Care & Presence
Dental Hygienist
Tactile care plus patient trust.
AI Risk Score: 3/10
Score is our body/liability/scarcity rubric, calibrated against public AI-exposure research.
Data last reviewed: 2026-07-21
What you actually do
Provide preventive oral care, screenings, and patient education in clinical settings.
Why AI does not easily replace it
It combines hand skill, bedside presence, and licensed clinical responsibility.
What it pays
$84,000 - $108,000
BLS OOH: Dental Hygienists (May 2025 pay, OEWS)
Salary benchmark year: 2025
How to get in
Accredited associate program + state licensure.
Estimated time to entry: ~24 months (path-dependent).
State-by-state training and licensing links
Where demand is growing
Stable growth supported by preventive care demand.
Ready to explore?
Compare this career in the full directory, or run the exposure calculator against your current role.
"The moat is not a prompt. It is responsibility in the real world."
AI risk evidence
- Anthropic Economic Index (2025-26): measured AI usage and task coverage by occupation
- IMF, "New Skills and AI Are Reshaping the Future of Work" (Jan 2026): ~40% of global jobs exposed to AI-driven change
- Stanford HAI AI Index Report 2026 (labor chapters)
- Oxford Martin: The Future of Employment (2013), kept for historical grounding