Dentistry

How to become an oral health therapist

Official title: Oral health therapist

Also called: Dental therapist, Dental hygienist, Oral hygienist, Dental health therapist

Oral health therapists check, clean and treat teeth and gums, educate about oral care, take x-rays and keep records. They may promote oral health in the community.

Main tasks

Check patients' oral health
Identify dental diseases
Create treatment plans
Give advice to prevent future oral issues
Educate patients on oral hygiene
Perform dental treatments
Take and analyse x-rays
Maintain patient records

How to become one

You need a qualification to become an oral health therapist. You need University Entrance to do the study or training for this job Required: a bachelor's degree in oral health or similar; an Annual Practising Certificate; to pass a police check. Other requirements: a Postgraduate Diploma in Dental Therapy; a Master of Oral Health; to be registered with the Dental Council of New Zealand. Registration body: Dental Council of New Zealand.

See the full Tahatū profile

Ways in

University: Medicine & Dentistry degrees, Offered by 2 universities in New Zealand
Registration or licence: An Annual Practising Certificate. Registration body: Dental Council of New Zealand (https://www.dcnz.org.nz/).

Pay · Past change · AI and this job

Most common pay: $74,000 to $104,000 a year (median $90,000), a TEC estimate before tax.
Lower: $59,000 a year · Upper: $120,000 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: Steady (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
People employed in the group Dental Hygienists, Technicians and Therapists: 1,674 at the 2018 Census and 1,953 at the 2023 Census (+16.7%). 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 1,100 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
In the group Dental Hygienists, Technicians and Therapists, 75% of workers are female (sex at birth, 2023 Census).
Where people in the group Dental Hygienists, Technicians and Therapists work (2023 Census): Auckland 36%, Canterbury 11.7%, and Wellington 11%.

Questions people ask

How do I become an oral health therapist?

How much does an oral health therapist earn in New Zealand?

The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $90,000 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $74,000 to $104,000 a year.

Has the number of people working as an oral health therapist grown in New Zealand?

It has held steady: TEC records the number of people doing this job as steady between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.

Will AI change the work of an oral health therapist?

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