Dentists are below average when it comes to happiness.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, dentists rate their career happiness 3.0 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 36% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy dentists are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Chiropractor | 3.1 | $56k |
| Prosthodontist | 3.1 | $234k |
| Pathologist | 3.1 | $201k |
| Dental hygienist | 3.1 | $75k |
| Dentist | 3.0 | $128k |
| Physician assistant | 3.0 | $111k |
| Immunologist | 3.0 | $201k |
| Occupational therapist assistant | 3.0 | $52k |
| Surgical technologist | 3.0 | $30k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are dentists happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do dentists find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as dentists?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are dentist’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are dentists making the best use of their abilities?
Are dentists happy with their salary?
Dentists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.2/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most dentists having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked dentists how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
448 dentists
25% of dentists rated their compensation 5 stars
21% of dentists rated their compensation 4 stars
21% of dentists rated their compensation 3 stars
15% of dentists rated their compensation 2 stars
18% of dentists rated their compensation 1 stars
Do dentists find their jobs meaningful?
On average, dentists rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.9/5. While most dentists aren’t very fulfilled by their work, some people may still manage to find meaning in it.
We asked dentists how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.9 out of 5 stars
459 dentists
20% of dentists rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
19% of dentists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
19% of dentists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
21% of dentists rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
22% of dentists rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as dentists?
Dentists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.6/5. The majority of dentists find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked dentists how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
496 dentists
29% of dentists rated their career fit 5 stars
28% of dentists rated their career fit 4 stars
25% of dentists rated their career fit 3 stars
11% of dentists rated their career fit 2 stars
7% of dentists rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a dentist’s work environment?
As a whole, dentists rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.4/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.
We asked dentists how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
490 dentists
23% of dentists rated their work environment 5 stars
28% of dentists rated their work environment 4 stars
25% of dentists rated their work environment 3 stars
15% of dentists rated their work environment 2 stars
10% of dentists rated their work environment 1 stars
Are dentists making the best use of their abilities?
Former dentists on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.1/5. Most dentists are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.
We asked dentists how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.1 out of 5 stars
488 dentists
22% of dentists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
19% of dentists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
23% of dentists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
22% of dentists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
14% of dentists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars