Hours worked by dentists vary by experience

The number of hours worked per week has been slowly increasing for U.S. dentists since 2010 regardless of how many years of experience they have, according to data from the ADA Health Policy Institute.

However, dentists who are 10 years out of dental school or less work more hours per week than more experienced dentists, data shows. 

In 2024, that group of dentists worked just more than 37 hours per week compared with about 35 hours among dentists who were more than 25 years out of dental school.