General Dentist Job Description Template

Start with the duties — the duties list is the shortest honest description of the job there is.

BLS summarizes a dentist's typical duties as removing decay and filling cavities, repairing or removing damaged teeth, placing sealants, administering anesthetics, prescribing antibiotics or other medications, examining x-rays, and making models and measurements for dental appliances such as dentures.

List the ones this seat will actually perform, plus any other procedures the practice keeps in-house:

• Exams, diagnosis and treatment planning
• Restorative work — fillings, crowns and bridges
• Extractions and other oral surgery the practice keeps in-house
• Root canal treatment, if this role performs it rather than referring it out
• Sealants and other preventive care
• Administering anesthetics
• Prescribing antibiotics and other medications when appropriate
• Dentures and other dental appliances — models and measurements
• [ADD procedures specific to this role — implant placement, molar endodontics, clear aligners, etc.]

For the requirements section, BLS names the qualities that matter for dentists as communication skills, attention to detail, dexterity, leadership, organizational skills, patience and problem-solving — screen for those specifically rather than a generic "team player" line.

Put the comp structure, by name and number, in the first three lines — percentage of production or collections (state the percentage), a daily-rate guarantee, or a base-plus-bonus figure.

"Competitive compensation" is not information and reads as evasive.

Quote a pay range or a percentage from your state's salary data where you have it.

If the role is percentage-based, give the percentage and a realistic production estimate so a candidate can do the math themselves.

Describe the schedule and case mix: new-patient flow, patients per day, and whether specialty cases are referred out or kept in-house.

This tells a candidate what the day actually looks like far better than a culture paragraph.

State the credential precisely — "Active [STATE] dental licence" plus, if the role prescribes controlled substances, an active DEA registration, which is a separate federal requirement and not part of the state licence.

If the role involves sedation or general anesthesia, name your state's specific permit for it — what each state's board requires for sedation permits is set state by state, so check your board's rule before you list one.

What a general dentist can do covers how scope and permits differ from a specialist's.

Say plainly whether a non-compete applies, so a candidate can have it reviewed before an interview rather than discovering it at the offer stage.

If the seat you're filling is a straightforward employed associate role, the associate dentist job description template is the tighter one — this page covers the general-dentist seat and the pay-structure decisions that come with it.

And if you're reading as a candidate rather than writing the posting, judge any description against this list: one that names its duties, schedule and pay structure is telling you more about the actual job than a longer one that names none of them.

The permit line is where a template written for another state trips you up.

A dental licence covers general practice in the state that issued it, but sedation sits on top of the licence: what administering moderate sedation, deep sedation, or general anesthesia takes — and which state-issued permit — is set by your state, and it differs from state to state.

A job description that lists "IV sedation" as a duty because a template happened to include it can describe a permit level your own state issues differently, or that the candidate doesn't hold yet — check what your state actually requires before you post it, rather than copying the line.

The comp structure is the other place templates go wrong.

ADA guidance says employed dentists can be paid a flat salary or hourly rate, but pay based on a percentage of production or collections is more common — a percentage that can sit under a daily-rate guarantee while the schedule fills, or take a back seat to a base salary with a production bonus on top.

Our research found no primary or ADA source for a standard percentage or base for any of these, so don't present any figure as a national standard your practice must match, and don't just say "competitive" or copy a percentage from a national average — a candidate reads that as a sign you haven't thought through what your own schedule can support.

Don't skip the non-compete disclosure, either.

If your offer includes one, disclose it in the listing or early in the process rather than at the offer stage.

Enforceability is set by state law and varies widely — some states bar them for dentists outright — so a candidate reviewing yours needs to know whether your state applies before they can evaluate the offer.

Reading this page as a job seeker rather than the person writing it: the duties list above is the job, and the career around it has three shapes — BLS describes dentists' work arrangements as owning a practice alone or with a small staff, being a partner in a practice, or working as an associate dentist for an established practice.

The wider picture (training length, pay by state, the road from associate to owner) is on the dentist career guide, and open dentist jobs are listed on the job board.