What does dental care pay in 2026?

Anyone hiring in dental care for the first time goes looking for a table that doesn’t exist. There is no collective agreement, and the pay guideline everyone leaned on for years has been withdrawn. This is what the market pays in 2026 — with the caveats that go with it.

Why there is no official scale

There has been no collective agreement for dental assistants for around twenty years. And the KNMT terms-of-employment scheme, for years the reference point for practices, no longer exists either: the Dutch competition authority ruled that trade bodies may not issue pay recommendations, after which the KNMT withdrew the scheme.

Something new is being worked on. Since 2025 employers and unions (FNV, CNV and AVV) have been exploring whether a collective agreement for dental care can be reached after all; those talks continue in 2026. Until then: you decide what you offer — and the market decides whether that is enough.

The indications per role

The starting point is what practices offer in their job ads: the vacancies with a salary, alongside salary overviews from career sites and agencies. So this is not a norm but our reading of the market — what to expect if you hire someone now. Experience and range of duties make hundreds of euros of difference.

• Dental assistant: roughly € 2.500 to € 3.300^* gross per month; someone starting out begins at around € 2.500.
• Prevention assistant: around € 2.500 to € 3.400^* gross per month. Striking: the gap with a regular assistant is small, while the range of duties is larger. Train an assistant up to prevention assistant without moving the salary and you are training for the competition.
• Dental hygienist (employed): roughly € 3.000 to € 4.500^* gross per month at 38 hours, depending on experience and independence.

* For specific specialisms or more seniority, we also see higher salaries in the market.

All ten roles side by side, with the method, are in our dental care salary benchmark 2026.

And the locum or self-employed professional?

For locum dentists the market usually works not in monthly salaries but in a percentage of the turnover generated: between 30 and 50 per cent, with around 40 per cent as the usual middle. Where you land in that band depends on region, chair occupancy and experience. More on that in our article on hiring locums.

If the locum dentist charges by time rather than percentage, € 120 to € 150 per hour excluding VAT is usual for an experienced locum — which works out at roughly € 960 to € 1.200 for an 8-hour clinical day.

Looking at these figures as a clinician and wondering what is left of that hourly rate? The candidate side of that calculation — insurance, pension, empty schedule — is in our guide to self-employment or salaried employment in dental care.

What to do with this

Three things. One: recalibrate your salaries every year against what is offered in your region — not against what you paid last year. Two: put the figure in your advert. Now that nobody can point to a collective agreement, a concrete figure is the first thing a candidate selects on; why that works is explained in the article on job adverts. Three: look beyond the monthly figure — a training budget for prevention duties or a fixed rota is just as decisive for many candidates.

Not sure whether your offer is in line with the market? We see every week what practices offer and what candidates accept. One phone call and you will know where you stand.

Sources

• KNMT — Collective agreement en KNMT — exploring an alternative to the terms-of-employment scheme
• CNV — collective agreement for dental assistants
• Dental Care Professionals — pay for dental assistants and prevention assistants
• Capabel — dental assistant pay
• Jobted — dental hygienist pay
• De Startende Tandarts — percentages for locum work
• Kop van Brabant — zzp-uurtarieven tandheelkunde