Dental Hygienist
A dental hygienist provides preventive oral health care and treatment in dental clinics and hospitals under the supervision of a dentist. They perform clinical procedures including scaling, polishing, and root planing, educate patients on oral hygiene practices, and maintain detailed patient records.
What this job is
A dental hygienist provides preventive oral health care and treatment in dental clinics and hospitals under the supervision of a dentist. They perform clinical procedures including scaling, polishing, and root planing, educate patients on oral hygiene practices, and maintain detailed patient records. They work within the scope of practice defined by the Dental Board of Australia and comply with infection control standards set by the Australian Dental Association.
Are employers advertising this role?
Falling, down 22.9% over 5 years
Counted across a group of similar roles. These are three-month rolling averages of online job advertisements, not filled positions.
Source: Jobs and Skills Australia, Internet Vacancy Index.
Day-to-day
Assess patient oral health status by examining teeth, gums, and oral tissues using visual inspection and periodontal probing techniques. Perform mechanical scaling and debridement using ultrasonic and hand instruments to remove plaque, calculus, and stains from tooth surfaces. Polish teeth using prophylaxis paste and rotary instruments to remove extrinsic stains and create smooth tooth surfaces. Conduct root planing and subgingival curettage on patients with periodontal disease using curettes and ultrasonic devices. Apply preventive agents including fluoride varnish, sealants, and antimicrobial rinses according to clinical protocols. Obtain intraoral and extraoral radiographs using digital or conventional X-ray equipment and position holders, ensuring compliance with radiation safety standards. Educate patients on oral hygiene techniques, including tooth brushing, flossing, and interdental cleaning methods tailored to their clinical presentation. Advise patients on dietary factors affecting oral health, including sugar consumption and acidic beverages, and provide evidence-based recommendations.
Who does this now
About 1,300 people worked in this occupation across Australia at the 2021 Census.
What this role asks for
Bachelor degree or higher (ABS skill level 1)
Registration or licensing is required.
Can employers fill these jobs
Employers hiring for this occupation had trouble finding suitable applicants in 2025. This measures how hard employers found it to fill jobs. It is not a count of jobs, and it does not say whether the occupation is growing.
Requirements
The standard entry pathway requires a bachelor degree or higher (ABS Skill Level 1). Specific qualification requirements vary by employer and state. Some employers may accept equivalent experience. Check yourcareer.gov.au for available courses and dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/free-tafe for subsidised training options.
The honest hard part
You'll need a bachelor degree and registration with the Dental Board of Australia, which takes time and money to obtain. You're also always working under a dentist's supervision: you can't set up independently or make final clinical decisions. Pay is modest compared to the study required, and you're limited by how many patients a clinic can schedule and how many hours you work.
Where the jobs are
Most positions are in private dental practices rather than hospitals. Work is not remote and you need to be where the clinics are. Regional and rural areas often have shortages but fewer total positions available.
Pay
Published for ANZSCO unit group 4112, the wider group this job sits in, not for this job on its own.
This is the median for full-time employees who are not managers and are paid at the adult rate, before tax and salary sacrifice. It is a guide to what the work pays, not a wage rate.
Source: ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
Skills
- Accept own accountabilitycore
- Active Listeningcore
- Appointment Schedulingcore
- Attention to Detailcore
- Case Note Documentationcore
- Confidentiality and Privacy Compliancecore
- Empathy and Emotional Intelligencecore
- Health Record Administrationcore
- Health Terminology Literacycore
- HICAPS and Medicare Claiming Systemscore
- Policy and Procedure Adherencecore
- Practice Management Software (e.g., Best Practice, MedicalDirector)core
- Time Management and Prioritisationcore
- Verbal Communicationcore
- Administer appointments
- Continuous Learning and Upskilling
- Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity
- Incident Reporting
- Invoicing and Billing Administration
- Medicare and DVA Billing
- Regulatory and Legislative Awareness
- Risk Identification
- Team Collaboration
- Written Communication
Which of these do you have?
Tick the ones you haveCommon questions
Sources
- ABS OSCA 2024, occupation definition and task statements
- ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
- ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on usual place of residence (Custom Report). OSCA Experimental Estimates.
Role data is drawn from official Australian Government sources, and each figure names where it comes from. Where a role is not in the ABS classification, the page shows no government figures for it. Data may not reflect every local variation.
Last updated: 30 October 2026
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