# Dentists, General

> Examine, diagnose, and treat diseases, injuries, and malformations of teeth and gums. May treat diseases of nerve, pulp, and other dental tissues affecting oral hygiene and retention of teeth. May fit dental appliances or provide preventive care.

- **SOC code:** 29-1021.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-29-1021-00
- **Also known as:** Dentist, Family Dentist, General Dentist, Pediatric Dentist, Dental Surgery Doctor (DDS), Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD), Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS), Dental Medicine Doctor (DMD)
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- 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, diagnose diseases or abnormalities, and plan appropriate treatments.
- Administer anesthetics to limit the amount of pain experienced by patients during procedures.
- Use dental air turbines, hand instruments, dental appliances, or surgical implements.
- Formulate plan of treatment for patient's teeth and mouth tissue.
- Diagnose and treat diseases, injuries, or malformations of teeth, gums, or related oral structures and provide preventive or corrective services.
- Write prescriptions for antibiotics or other medications.
- Advise or instruct patients regarding preventive dental care, the causes and treatment of dental problems, or oral health care services.
- Design, make, or fit prosthodontic appliances, such as space maintainers, bridges, or dentures, or write fabrication instructions or prescriptions for denturists or dental technicians.
- Fill pulp chamber and canal with endodontic materials.
- Treat exposure of pulp by pulp capping, removal of pulp from pulp chamber, or root canal, using dental instruments.
- Remove diseased tissue, using surgical instruments.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Medicine and Dentistry _(knowledge)_
- Problem Sensitivity _(ability)_
- Finger Dexterity _(ability)_
- Customer and Personal Service _(knowledge)_
- Critical Thinking _(essential_skill)_
- Judgment and Decision Making _(transferable_skill)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(ability)_
- Inductive Reasoning _(ability)_
- Arm-Hand Steadiness _(ability)_
- Near Vision _(ability)_
- Reading Comprehension _(essential_skill)_
- Active Listening _(essential_skill)_

**Skills in demand:**
- Finger Dexterity _(Common Skill)_
- Inductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(Common Skill)_
- Reading Comprehension _(Common Skill)_
- Complex Problem Solving _(Common Skill)_
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_
- English Language _(Common Skill)_
- Time Management _(Common Skill)_
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_
- Social Perceptiveness _(Common Skill)_
- Information Ordering _(Specialized Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- eClinicalWorks EHR software _(hot technology)_
- Henry Schein Dentrix _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology)_
- ABELSoft ABELDent
- ACE Dental
- AlphaDent
- AltaPoint Data Systems AltaPoint Dental
- Data Team DDS
- Dental charting software
- Dental clinical records software
- Dental digital radiology software

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 29th percentile (Low) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 44th percentile (Moderate) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 41st percentile (Moderate) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 9th percentile (Low) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 3rd percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** no — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** 4.1% growth (About average); 3.9k annual openings; 129.8k → 135.2k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $172,790; 113,490 employed.

## How people actually use AI here

Anthropic Economic Index — measured AI conversations mapped to this occupation's tasks:

- **Automation vs augmentation:** 15% automation, 77% augmentation (usage-weighted).
- **Autonomy median:** 3.0 (higher = AI acts more independently).
- **Dominant collaboration mode:** learning.

**Tasks most handed to AI here:**
- Advise or instruct patients regarding preventive dental care, the causes and treatment of dental problems, or oral health care services. _(3.8% of measured AI use; learning)_

**Example prompts (honest phrasings of the tasks above — starting points, not endorsed instructions):**
- Help me advise or instruct patients regarding preventive dental care, the causes and treatment of dental problems, or oral health care services.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Anthropic Economic Index** (v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27)) — Anthropic. https://www.anthropic.com/economic-index
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130
- **AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE)** (Felten, Raj & Seamans) — academic. https://github.com/AIOE-Data/AIOE
- **Frey & Osborne (2013)** (frey-osborne-automation) — academic. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/the-future-of-employment/
- **Dingel & Neiman (2020)** (dingel-neiman-workathome) — academic. https://github.com/jdingel/DingelNeiman-workathome

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-29-1021-00_