Learn about the types of people who become dental assistants. This page goes into detail about the employment, gender, and ethnic ratios of the workplace.


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Employment Type Mix, 2024

72% of dental assistants work in full-time roles while 28% work part-time.

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Gender Mix By Career Interest, 2024

This graph shows the distribution of females and males that are interested in becoming a dental assistant. Four or five star ratings on CareerExplorer indicate interest.

More women than men are interested in becoming dental assistants at a ratio of 1.21 to 1.

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Actual Gender Mix, 2024

94% of dental assistants are female and 6% are male.

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Gender Bias, 2024

This is one of the most compelling statistics we collect. Gender bias shows the difference between gender interest in being a dental assistant and the actual gender mix of people in the career.

If there is a significant difference, then it means there is a gender imbalance between those interested in becoming a dental assistant and those who end up becoming one.

In this case there are significantly more men interested in becoming a dental assistant than those actually working as one. It is hard to pinpoint the exact reasons why, but there are likely various forces at play, from changing interests over time to societal norms and biases.

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Ethnic Mix, 2019

The largest ethnic group of dental assistants are White, making up 55% of the population. The next highest segments are Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish and Black or African American, making up 18% and 11% respectively.