Dental assistants and therapists

17.4%

ADI · 313th of 433 · 95% interval 4.3–34.9

An AI agent can at least partly carry out 17.4% of the task time of dental assistants and therapists, and finish 0.0% alone. The barrier that holds most of the rest back is access to the systems the work runs on.

ADI · partial or full17.4%

313th of 433 · interval 4.3–34.9

ADI3 · full delegation0.0%

201st of 433 · interval 0.0–0.0

ADIs · share of time19.3%

322nd of 433 · interval 11.3–29.4

Evidence32

task statements rated by two models and weighted by importance and frequency. World employment: 2.3 million.

Task weight by level

How the tasks rate

62%

20%

17%

L0No meaningful role · 62.5%L1Augmentation · 20.2%L2Partial delegation · 17.4%L3Full delegation · 0.0%

Barriers

What stops the agent

Physical presence

83%

Accountability

78%

Trust and care

73%

Access to systems

54%

Share of task weight flagged by each barrier; a task can carry several.

32 task statements, heaviest first

Task statement (O*NET occupation)	Weight	Level	Sonnet · Haiku	Share	Human time	Barriers
Feel and visually examine gums for sores and signs of disease.Dental Hygienists	6.2%	L0	L0L0	2%	10 min	Physical presence, Accountability, Trust and care, Access to systems
Clean calcareous deposits, accretions, and stains from teeth and beneath margins of gums, using dental instruments.Dental Hygienists	6.1%	L0	L0L0	2%	38 min	Physical presence, Accountability, Trust and care, Access to systems
Record and review patient medical histories.Dental Hygienists	6.0%	L2	L2L2	55%	18 min	Accountability, Trust and care, Access to systems
Examine gums, using probes, to locate periodontal recessed gums and signs of gum disease.Dental Hygienists	6.0%	L0	L0L0	4%	15 min	Physical presence, Accountability, Trust and care, Access to systems
Provide clinical services or health education to improve and maintain the oral health of patients or the general public.Dental Hygienists	5.5%	L1	L1L2	20%	52 min	Physical presence, Accountability, Trust and care, Access to systems
Chart conditions of decay and disease for diagnosis and treatment by dentist.Dental Hygienists	5.4%	L1	L1L2	30%	15 min	Physical presence, Accountability, Access to systems
Expose and develop x-ray film.Dental Hygienists	5.1%	L0	L0L0	2%	12 min	Physical presence, Accountability, Trust and care, Access to systems
Maintain dental equipment and sharpen and sterilize dental instruments.Dental Hygienists	4.8%	L0	L0L1	9%	40 min	Physical presence, Accountability, Access to systems
Maintain patient recall system.Dental Hygienists	4.6%	L2	L2L2	70%	52 min	Access to systems
Apply fluorides or other cavity preventing agents to arrest dental decay.Dental Hygienists	4.5%	L0	L0L0	6%	10 min	Physical presence, Accountability, Trust and care
Feel lymph nodes under patient's chin to detect swelling or tenderness that could indicate presence of oral cancer.Dental Hygienists	4.0%	L0	L0L0	2%	2 min	Physical presence, Accountability, Trust and care, Access to systems
Administer local anesthetic agents.Dental Hygienists	3.1%	L0	L0L0	4%	10 min	Physical presence, Accountability, Trust and care, Access to systems
Prepare patient, sterilize or disinfect instruments, set up instrument trays, prepare materials, or assist dentist during dental procedures.Dental Assistants	2.9%	L0	L0L1	8%	52 min	Physical presence, Accountability, Trust and care, Access to systems
Record treatment information in patient records.Dental Assistants	2.8%	L2	L2L2	60%	7 min	Accountability, Access to systems
Expose dental diagnostic x-rays.Dental Assistants	2.8%	L0	L0L0	4%	14 min	Physical presence, Accountability, Trust and care, Access to systems

Show the other 17 tasks

Task statement (O*NET occupation)	Weight	Level	Sonnet · Haiku	Share	Human time	Barriers
Provide postoperative instructions prescribed by dentist.Dental Assistants	2.5%	L1	L1L2	45%	9 min	Accountability, Trust and care, Access to systems
Instruct patients in oral hygiene and plaque control programs.Dental Assistants	2.2%	L1	L1L2	35%	15 min	Physical presence, Accountability, Trust and care
Assist dentist in management of medical or dental emergencies.Dental Assistants	2.1%	L0	L0L1	6%	30 min	Physical presence, Accountability, Trust and care, Access to systems
Remove excess cement from coronal surfaces of teeth.Dental Hygienists	2.0%	L0	L0L0	0%	10 min	Physical presence, Accountability, Trust and care, Access to systems
Take and record medical and dental histories and vital signs of patients.Dental Assistants	2.0%	L1	L1L1	32%	18 min	Physical presence, Accountability, Trust and care, Access to systems
Schedule appointments, prepare bills and receive payment for dental services, complete insurance forms, and maintain records, manually or using computer.Dental Assistants	2.0%	L2	L2L2	68%	28 min	Physical presence, Accountability, Trust and care, Access to systems
Clean teeth, using dental instruments.Dental Assistants · supplemental task	1.9%	L0	L0L0	2%	38 min	Physical presence, Accountability, Trust and care
Attend continuing education courses to maintain or update skills.Dental Hygienists	1.9%	L1	L1L2	30%	7.0 h	Physical presence, Accountability, Access to systems
Order and monitor dental supplies and equipment inventory.Dental Assistants	1.9%	L2	L2L2	58%	1.0 h	Physical presence, Access to systems
Apply protective coating of fluoride to teeth.Dental Assistants	1.9%	L0	L0L0	4%	8 min	Physical presence, Accountability, Trust and care, Access to systems
Make preliminary impressions for study casts and occlusal registrations for mounting study casts.Dental Assistants	1.8%	L0	L0L0	4%	18 min	Physical presence, Accountability, Trust and care, Access to systems
Fabricate temporary restorations or custom impressions from preliminary impressions.Dental Assistants	1.8%	L0	L0L1	8%	38 min	Physical presence, Accountability
Clean and polish removable appliances.Dental Assistants	1.7%	L0	L0L0	2%	12 min	Physical presence
Pour, trim, and polish study casts.Dental Assistants	1.6%	L0	L0L0	4%	38 min	Physical presence, Access to systems
Fabricate and fit orthodontic appliances and materials for patients, such as retainers, wires, or bands.Dental Assistants · supplemental task	1.3%	L0	L0L1	10%	45 min	Physical presence, Accountability, Trust and care, Access to systems
Make impressions for study casts.Dental Hygienists · supplemental task	1.0%	L0	L0L0	4%	18 min	Physical presence, Accountability, Trust and care, Access to systems
Conduct dental health clinics for community groups to augment services of dentist.Dental Hygienists · supplemental task	0.6%	L1	L1L1	22%	2.5 h	Physical presence, Accountability, Trust and care, Access to systems

Level: consensus of the two models (the lower level when they disagree). Share: part of the task’s working time an agent could take over. Human time: minutes a competent person needs for one instance, as estimated by the models.

Against other measures

Exposure is not delegation

Measure	Value	Percentile
ADI (this index)	17.4%	28
Eloundou et al. (2024), GPT exposure β	0.221	39
Felten et al. (2021), AI occupational exposure	-0.453	41
Webb (2020), AI patent exposure	55.333	50
Eisfeldt et al. (2026), generative AI exposure	0.079	31
Anthropic Economic Index, observed use	0	16

Earlier indices measure whether AI can touch a task; ADI measures how much of it an agent can carry out from a goal. – : the source does not cover this occupation.

Same sub-major group (32)

Neighbouring occupations

Occupation	ADI	%
Medical records and health information technicians 3252		97.9
Community health workers 3253		50.4
Midwifery associate professionals 3222		47.2
Traditional and complementary medicine associate professionals 3230		47.2
Pharmaceutical technicians and assistants 3213		45.3
Environmental and occupational health inspectors and associates 3257		38.2
Dispensing opticians 3254		35.3
Health associate professionals not elsewhere classified 3259		31.1
Medical imaging and therapeutic equipment technicians 3211		30.0
Physiotherapy technicians and assistants 3255		29.1
Medical and pathology laboratory technicians 3212		26.5
Medical assistants 3256		25.4

Dashed line: dental assistants and therapists (17.4%).

Cite this record

Text

Espinal Maya, Cristian, and Santiago Jiménez Londoño. 2026. ADI v2026.1: Agent Delegability Index data, code and MCP server. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23552918. Record: Dental assistants and therapists (ISCO-08 3251), https://balamlabs.org/adi/occupations/3251

BibTeX

@misc{espinal2026adidata,
  title     = {{ADI} v2026.1: Agent Delegability Index data, code and {MCP} server},
  author    = {Espinal Maya, Cristian and Jim{\'e}nez Londo{\~n}o, Santiago},
  year      = {2026},
  publisher = {Zenodo},
  version   = {v2026.1},
  doi       = {10.5281/zenodo.23552918},
  url       = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23552918},
  note      = {Record: Dental assistants and therapists (ISCO-08 3251)}
}

Machine-readable

The same record as static JSON, with its citation: /adi/v2026.1/isco/3251.json.

Compare with another occupation How it is measured