Occupational Employment and Wages, November 2003

29-1020 Dentists

This broad occupation includes the following five detailed occupations:

29-1021 Dentists, General
Diagnose and treat diseases, injuries, and malformations of teeth and gums and related oral structures. May treat diseases of nerve, pulp, and other dental tissues affecting vitality of teeth. Exclude "Prosthodontists" (29-1024), "Orthodontists" (29-1023), "Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons" (29-1022) and "Dentists, all other specialists" (29-1029)

29-1022 Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
Perform surgery on mouth, jaws, and related head and neck structure to execute difficult and multiple extractions of teeth, to remove tumors and other abnormal growths, to correct abnormal jaw relations by mandibular or maxillary revision, to prepare mouth for insertion of dental prosthesis, or to treat fractured jaws.

29-1023 Orthodontists
Examine, diagnose, and treat dental malocclusions and oral cavity anomalies. Design and fabricate appliances to realign teeth and jaws to produce and maintain normal function and to improve appearance.

29-1024 Prosthodontists
Construct oral prostheses to replace missing teeth and other oral structures to correct natural and acquired deformation of mouth and jaws, to restore and maintain oral function, such as chewing and speaking, and to improve appearance.

29-1029 Dentists, All Other Specialists
All dentists not listed separately.

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of workers in this occupation:

(1) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.

(2) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.

(3) The relative standard error (RSE) is a measure of the reliability of a survey statistic. The smaller the relative standard error, the more precise the estimate.

(5) This percentile wage is equal to or greater than $70.00 per hour or $145,600 per year.

(7) Estimates not released.