Best Jobs For Former Dental Assistants [2026]

Transitioning from a career as a dental assistant can be challenging, especially as many professionals in the field are increasingly considering alternative career paths.

While enrollment in dental assistant programs remains steady, the number of individuals entering the workforce as dental assistants has declined, leading to concerns about job security and satisfaction within the profession.

This trend raises an important question:

What career paths are former dental assistants pursuing?

To find out, we analyzed the resumes of former dental assistants to discover the types of jobs they transitioned into after leaving the field. After reviewing thousands of entries, we narrowed it down to the top 100 careers.

Below is a snapshot of the ten most common jobs for former dental assistants:

Dental Hygienist (Overview)
Office Manager (Overview)
Customer Service Representative (Overview)
Sales Associate (Overview)
Administrative Assistant (Overview)
Dental Assistant/Receptionist (Overview)
Cashier (Overview)
Oral Surgery Assistant (Overview)
Registered Nurse (Overview)
Surgical Assistant (Overview)

These positions not only leverage the skills developed as a dental assistant but also serve as stepping stones to diverse career opportunities.

However, while this list provides a baseline, it can feel somewhat predictable. To add depth, let’s highlight some of the more unexpected and intriguing roles that former dental assistants have pursued.

Here are some of the most interesting jobs held by former dental assistants:

Office Manager (Overview)
Customer Service Representative (Overview)
Sales Associate (Overview)
Cashier (Overview)
Registered Nurse (Overview)
Receptionist (Overview)
Server (Overview)
Internship (Overview)
Pharmacist Technician (Overview)
Volunteer (Overview)

While the appeal of these roles varies, they are certainly noteworthy and reflect the diverse paths available for those leaving the dental assistant profession.

Methodology for Identifying Common Jobs of Former Dental Assistants

Our analysis utilized resume data from a comprehensive database of over 7 million resumes, focusing specifically on those that included dental assistant in their work history. We examined the subsequent job titles listed to identify trends, ranking them by frequency.

To curate our list of interesting jobs, we filtered through the rankings to find positions that:

Appeared in less than 1% of total job entries
Were not included in the top 100 common jobs from our database

With this approach, we present the full ranked list of the most common jobs for former dental assistants.

Detailed Ranking of the Most Common Jobs of Former Dental Assistants

Rank	Job Title	%
1	Dental Hygienist	5.32%
2	Office Manager	2.67%
3	Customer Service Representative	2.43%
4	Sales Associate	2.14%
5	Administrative Assistant	2.12%
6	Dental Assistant/Receptionist	1.25%
7	Cashier	1.23%
8	Oral Surgery Assistant	1.16%
9	Registered Nurse	1.1%
10	Surgical Assistant	1.05%
11	Receptionist	1.02%
12	Registered Dental Assistant	0.97%
13	Server	0.95%
14	Office Assistant	0.91%
15	Medical Assistant	0.89%
16	Dentist	0.86%
17	Internship	0.84%
18	Lead Dental Assistant	0.82%
19	Assistant Manager	0.81%
20	Certified Nursing Assistant	0.67%
21	Orthodontic Assistant	0.64%
22	Pharmacist Technician	0.63%
23	Volunteer	0.61%
24	Manager	0.6%
25	Teacher	0.55%
26	Dental Assisting Instructor	0.55%
27	Assistant	0.48%
28	Substitute Teacher	0.48%
29	Office Administrator	0.48%
30	Home Health Aide	0.47%
31	Front Desk Receptionist	0.46%
32	Research Assistant	0.46%
33	Front Desk Coordinator	0.44%
34	Secretary	0.41%
35	General Dentist	0.41%
36	Certified Dental Assistant	0.38%
37	Billing Specialist	0.34%
38	Customer Service Trainer	0.34%
39	Licensed Practical Nurse	0.34%
40	Treatment Coordinator	0.33%
41	Teller	0.31%
42	Waitress	0.3%
43	Technician	0.3%
44	Preschool Teacher	0.3%
45	Assistant Office Manager	0.29%
46	Associate	0.29%
47	Patient Coordinator	0.29%
48	Supervisor	0.29%
49	Teacher Assistant	0.29%
50	Associate Dentist	0.29%
51	Scheduling Coordinator	0.29%
52	Expanded Function Dental Assistant	0.26%
53	Coordinator	0.26%
54	Dental Receptionist	0.26%
55	Surgical Dental Assistant	0.26%
56	Sales Representative	0.26%
57	Warehouse Associate	0.26%
58	Security Officer	0.26%
59	Customer Service Associate	0.25%
60	Team Leader	0.25%
61	Surgical Technician	0.25%
62	Store Manager	0.24%
63	Unit Secretary	0.24%
64	Owner	0.22%
65	Patient Care Coordinator	0.22%
66	Medical Receptionist	0.22%
67	Insurance Coordinator	0.22%
68	Front Office Assistant	0.21%
69	Clerk	0.21%
70	Teaching Assistant	0.21%
71	Owner/operator	0.21%
72	Representative	0.21%
73	Front Office Manager	0.2%
74	Bartender	0.2%
75	Nanny	0.2%
76	Radiologic Technician	0.18%
77	Finance Coordinator	0.18%
78	Patient Service Representative	0.18%
79	Service Representative	0.17%
80	Specialist	0.17%
81	Personal Assistant	0.17%
82	Claim Processor	0.16%
83	Medical Records Clerk	0.16%
84	Barista	0.16%
85	Laboratory Assistant	0.16%
86	Data Entry Clerk	0.16%
87	Front Office Coordinator	0.16%
88	Bartender Server	0.16%
89	Human Resources Coordinator	0.16%
90	Practice Manager	0.16%
91	Phlebotomist	0.16%
92	Account Manager	0.16%
93	Executive Assistant	0.16%
94	In-Home Childcare Provider	0.14%
95	Laboratory Technician	0.14%
96	Business Owner	0.14%
97	Shift Supervisor	0.14%
98	Case Manager	0.14%
99	Dental Assistant Extern	0.14%
100	Dental Office Manager	0.14%

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.

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