Career Explorer Healthcare (clinical)
Human edge, growing
Dental hygienists
Administer oral hygiene care to patients. Assess patient oral hygiene problems or needs and maintain health records. Advise patients on oral health maintenance and disease prevention. May provide advanced care such as providing fluoride treatment or administering topical anesthesia.
Among the most resilient careers: more resilient than 96% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is low (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it low), and US jobs are projected to change by +8.0% by 2035, faster than average. The work leans on physical dexterity and emotional intelligence.
AI struggles with much of this work, and US employers are expected to hire more people into it than average.
- Median pay (2025)
- $98,100
- Job growth to 2035
- +8.0%
- Openings a year
- 15,000
- People doing it (2025)
- 225,000
- Usual route in
- Associate's degree
Where people already use AI for this work
- Advise patients or clients on medical issues
- Maintain current knowledge in area of expertise
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Examine people or animals to assess health conditions or physical characteristics
- Treat injuries, illnesses, or diseases
- Maintain health or medical records
What the work looks like
- Record and review patient medical histories.
- Feel and visually examine gums for sores and signs of disease.
- Examine gums, using probes, to locate periodontal recessed gums and signs of gum disease.
- Clean calcareous deposits, accretions, and stains from teeth and beneath margins of gums, using dental instruments.
- Provide clinical services or health education to improve and maintain the oral health of patients or the general public.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- More of these jobs, as the expanding scope of practice of hygienists allows them to take on tasks previously performed by dentists.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Surgical assistantsHuman edge, growing, Index 99, +6.1%
- Dental assistantsHuman edge, growing, Index 97, +7.4%
- Physical therapist assistantsHuman edge, growing, Index 99, +23.0%
- Skincare specialistsHuman edge, growing, Index 97, +8.8%
Also known as: Dental Hygienist, Hygienist, Licensed Dental Hygienist, Registered Dental Hygienist (RDH), Pediatric Dental Hygienist.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.