How to become a Dentist
Treats tooth decay and diseases of the gums and surrounding tissues, and teaches people how to prevent them.
Main tasks
- Listening to patients, examining their teeth using a dental mirror, X-rays and other tools, and deciding on treatment
- Drilling out decay and covering the area with filling material or a metal crown
- Pulling teeth and fitting false teeth or dentures
- Carrying out oral hygiene treatments such as removing tartar
- Teaching patients how to brush to prevent tooth decay and gum disease
- Carrying out cosmetic treatments such as whitening
- Fitting braces to straighten teeth and checking them regularly
- Writing medical certificates when patients ask for them
- Working with doctors and hospitals when treating patients with other medical conditions
- Carrying out oral surgery
- Examining and treating patients with disability
- Examining and treating children's mouths
- Visiting schools and workplaces to carry out dental check-ups
- Giving dental health guidance to patients and children
- Guiding and directing dental hygienists and dental technicians on caring for and disinfecting equipment and assisting with treatment
- Guiding and training students on clinical placements
- Processing insurance claims
- Making dental prostheses to fit patients
Workers in this job say university or a master's degree is common. From job tag's survey of people in each job, who could give several answers. It shows what workers see as common, not how many workers hold each level.
How to become one
You study dentistry at university for six years, pass the national dentist exam and then complete at least one year of clinical training. After that, some dentists build experience working as employed dentists in hospitals or dental clinics and then open their own practice. You need to be someone who communicates well with patients, and to be calm, attentive, have good judgement and be good with your hands.
Ways in
- University: Medicine & Dentistry degrees, Offered by 62 universities in Japan
- National licence or qualification: Listed by job tag as a qualification related to this job (関連資格): 歯科医師. Needed to do this job (Peernovo, from job tag's entry description). English name and classification by Peernovo.
Pay · Job openings · AI and this job
- Average annual income: ¥10,626,900 Private sector only: employers with 10 or more staff. Public servants, such as public school teachers and police officers, are not in these figures.
- Monthly base pay (before overtime and bonus): median ¥792,600, and the middle half earn ¥484,700 to ¥1,009,300 a month.
- 2.03 job openings per applicant at Hello Work (2025). A current demand signal, not a projection. It counts only the jobs and job seekers registered at Hello Work, Japan's public employment offices, and many graduate and professional hires never pass through it.
- Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
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Questions people ask
How do I become a Dentist?
You study dentistry at university for six years, pass the national dentist exam and then complete at least one year of clinical training. After that, some dentists build experience working as employed dentists in hospitals or dental clinics and then open their own practice. You need to be someone who communicates well with patients, and to be calm, attentive, have good judgement and be good with your hands.
How much does a Dentist earn in Japan?
Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥10,626,900 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare).
Do you need a degree to become a Dentist?
Usually. In this job's census occupation group, 98% of workers are university graduates.
Will AI change the work of a Dentist?
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: Basic Survey on Wage Structure (賃金構造基本統計調査) 2025: earnings by occupation (2025 survey (June 2025 pay, 2024 bonus), published 2026-03-24), Government Standard Terms of Use 2.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: Employment Referrals for General Workers (一般職業紹介状況): Hello Work job-openings-to-applicants ratio by occupation (2025 annual (release of 2026-10-02)), Government Standard Terms of Use 2.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- Statistics Bureau of Japan (MIC): 2020 Population Census (令和2年国勢調査) detailed sample tabulation: employed by occupation, sex, age and education (2020 Census (tables 9-1 and 15-1, published 2022-12-27)), Government Standard Terms of Use 2.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- JILPT (職業情報データベース) via MHLW job tag: job tag download data: 解説系 (descriptions, how to become, related qualifications) and 簡易版数値系 (interests, tasks, education) (解説系 ver.7.01 (2026-06-04); 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00 (2026-03-17)), retrieved 4 October 2026
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 解説系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_description_7_01.xlsx）ver.7.01 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成
独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 簡易版数値系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_numeric_7_00.xlsx）ver.7.00 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成
Sources: JILPT Occupational Information Database download data via job tag (解説系 ver.7.01 and 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00, downloaded 4 October 2026), processed by Peernovo; MHLW, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025; Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2020 Population Census; MEXT, School Basic Survey 2025; MHLW, Employment Referrals for General Workers (Hello Work statistics). Figures processed by Peernovo. English job names, translations and the matching of jobs to statistical groups, schools and degree fields by Peernovo.
Updated 4 October 2026