NOC 31110 · Health occupations
NOC 31110: Dentists
TEER
1
University degree
Median wage (Canada)
$110,000/yr
Job Bank 2025
Express Entry (FSW, CEC)
Skilled (TEER 0–3)
Per IRCC’s TEER rule
What dentists do
Dentists diagnose, treat, prevent and control disorders of the teeth and mouth. They work in private practice or may be employed in hospitals, clinics, public health facilities or universities.
Main duties
This group performs some or all of the following duties:
- Dentists
- Examine patients' teeth, gums and surrounding tissue to diagnose disease, injury and decay and plan appropriate preventative or corrective treatment
- Provide general dental care such as cleaning teeth, filling cavities, performing root canals, applying veneers, and fitting crowns, bridges and dentures
- Restore, extract and replace diseased and decayed teeth
- Instruct patients on oral hygiene and preventive dental care
- Monitor patient progress to identify changes or the progression of dental disease
- Prescribe antibiotics or other medication as required
- Bleach, clean, or polish teeth to restore natural color
- Supervise dental hygienists, dental assistants and other staff
- Refer patients to dental specialists as needed for recommended procedures
- May provide basic orthodontic treatments with additional training.
- Oral and maxillofacial surgeons
- Collaborate with other professionals, such as restorative dentists and orthodontists, to plan treatment
- Administer general and local anesthetics
- Perform surgery to prepare the mouth for dental implants or to aid in the regeneration of deficient bone and gum tissues
- Remove impacted, damaged, and non-restorable teeth, as well as tumors and other abnormal growths of the oral and facial regions
- Perform surgery on the mouth and jaws to treat conditions, such as cleft lip, palate, and jaw growth problems
- Provide emergency treatment of facial injuries including facial lacerations, intra-oral lacerations, and fractured facial bones
- Treat infections of the oral cavity, salivary glands, jaws, and neck.
- Orthodontists
- Examine patients' teeth, gums and surrounding tissue to assess abnormalities of jaw development, tooth position, and other dental-facial structures
- Diagnose teeth and jaw or other dental-facial abnormalities
- Propose treatment plan for conditions such as underbites, overbites, crowding and others
- Design and fabricate appliances, such as space maintainers, retainers, and labial and lingual arch wires
- Fit dental appliances in patients' mouths to alter the position and relationship of teeth and jaws or to realign teeth
- Coordinate orthodontic services with other dental and medical professionals
- Educate patients about improving and maintaining orthodontic care, and promoting routine dental health care.
- Prosthodontists
- Examine patient's teeth, gums and jaws to diagnose disease, injury and decay, and plan appropriate treatment to enhance patients' dental and facial aesthetics, or correct orofacial problems
- Replace missing teeth and associated oral structures with permanent fixtures, such as implant-supported prostheses, crowns and bridges, or removable fixtures, such as dentures
- Restore function and improve aesthetics for traumatic injury victims, or individuals with diseases or birth defects
- Design and fabricate dental prostheses, or supervise dental technicians who construct the devices
- Fit prostheses to patients, making any necessary adjustments and modifications
- Restore damaged teeth with materials such as fillings, veneers and crowns
- Collaborate with general dentists, dental specialists, and other health professionals to develop solutions to dental and oral health concerns.
Job titles under NOC 31110
20 job titles are classified here, including dentist, endodontist, oral and maxillofacial surgeon.
- dental surgeon
- dentist
- doctor of dental surgery
- endodontist
- general practice dentist
- implantologist - dentistry
- oral and dental surgeon
- oral and maxillofacial surgeon
- oral medicine specialist
- oral pathologist
- oral pathology and maxillofacial surgery specialist
- oral radiologist
- oral surgeon
- orthodontist
- pediatric dentist
- pedodontist
- periodontist
- prosthodontist
- public health dentist
- stomatologist
Employment requirements
- Dentists
- Two to four years of pre-dentistry university studies or, in Quebec, completion of a college program in sciences and a university degree from a recognized dental program are required.
- Licensing by a provincial or territorial regulatory body is required.
- Dentists in general practice can move into a specialized practice through advanced training.
- Oral and maxillofacial surgeons
- Four to seven years of specialty residency training in oral and maxillofacial surgery are required.
- Orthodontists
- Three years advanced orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics program accredited by the Canadian Dental Association is required.
- Prosthodontists
- Three years advanced prosthodontics program accredited by the Canadian Dental Association is required.
Dentists wages in Canada
Low, median and high annual salaries from Job Bank’s 2025 wage data.
| Where | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|
Canada | $32,867/yr | $110,000/yr | $228,000/yr |
Toronto ON | $37,561/yr | $100,000/yr | $200,000/yr |
Montréal QC | $33,109/yr | $111,000/yr | $306,000/yr |
Vancouver Lower Mainland region, BC | $37,929/yr | $78,000/yr | $196,000/yr |
Calgary AB | $32,867/yr | $113,000/yr | $222,000/yr |
Edmonton AB | $44,800/yr | $147,000/yr | $332,000/yr |
Ottawa ON | $37,561/yr | $122,000/yr | $244,000/yr |
Winnipeg MB | — | $116,000/yr | — |
Québec City Quebec region, QC | $33,109/yr | $106,000/yr | $228,000/yr |
Hamilton Hamilton–Niagara Peninsula region, ON | — | $108,000/yr | — |
Kitchener-Waterloo Kitchener–Waterloo–Barrie region, ON | — | $105,000/yr | — |
London ON | — | $81,000/yr | — |
Halifax NS | — | $159,000/yr | — |
Victoria Vancouver Island and Coast region, BC | — | $124,000/yr | — |
Saskatoon Saskatoon–Biggar region, SK | — | $90,000/yr | — |
| Where | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|
Newfoundland and Labrador | — | $180,000/yr | — |
Nova Scotia | — | $126,000/yr | — |
New Brunswick | — | $132,000/yr | — |
Quebec | $33,109/yr | $106,000/yr | $228,000/yr |
Ontario | $37,561/yr | $104,000/yr | $210,000/yr |
Manitoba | — | $116,000/yr | — |
Saskatchewan | — | $110,000/yr | — |
Alberta | $32,867/yr | $120,000/yr | $270,000/yr |
British Columbia | $37,929/yr | $84,000/yr | $214,000/yr |
Using NOC 31110 for your resume or Express Entry profile
- IRCC asks you to make sure the main duties listed for your NOC match what you actually did at your job. If they don’t, look for another unit group whose duties do.
- Describe your own work in your own words. Recruiters and ATS software look for concrete tools, results and scope, not text copied from the NOC.
- Applying from outside Canada? Run your resume through the Canadian resume format checker to catch things Canadian employers don’t expect, like a photo or date of birth.
- Use the job title the employer’s posting uses. The 20 titles above are how the same work is named across employers.
Not in this group
Similar jobs classified under a different NOC code:
- Dental assistants and dental laboratory assistants (NOC 33100)
- Dental hygienists and dental therapists (NOC 32111)
- Dental technologists and technicians (NOC 32112)
- Denturists (NOC 32110)
Frequently asked questions
What is the NOC code for dentists?
Dentists are NOC 2021 unit group 31110. Example job titles in this group include dentist, endodontist, oral and maxillofacial surgeon, oral pathologist.
What TEER is NOC 31110?
NOC 31110 is TEER 1 (University degree). Usually requires a university degree (bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate), or experience from a related TEER 2 occupation. TEER 0, 1, 2 and 3 work counts as skilled work experience for Express Entry’s Federal Skilled Worker and Canadian Experience Class programs.
How much do dentists earn in Canada?
Job Bank's 2025 wage data puts the median at $110,000 a year, with a range of $32,867/yr to $228,000/yr.
Related occupations
Sources: Statistics Canada, National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2021 Version 1.0; Employment and Social Development Canada, Job Bank wages (2025). Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada. OfferJetAI is not affiliated with the Government of Canada. Check IRCC’s NOC guidance before you apply.