Dentists are below average when it comes to happiness.

At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, dentists rate their career happiness 3.0 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 36% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy dentists are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:

Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers

Career Satisfaction Avg Salary
Chiropractor
3.1
$56k
Prosthodontist
3.1
$234k
Pathologist
3.1
$201k
Dental hygienist
3.1
$75k
Dentist
3.0
$128k
Physician assistant
3.0
$111k
Immunologist
3.0
$201k
Occupational therapist assistant
3.0
$52k
Surgical technologist
3.0
$30k

So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:

  • Salary: Are dentists happy with their salary?
  • Meaning: Do dentists find their jobs meaningful?
  • Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as dentists?
  • Work environment: How enjoyable are dentist’s work environments?
  • Skills utilization: Are dentists making the best use of their abilities?

Are dentists happy with their salary?

Dentists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.2/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most dentists having generally positive views of their salary.

We asked dentists how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:

3.2 out of 5 stars

448 dentists

5 Star
25%

25% of dentists rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
21%

21% of dentists rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
21%

21% of dentists rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
15%

15% of dentists rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
18%

18% of dentists rated their compensation 1 stars

Do dentists find their jobs meaningful?

On average, dentists rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.9/5. While most dentists aren’t very fulfilled by their work, some people may still manage to find meaning in it.

We asked dentists how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

2.9 out of 5 stars

459 dentists

5 Star
20%

20% of dentists rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
19%

19% of dentists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
19%

19% of dentists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
21%

21% of dentists rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
22%

22% of dentists rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as dentists?

Dentists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.6/5. The majority of dentists find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

We asked dentists how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:

3.6 out of 5 stars

496 dentists

5 Star
29%

29% of dentists rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
28%

28% of dentists rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of dentists rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
11%

11% of dentists rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
7%

7% of dentists rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a dentist’s work environment?

As a whole, dentists rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.4/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.

We asked dentists how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

3.4 out of 5 stars

490 dentists

5 Star
23%

23% of dentists rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
28%

28% of dentists rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of dentists rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
15%

15% of dentists rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
10%

10% of dentists rated their work environment 1 stars

Are dentists making the best use of their abilities?

Former dentists on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.1/5. Most dentists are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.

We asked dentists how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:

3.1 out of 5 stars

488 dentists

5 Star
22%

22% of dentists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
19%

19% of dentists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
23%

23% of dentists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
22%

22% of dentists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
14%

14% of dentists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars