Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between dental assistants and pharmacist technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a dental assistant has an average salary of $37,730, which is higher than the $36,090 average annual salary of a pharmacist technician.
The top three skills for a dental assistant include patients, patient care and CPR. The most important skills for a pharmacist technician are patients, math, and direct supervision.
| Dental Assistant | Pharmacist Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $37,730 | $36,090 |
| Hourly rate | $18.14 | $17.35 |
| Growth rate | 8% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 69,835 | 73,800 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 1 |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 23% | Bachelor's Degree, 35% |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Years of experience | 2 | - |
Dental assistants provide patient care, have the ability to take x-rays, blood pressure readings, and help dentists perform treatments and procedures. They also keep patients' dental records, schedule appointments, prepare and maintain materials and equipment. They may conduct tests that are not much complicated and would not require the supervision of a dentist or dental surgeon. They also may administer and dispense medications to patients under the doctor's orders. Most dental assistants work in dentists' offices as full time in dental practice, but they can specialize and get employment in orthodontic or periodontist offices and other practices.
Pharmacist technicians assist pharmacists in their daily activities. They receive prescription medicine order requests of customers, validate the prescription, prepare the medicines, properly label medicine bottles, and hand them off to customers. They also answer customer inquiries and attend to customer concerns. Pharmacist technicians also manage the pharmacy's inventory and ensure that all records are up to date. They are also authorized to create purchase requisition requests for medicines that are running low and need to be refilled, but these requests should still be authorized by a doctor.
Dental assistants and pharmacist technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Dental Assistant | Pharmacist Technician | |
| Average salary | $37,730 | $36,090 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $50,000 | Between $26,000 And $48,000 |
| Highest paying City | Saint Paul, MN | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Alameda Health System | Valley Presbyterian Hospital |
| Best paying industry | Government | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a dental assistant and a pharmacist technician in terms of educational background:
| Dental Assistant | Pharmacist Technician | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 23% | Bachelor's Degree, 35% |
| Most common major | Dental Assisting | Pharmacy |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between dental assistants' and pharmacist technicians' demographics:
| Dental Assistant | Pharmacist Technician | |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 11.5% Female, 88.5% | Male, 24.9% Female, 75.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.3% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 24.4% Asian, 9.1% White, 52.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 10.1% White, 60.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 5% |