Knowledge · updated 8 October 2026
Dental care salary benchmark 2026.
In job ads, a dental assistant is usually offered € 2.500 to € 3.300 gross per month, and an employed dental hygienist € 3.000 to € 4.500. Below are ten roles, with the method included.
Salary by role.
Gross per month, in employment, for a full week of 38 hours. The midpoint is where most vacancies land.
| Role | Range | Midpoint |
|---|---|---|
| Dental assistant | € 2.500 – 3.300*someone starting out begins at around € 2.500 | ± € 2.900 |
| Prevention assistant | € 2.500 – 3.400*at the top end € 50 – 100 above a dental assistant | ± € 2.970 |
| Periodontal prevention assistant | € 2.600 – 3.500* | ± € 3.100 |
| Orthodontic assistant | € 2.550 – 3.600* | ± € 3.050 |
| Front desk assistant | € 2.500 – 3.200* | ± € 2.900 |
| Dental hygienist | € 3.000 – 4.500* | ± € 3.800 |
| Practice manager | € 3.250 – 5.000*the top end at larger practices with a broader remit | ± € 3.800 |
| Dental technician | € 2.650 – 3.850*collective agreement: 40 hours, 38 on average thanks to days off | ± € 3.250 |
| Dentist | € 4.000 – 6.500*often a turnover arrangement: 30 to 45 percent of your own turnover | ± € 5.000 |
| Orthodontist | € 4.500 – 8.000* | ± € 6.000 |
* For specific specialisms or more seniority, we also see higher salaries in the market. These are advertised salaries in employment, not wages actually paid.
Download this table as an image (PNG, in Dutch), free to use with attribution.
How we calculate.
The main source is vacancies: what practices are offering now, per role. We track public dental care vacancies continuously.
- We use the vacancies that state a salary for a role we can identify.
- Left out: internships and work-study (BBL) roles, self-employed and locum work, day rates, implausible amounts and ranges whose top end is more than 1,8 times the bottom end.
- Deduplicated per employer and amount: a chain that posts the same scale at ten locations counts once.
- Converted to a month at 38 hours: hourly wages times 164,67, annual amounts divided by 12,96.
- The range runs from the median of the lower bounds to the median of the upper bounds, rounded to € 50. The midpoint is the median of the midpoints. If the outcome differs by at most € 50 from our previous range, we leave that range as it is.
- Dental technician, dentist and orthodontist: here we follow the collective agreement (dental technician) or compare several online sources.
We compare the outcome with other sources, such as the Nationale Beroepengids, Loonwijzer and the collective agreement for dental technicians.
What these figures don’t tell you.
Honestly: these are advertised amounts, not wages actually paid. Vacancies mainly show what practices offer new people. Someone who has worked somewhere for years may be above or below that.
- For the practice manager, the top end depends strongly on the size of the practice and the remit.
- A monthly amount in a vacancy may be based on 36, 38 or 40 hours. That often isn’t stated; we work with 38.
- Region, practice size and experience all play a part, but are not broken down separately here.
- There is no collective agreement for dental assistants, and the KNMT no longer issues salary guidelines. Why not is explained in our salary article.
Frequently asked questions.
How often do you update these figures?
Every month we add the new vacancies. If a range shifts, we adjust it. The date at the top of the page shows when we last ran the numbers.
May I use these figures?
Yes, please do, with a link to this page as the source. That way everyone can check the method and the date.
Why do other salary overviews differ?
A survey shows what people say they earn; vacancies show what practices are offering now. We only look at current vacancies, per role.
And if you are self-employed or a locum?
Then you charge by the hour or by turnover. An experienced locum dentist charges € 120 to € 150 per hour excluding VAT, a self-employed dental hygienist roughly € 50 to € 70 per hour. What that yields compared with a salaried job is in the guide to self-employed or salaried work.
What next with these figures?
Looking for work? Browse the vacancies. Looking for someone? Then we’ll work out together what is in line with the market for your practice.