements
  5. 5. Formulate plan of treatment for patient's teeth and mouth tissue
  6. 6. Diagnose and treat diseases, injuries, or malformations of teeth, gums, or related oral structures and provide preventive or corrective s…
  7. 7. Write prescriptions for antibiotics or other medications
  8. 8. Advise or instruct patients regarding preventive dental care, the causes and treatment of dental problems, or oral health care services
  9. 9. Design, make, or fit prosthodontic appliances, such as space maintainers, bridges, or dentures, or write fabrication instructions or pres…
  10. 10. Fill pulp chamber and canal with endodontic materials
  11. 11. Treat exposure of pulp by pulp capping, removal of pulp from pulp chamber, or root canal, using dental instruments
  12. 12. Remove diseased tissue, using surgical instruments

Dentists, General: O*NET ranks Critical Thinking first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 29-1021 - lead skill Critical Thinking at 4.1 ; lead knowledge Medicine and Dentistry. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Critical Thinking 4.1
  2. 2. Judgment and Decision Making 4.1
  3. 3. Reading Comprehension 4.0
  4. 4. Active Listening 4.0
  5. 5. Speaking 4.0
  6. 6. Monitoring 4.0
  7. 7. Complex Problem Solving 4.0
  8. 8. Active Learning 3.9

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Medicine and Dentistry 5.0
  2. 2. Customer and Personal Service 4.2
  3. 3. English Language 3.9
  4. 4. Biology 3.5
  5. 5. Psychology 3.4
  6. 6. Education and Training 3.3
Published pay band (10th to 90th)
$86,250 to $319,630
median $170,950 · ~3.7× spread
$171K
National median
↑ +4%
Growth 2024-2034
3,900
Annual openings
124,390
Estimated US jobs
Radiologists
Highest-pay peer · $421K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Doctoral or professional degree

Top Paying States for Dentists, General

1. Oregon $211,690
2. Maine $209,200
3. Tennessee $215,290
4. Minnesota $219,200
5. North Dakota $220,660
6. Georgia $206,760
7. Missouri $204,960
8. Vermont $204,960
9. North Carolina $207,000
10. Alaska $230,990

Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations titles

  1. 1. Radiologists $420,860
  2. 2. Obstetricians and Gynecologists $292,910
  3. 3. Surgeons, All Other $414,010
  4. 4. Physicians, All Other $265,930
  5. 5. Dermatologists $328,730
  6. 6. Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric $358,550

The OEWS band for Dentists, General runs from $86,250 (10th) to $319,630 (90th), about 3.7× wide, with median $170,950. That spread, not the midpoint alone, is the distinctive published fact.

Employment Projections expect +4% change between 2024 and 2034 (about as fast as average vs baseline 3.1%). About 3,900 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns Doctoral or professional degree as typical education needed for entry. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal requirements. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: Oregon at $211,690. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Radiologists at $420,860. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Dentists, General pay-rank #23 in Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations

Among 71 detailed Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations with a published OEWS median, Dentists, General is pay-rank #23, the upper third of that major group. The order is ROW_NUMBER on national median (title as tiebreak), not a worker-level percentile.

Other upper-third titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

SOC 29-1021 · national median $170,950 · upper third of Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations (#23/71). Open the full OEWS map or a named state before treating the card median as a local ask.

Dentists, General salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 29-1021

Oregon · top state for Dentists, General

$212K published median

Maine · #2 state pay

$209K · behind Oregon

Radiologists

Highest-pay peer vs Dentists, General · $421K

Physicians, All Other

Lower-pay peer beside Dentists, General · $266K

Compare Dentists, General

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Dentists, General with another occupation →

Pay-band next reads

Entry-Level vs Experienced Pay

What percentile bands reveal

Using Salary Data for Negotiation

Leverage BLS percentiles

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations titles sit near Dentists, General at the top of the pay table? ▼
Dentists, General is pay-rank #23 of 71 detailed Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations with an OEWS median, upper third. Nearest upper-third titles: Podiatrists ($160K), Pediatricians, General ($210K), Dentists, All Other Specialists ($225K), Nurse Anesthetists ($237K). Rank is ROW_NUMBER on national median.
What do dentists, general do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Dentists, General. Leading ones include: Use masks, gloves, and safety glasses to protect patients and self from infectious diseases; Examine teeth, gums, and related tissues, using dental instruments, x-rays, or other diagnostic equipment, to evaluate dental health, dia…; Administer anesthetics to limit the amount of pain experienced by patients during procedures; Use dental air turbines, hand instruments, dental appliances, or surgical implements. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for dentists, general? ▼
For SOC 29-1021, O*NET importance scores lead with Critical Thinking (4.1), Judgment and Decision Making (4.1), Reading Comprehension (4.0), Active Listening (4.0). Knowledge areas emphasize Medicine and Dentistry, Customer and Personal Service, English Language. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
How wide is the published pay band for Dentists, General? ▼
OEWS places the 10th percentile at $86,250 and the 90th at $319,630 for Dentists, General (3.7× spread). The national median is $170,950. OEWS does not isolate experience, employer, or geography as the cause of that spread.
What employment change does BLS publish for Dentists, General? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Dentists, General is +4%. Projected annual openings: about 3,900. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: about as fast as average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Dentists, General? ▼
BLS assigns Doctoral or professional degree as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Dentists, General. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Dentists, General? ▼
Oregon ($211,690), Maine ($209,200), Tennessee ($215,290) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Dentists, General card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 29-1021. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Dentists, General. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics