AI exposure Healthcare practitioners and technical
Will AI replace dental hygienists?
Dental Hygienists. US occupation 29-1292.
The reading
0.0%
of the time dental hygienists spend on their work goes on tasks where AI is already being used to do that work.of dental hygienists' working hours go on tasks AI has already started taking off their plate.
Ranked 346 of 756 US occupations. No AI use seen in the work yet, along with 410 other occupations.No handover started yet, along with 410 other occupations.
Per cent of working time Square-law scale
Average US job 7.7%
Among the least exposed jobs there are.Still waiting for liberation.
What AI already does for dental hygienistsWhat dental hygienists no longer do alone
O*NET lists 16 tasks for dental hygienists. AI use at work shows up in 1 of them, though too little of the job's time goes on them to register in the exposure figure. Each score runs from 0.5, where every observed use helps a person with the task, to 1, where every use does the task outright.
- Record and review patient medical histories.Core task automated and assisted 0.72
What it does not touch, yetWhat still needs a human
15 of the 16 tasks show no AI use at work in the data.
- Administer local anesthetic agents.Core task
- Apply fluorides or other cavity preventing agents to arrest dental decay.Core task
- Attend continuing education courses to maintain or update skills.Core task
- Chart conditions of decay and disease for diagnosis and treatment by dentist.Core task
- Clean calcareous deposits, accretions, and stains from teeth and beneath margins of gums, using dental instruments.Core task
- Examine gums, using probes, to locate periodontal recessed gums and signs of gum disease.Core task
Show the other 9
- Expose and develop x-ray film.Core task
- Feel and visually examine gums for sores and signs of disease.Core task
- Feel lymph nodes under patient's chin to detect swelling or tenderness that could indicate presence of oral cancer.Core task
- Maintain dental equipment and sharpen and sterilize dental instruments.Core task
- Maintain patient recall system.Core task
- Provide clinical services or health education to improve and maintain the oral health of patients or the general public.Core task
- Remove excess cement from coronal surfaces of teeth.Core task
- Conduct dental health clinics for community groups to augment services of dentist.
- Make impressions for study casts.
How that compares
Among the 65 healthcare practitioners and technical occupations, dental hygienists rank 31. The group averages 4.1%, and its most exposed job is Medical Records Specialists at 66.7%. The average US occupation sits at 7.7%.
Level with 0.0%
What this does and does not mean
Exposure is observed use, not a forecast. Anthropic maps work conversations with Claude onto the tasks O*NET lists for each job and asks, of the tasks AI could speed up, which are actually being used for at work. A use that does the task outright counts in full and a use that assists a person counts half. The task scores are averaged into the occupation figure by the share of time spent on each task.
A high figure means AI is already part of how this work gets done. It does not mean anyone has been replaced. Anthropic's own reading of the labour market finds no systematic rise in unemployment among exposed workers so far, and about 14% fewer 22 to 25 year olds starting exposed jobs.No measurable rise in unemployment among exposed workers so far, and about 14% fewer 22 to 25 year olds starting these jobs. Gap years for everyone. Labor market impacts, 5 March 2026.
Task list and titles from O*NET 31.0 by the US Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. Scores from the Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY). Checked 1 November 2026. How the ranking works.