Technical Occupations in Dental Health Care

What they do?

A. Dental hygienists provide a process of dental care including assessment, preventive care, treatment, and evaluation.

B. Dental therapists working for government in rural and remote locations provide limited dental services including filling cavities and extracting teeth.

C. Dental technicians prepare and fabricate full and partial dentures/devices such as bridges, clasps and bands according to prescriptions from dentists/dental therapists.

D. Denturists examine patients, make impressions, design/construct dentures, and fit, modify, and repair dentures.

Where they find work?

1. Health care and social assistance - 80.0%
2. Miscellaneous manufacturing - 17.0%

What education do I need?

1. To work in this field, you must have a high school diploma and you usually need a college or university program in your specialty.

2. You may need licensing in your province or territory.

3. To be a dental hygienist, you need a two- to three-year college or university program or other approved program and you may need a licence in the province/territory where you'll work.

4. To be a dental technician, you need a college program in dental technology or four or more years of on-the-job training with a dental technician. Licensing is available but not mandatory in all provinces. In Quebec, you must be a member of the Ordre professionnel des techniciens et techniciennes dentaires du Québec.

5. To be a denturist, you need a college program and may need to complete an internship program. Licensing is mandatory.

6. Most recent entrants have a community college diploma.

High School Subject that will help:

English
Computer-related courses
Chemistry
Biology

What can you expect to make:

The average hourly wages for Technical Occupations in Dental Health Care is $24.88/HR, which is close to the average for occupations in the health sector and above average for all technical, professional, and skilled occupations. These wages grew at an above-average rate from 2002 to 2004.

Average Wage

Technical Occupations in Dental Health Care wages

Expected Wage by Age

Technical Occupations in Dental Health Care Wage By Age

Unemployment:

1% of Technical Occupations in Dental Health Care are unemployed. This rate is below the average for technical, professional, and skilled occupations.

Unemployment

Trends in Unemployment

Current Job Outlook:

The job outlook for Technical Occupations in Dental Health Care is considered Above Average because:

1. Employment grew at an above-average rate.

2. Hourly wages ($24.88) are above the average ($18.07), and the rate of wage growth is also above average.

3. The unemployment rate (1%) is below the 2004 average (7%).

Future Job Prospects:

Your job outlook will continue to be Above Average because:

1. The employment growth rate will likely to be above average because of ongoing trends--a growing and aging population that requires more health services, increased government funding for health care, Canadians with more dental insurance coverage, and new technologies that improve dental care. Demand may increase as more Canadians are likely to request preventive dental care.

2. Although the retirement rate will likely be average, the number of retiring workers should contribute to job openings.

3. The number of job seekers will likely match the number of job openings.

Highest Concetration:

The highest concentrations of Technical Occupations in Dental Health Care are found in Alberta and British Columbia while the lowest concentrations are in Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland.

Useful Experience:

1. Business procedures

2. Interpersonal skills

Part Time Workers

Part time workers:

27% of Technical Occupations in Dental Health Care are employed only on a part-time basis. There were 26,300 workers employed in these occupations in 2004, an increase of 22% since 1997.