jobfacts

Dental nurse

Dental nurses — SOC 2020 6133

Dental nurses prepare patients for, and assist with, dental examinations, prepare and sterilise instruments and maintain case records.

Also calledDental attendantOrthodontic chairside assistantDental surgery nurseNurseDental surgeon's assistantDental auxiliaryand 5 more titles
Typical full-time pay£25,7002025 Provisional
People in the job41,000across the UK
Demand for workersElevated
New adverts a month1,900↑ 13%on last year · 97th of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025

Half of full-time dental nurses earn between £23,400 and £28,900 a year.

What full-time dental nurses earn, 2025
£25,700 typical£19,200lowest 10%£23,40025%£28,90075%n/ptop 10%
Middle half (£23,400–£28,900)n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less than£19,200
Lowest 20% earn less than£22,200
25%£23,400
Median£25,700
75%£28,900
Top 20% earn more thanNot published
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £25,700
East of England!£26,900
South East£26,700
South West!£26,400
Scotland!£26,100
Yorkshire and The Humber£25,700
West Midlands!£25,500
East Midlands!£25,100
Wales!£24,600
North East!£24,200
North West!£24,200
LondonNot published by ONS–
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £25,700
East of England£26,900 (small sample)
South East£26,700
South West£26,400 (small sample)
Scotland£26,100 (small sample)
Yorkshire and The Humber£25,700
West Midlands£25,500 (small sample)
East Midlands£25,100 (small sample)
Wales£24,600 (small sample)
North East£24,200 (small sample)
North West£24,200 (small sample)
LondonNot published by ONS
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £21,800
  • 2024 £23,800
  • 2025 Provisional£25,700
↑ 18% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 1,900 jobs for dental nurses are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as elevated.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (1 in all)
Show as table
Aug 20261,419
Jul 20261,971
Jun 20261,536
May 20261,609
Apr 20261,656
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 20262,051
Jan 20261,933
Dec 20251,424
Nov 20252,685
Oct 20252,343
Sept 20252,068
Aug 20251,806
Jul 20252,030
Jun 20251,842
May 20251,778
Apr 20251,555
Mar 20251,993
Feb 20251,876
Jan 20251,459
Dec 2024941
Nov 20241,617
Oct 20241,741
Sept 20241,732
Aug 20242,021
Jul 20242,058
Jun 20242,031
May 20242,269
Apr 20242,049
Mar 20241,365
Feb 20241,378
Jan 20241,555
Dec 2023968
Nov 2023813
Oct 2023806
Sept 2023981
Aug 20231,276
Jul 20231,530
Jun 20232,125
May 20231,839
Apr 20231,527
Mar 20231,929
Feb 20231,820
Jan 20232,344
Dec 20221,976
Nov 20222,282
Oct 20222,291
Sept 20222,096
Aug 20222,002
Jul 20222,153
Jun 20222,012
May 20222,092
Apr 20221,694
Mar 20221,820
Feb 20221,746
Jan 20221,864
Dec 20211,383
Nov 20211,752
Oct 20211,414
Sept 20211,431
Aug 20211,488
Jul 20211,784
Jun 20211,396
May 20211,464
Apr 20211,594
Mar 20211,971
Feb 20211,196
Jan 20211,515
Dec 20201,383
Nov 20201,333
Oct 20201,666
Sept 20201,414
Aug 20201,245
Jul 2020886
Jun 2020749
May 2020628
Apr 2020857
Mar 20201,655
Feb 20201,750
Jan 20201,673
Dec 20191,180
Nov 20191,419
Oct 20191,528
Sept 20191,658
Aug 20191,359
Jul 20191,570
Jun 20191,384
May 20191,283
Apr 2019966
Mar 20191,238
Feb 20191,048
Jan 20191,500
Dec 2018854
Nov 20181,184
Oct 20181,269
Sept 20181,431
Aug 20181,228
Jul 20181,016
Jun 20181,229
May 20181,128
Apr 20181,095
Mar 20181,177
Feb 20181,052
Jan 20181,369
Dec 2017932
Nov 20171,243
Oct 20171,474
Sept 20171,169
Aug 20171,226
Jul 20171,254
Jun 20171,317
May 20171,296
Apr 20171,372
Mar 20171,563
Feb 20171,245
Jan 20171,510
Is there a shortage of dental nurses?
Elevated

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment; in 2024 it was not high.

  • Visas grantedAbove usual
  • Online job advertsWell above usual
  • Wage growthUsual
  • Pay against similar jobsUsual
  • Hours workedUsual
Note: uncertainty in change in hourly wage.
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
18%against 27% for all jobs
DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London681
North Yorkshire88
Birmingham84
Leeds77
Somerset73
Wiltshire63
Manchester62
Glasgow City61
Buckinghamshire55
Cornwall53
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where dental nurses are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. 58 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026, most to people from Pakistan, India, Sudan, ranking it 125th of 313. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of dental nurses
25%!
32%!
18%!
17%!
7.9%!
n/p
!Small sample: treat with cautionn/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
16–2425% (small sample)
25–3432% (small sample)
35–4418% (small sample)
45–5417% (small sample)
55–647.9% (small sample)
65+Not published
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent!20%
Higher education below degree24%
A levels or equivalent40%
GCSEs or equivalent!9.1%
Other qualifications!4.2%
No qualifications–
Not published
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent20% (small sample)
Higher education below degree24%
A levels or equivalent40%
GCSEs or equivalent9.1% (small sample)
Other qualifications4.2% (small sample)
No qualificationsNot published

Main employers: dental practice activities (83%), other human health activities (6.1%), hospital activities (2.7%), regulation of the activities of providing health care, education, cultural services and other social services, excluding social security (2.7%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
20%
as their highest qualification
Most common qualification
A levels or equivalent
held by 40%
Registration
GDC
required to practise: General Dental Council (GDC)
Apprenticeships
1
from level 3
Apprenticeships take
18 months
typically
T Levels
1
college courses for 16 to 19 year olds

Routes in

You can get into this job through:

College

You could do a college course that would teach you some of the skills and knowledge you need to apply for a trainee dental nurse job.

Courses include:

  • health and social care
  • applied science
  • T Level in Health
Entry requirements

Entry requirements for these courses vary.

  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths for a T Level

Apprenticeship

You could apply to do a Dental Nurse Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship, with an NHS trust or private dental practice.

This can take up to 2 years to complete.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship

Work your way up

You could start as a dental nurse assistant with a public or private dental practice. Your could then study for the Level 3 Diploma in Dental Nursing while you work.

This is a common way to qualify as a dental nurse.

More about this route
Armed forces

You could also train to become a dental nurse while serving in the armed forces:

  • Army
  • Royal Navy
  • Royal Air Force

What you’ll need

  • pass enhanced background checks

Registration and professional bodies

Registration
  • you'll need to register with the General Dental Council
Professional and industry bodies

You can join the The British Association of Dental Nurses for advice, support and professional development opportunities.

Further information

You can learn more about a career in dental nursing from Health Careers.

Routes in are from the National Careers Service job profile for dental nurse. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Apprenticeships

1 for this job
Level 3About 18 months

Dental nurse

You gain
A qualification approved by the GDC to enable professional registration with the GDC as…
Registration
General Dental Council (GDC)
Details on Skills England

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Other qualifications

QualificationTypeLevel
HealthT Level3

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • prepares patient for examination
  • prepares and sterilises instruments and follows guidelines to maintain sterile conditions within the surgery
  • hands required equipment and medication to dentist during examination
  • assists with minor treatment, such as preparing materials for fillings
  • removes water and saliva from patient’s mouth during treatment
  • maintains records, processes and mounts x-ray films and undertakes reception duties

Skills

  • accept own accountability
  • apply context specific clinical competences
  • apply health sciences
  • apply organisational techniques
  • communicate effectively in healthcare
  • comply with legislation related to health care
  • contribute to continuity of health care
  • deal with emergency care situations
  • deal with patients' anxiety
  • develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship
  • educate on oral healthcare and disease prevention
  • empathise with the healthcare user
  • ensure safety of healthcare users
  • follow clinical guidelines

Suits people who like

  • Practical, hands-on work
  • Working with ideas and solving problems

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for caring personal service occupations, a group of 16 jobs that includes dental nurses.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↑ 20%about 466,000 more jobs
Workers needed by 20351.9 millionincluding people replacing those who retire or leave

Sources

Pay
ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
People in the job, who does it
ONS, Annual Population Survey, April 2025 to March 2026
Job adverts
ONS, online job adverts (Textkernel), to Aug 2026
Demand, skill shortages
Department for Education and Skills England, Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey
Outlook
The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE
Routes in
National Careers Service job profiles
Apprenticeships, qualifications
Skills England occupational maps
Skills, interests
ESCO classification of the European Commission; O*NET data, U.S. Department of Labor (CC BY 4.0, modified)
Visas
Home Office, immigration system statistics

Figures as of 10 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey: Department for Education and Skills England. Immigration system statistics: Home Office. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE.

This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.

This service includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This service has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. CC BY 4.0 licence.

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