How to become a dental assistant
Official title: Dental assistant
Also called: Dental surgery assistant, Orthodontic auxiliary
Dental assistants help dentists with patient care and treatment. They also prepare and clean equipment, schedule appointments and give oral health care advice to patients.
Main tasks
- Assist dentists to perform procedures
- Sterilise and prepare equipment
- Maintain medical records
- Use medical equipment
- Explain procedures to patients and whānau
- Prepare rooms for dental procedures
- Perform suctioning during dental procedures
- Do reception duties
How to become one
You usually learn on the job to become a dental assistant and a qualification may be useful. You usually don’t need specific NCEA levels for this job. Other requirements: to complete a Certificate in Dental Assisting; to pass a police check. Registration body: Dental Council of New Zealand.
Ways in
- Registration or licence: Registration body: Dental Council of New Zealand (https://www.dcnz.org.nz/).
Pay · Past change · AI and this job
- Most common pay: $73,529 to $80,630 a year (median $77,084), a TEC estimate before tax.
- Lower: $69,975 a year · Upper: $84,193 a year
- TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
- Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Increase (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
- People employed in the group Dental Assistants: 3,240 at the 2018 Census and 3,783 at the 2023 Census (+16.8%). Past change, not a forecast.
- Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Who does this work
- About 3,200 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
- In the group Dental Assistants, 96% of workers are female (sex at birth, 2023 Census).
- Where people in the group Dental Assistants work (2023 Census): Auckland 32.4%, Canterbury 11.5%, and Wellington 10.5%.
Related jobs
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Questions people ask
How do I become a dental assistant?
You usually learn on the job to become a dental assistant and a qualification may be useful. You usually don’t need specific NCEA levels for this job. Other requirements: to complete a Certificate in Dental Assisting; to pass a police check. Registration body: Dental Council of New Zealand.
How much does a dental assistant earn in New Zealand?
The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $77,084 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $73,529 to $80,630 a year.
Has the number of people working as a dental assistant grown in New Zealand?
It has grown: TEC records an increase in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.
Will AI change the work of a dental assistant?
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census totals by topic for individuals 2013, 2018, 2023 (CEN23_TBT_004): employed by occupation, ANZSCO V1.3, summed to unit group (2023 Census (CEN23_TBT_004)), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
- Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census 2023: employed by regional council, occupation (ANZSCO V1.3 unit group) and sex at birth (2023 Census), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), 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
This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.
Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.
This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.
Includes information from O*NET OnLine 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. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.
These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.
Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.
Updated 4 October 2026