Orthodontist
An orthodontist is a dental specialist who straightens teeth and guides jaw growth, usually through treatment that runs a year or more.
- Median salary*
- $166,400
3.6%vs last year, before tax
- People employed*
- 650
8.3%vs last year
- Projected growth
- +35.8%
to 2035
- AI exposure*
- Low
- 2 out of 10
- Average hours*
- 40/wk
matches all-jobs average
- Shortage status
- In shortage
national
- Most orthodontists work in private practice, where patients arrive on referral from a general dentist and return for adjustments on a set cycle.
- They are dentists first: a general dentist treats decay, gum disease and repairs, while an orthodontist has completed further specialist training and takes on crooked teeth, bite problems and jaw growth.
- The field is small, with about 650 people working as orthodontists across Australia.
How much do orthodontists earn?
The median full-time salary for an orthodontist is $166,400 per annum, before tax, up $35,500 since 2018.
What you earn varies most with how the practice is set up and where you sit in it. An associate on commission takes a share of the fees billed for their patients, while an owner or partner also carries the costs of the clinic, its staff and its equipment. When you compare offers, ask how your share of fees is calculated, whether lab fees come out of it, and whether the figure quoted is for full-time hours.
What does an orthodontist do day to day?
The list below is what fills most weeks; the exact mix shifts with seniority and whatever stage the current work is at.
- Assessing tooth position and jaw growth from X-rays, photographs and digital scans
- Diagnosing bite problems and planning treatment sequences that can run for two years or more
- Fitting braces, clear aligners and other appliances, and adjusting them at regular review visits
- Working alongside oral and maxillofacial surgeons on cases where jaw surgery is needed as well as braces
- Explaining progress, costs and aftercare to patients and their families
What skills do orthodontists need?
Employers look for clinical assessment and treatment, patient care and support, health education and advice, backed by Dolphin Imaging fluency and strong attention to detail.
Specialist skills
- Clinical assessment and treatment
- Patient care and support
- Health education and advice
Software and tools
- Dolphin Imaging
- ClinCheck (Invisalign)
- 3Shape TRIOS intraoral scanner
- Planmeca Romexis CBCT software
- Practice management software (for example Praktika or Ortho2)
General skills
- Attention to detail
- Written communication
- Problem solving
- People leadership
Is the job growing?
About 650 people work as orthodontists in Australia, and employment is projected to grow 35.8% over the decade to 2035. That's very strong growth. Few roles in Australia are expanding this fast, and it points to solid demand for years to come.
How do you become an orthodontist?
Here's the path most orthodontists take, step by step.
- 1Qualify as a dentist first
Undergraduate entry is a five-year Bachelor of Dental Surgery or Bachelor of Dental Science, and graduates of another degree can apply for a four-year Doctor of Dental Medicine. Entry needs strong marks, particularly in chemistry and biology.
- 2Register and practise as a general dentist
Registration with the Dental Board of Australia through AHPRA is required before you treat patients. This stage is paid work, and the clinical experience and referees you gather here are what specialist programs look for.
- 3Complete an accredited orthodontic specialty program
A Doctor of Clinical Dentistry in orthodontics is a three-year full-time program accredited by the Australian Dental Council, combining clinical training with research. Places are few and competition is heavy, so check each university's entry requirements early.
- 4Apply for specialist registration
Specialist registration with AHPRA allows you to practise and advertise as an orthodontist. Until you hold it, you work as a general dentist, whatever specialist training you have started.
Study routes we have checked
Qualifications that are a recognised way into this role, and what else you need.
- Doctor of Clinical Dentistry
A step towards this role
For dentists who already hold general registration and have clinical experience. Specialist registration in this area follows completion of an accredited specialist program and the dental registration requirements; check that the program you choose is accredited for the specialty.
Ready to apply as an orthodontist?
Whether you're working toward becoming an orthodontist or already are one and want a hand with the next step (sharpening your resume for ATS screening, tightening your cover letter, or knowing what you'll actually be asked at interview), here are examples grounded in this specific role, not generic templates.
What jobs can an orthodontist move to?
Moving into Dentist typically comes with the biggest pay rise, worth $1,700 a year more on average.
- DentistRecorded move$168,100+$1,700
Thick lines are moves people were recorded making in Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility (income tax records, 2011-12 to 2020-21). Thin lines are moves we suggest from skill overlap and entry requirements.
| Move to | Typical pay change | Overlap | Retraining |
|---|---|---|---|
Dentist Orthodontists bring advanced dental training and treatment planning to general dental practice, though the work sits outside their specialist scope.Known move | +$1,700 | 41% | requalify |
Moves are chosen from Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility, which follows income tax records between 2011-12 and 2020-21, together with entry requirements and skill overlap. A known move is one people were seen making in that data. Pay change compares median full-time pay for the two roles.
Who works as an orthodontist?
The typical orthodontist is 45 years old; 67% are men, 70% work full-time, and full-timers average 40 hours a week.
- 45
- Median age
- 33%
- Female share
- 70%
- Full-time
- +0h
- vs all-jobs avg
What's it like being an orthodontist?
Your week is built around booked appointments, and between patients you review scans, models and progress photos. Braces and aligners move teeth slowly, so you follow families across years and watch results build visit by visit. The hard part is the plan: once treatment has started, changing course is difficult, and worried patients or parents need steady handling. If precise work with a visible outcome appeals to you, this mix of clinical care and running a clinic can be a good fit.
What people like
- Results you can follow. Teeth move gradually, and the final photographs sit beside the first ones to show exactly what changed.
- Families you see for years. Treatment often spans the teenage years, so you build a relationship with the same household across many visits.
- A referral network that grows with your reputation. General dentists choose who they send patients to, so careful work in one suburb or town keeps the appointment book full.
- A clear path to ownership. Buying into a practice or opening your own gives you control over the schedule, the equipment and the cases you take on.
What people find hard
- Early decisions are hard to reverse. Once braces are fitted, the direction of treatment is largely set, so an error in diagnosis shows up two years later.
- Long stretches seated in one room. Nearly all your clinical time happens in a small surgery, and your neck and back feel the hours over a career.
- Patients who don't follow the plan. Aligners left out and elastics forgotten slow everything down, and explaining that to a frustrated parent is an awkward conversation.
- Business admin on top of clinical hours. Staffing, marketing, equipment and insurance sit outside appointment times, so paperwork often moves into the evening.
Based on our synthesis of professional-body surveys and public accounts of the role, not first-person verified reviews.
Which industries employ orthodontists?
Private orthodontic and dental practices employs the largest share of orthodontists, followed by Public hospitals and specialist dental services.
Top employing industries
- 1Private orthodontic and dental practices
- 2Public hospitals and specialist dental services
- 3Higher education and dental research
- 4Community and school dental programs
Ranked by employment share; the source doesn't publish an exact percentage per industry.
| Bachelor degree | 52% | |
|---|---|---|
| Postgraduate | 26% | |
| Diploma / Advanced Diploma | 13% | |
| Other | 9% |
Will AI replace orthodontists?
Low exposure. Unlikely. AI will change some of the work around this job, not the job itself.
Software has changed how orthodontists plan treatment and keep records, but it has made little difference to the work itself, because every appliance is fitted and adjusted inside a patient's mouth over years. Digital tools such as ClinCheck, Dolphin Imaging and intraoral scanners are now standard in most practices. If you are heading into training, get comfortable reading CBCT scans and digital models, because you will be expected to drive that software yourself.
How a typical week splits
- Records, scans and imaging15% of the week
Intraoral scanners and CBCT software capture, measure and store the records automatically; reading them for a diagnosis and writing the report remains your work.
- Treatment planning and digital simulation20% of the week
Software such as ClinCheck and Dolphin Imaging drafts a tooth-movement sequence, but deciding whether that plan suits this patient is a clinical call.
- Fitting and adjusting braces and aligners40% of the week
Bonding brackets, placing wires, fitting retainers and adjusting appliances by feel all happen inside a patient's mouth.
- Consultations and running the clinic25% of the week
Explaining progress to a teenager and their parent, talking through costs, and managing staff and schedules rest on relationships.
How we work this out
We break each job into its main tasks, estimate the share of a typical week each one takes, and judge how far current AI and automation tools reach into it. The score out of 10 starts from the job's overall rating (low is 1 to 3, moderate 4 to 6, high 7 to 10) and the task split places it within that range. Source: Career Tips analysis of each role's main tasks.
Common questions about becoming an orthodontist
Straight answers to the questions people ask most.
How much do orthodontists earn in Australia?
The median full-time pay for orthodontists is $166,400 per year before tax. Practice ownership and the share of fees you keep change income the most, and earnings drop when your week fills with administration instead of patients.
How do you become an orthodontist?
You finish a dental degree, register with AHPRA and work as a general dentist, then complete an accredited three-year specialist program in orthodontics and apply for specialist registration. Training places are few, so a strong clinical and academic record matters when you apply.
What's the difference between an orthodontist and a dentist?
A dentist holds a dental degree and treats decay, gum disease, broken teeth and general oral health. An orthodontist is a dentist who has finished a further three years of accredited specialist training in tooth movement and jaw growth, holds specialist registration, and usually sees patients sent by another dentist.
Are orthodontists in demand?
Orthodontists are currently in shortage nationally, and employment is projected to grow 35.8% over the decade to 2035. Only a handful of practices cover each region, so a vacancy tends to appear when a practitioner retires or a clinic expands, which makes relationships with referring dentists worth building.
Will AI replace orthodontists?
The software that designs aligner sequences and predicts how teeth will move keeps improving, and it makes planning faster and more predictable. It cannot examine a patient, judge whether a plan will work in that mouth, or carry out the treatment, so fitting brackets, placing wires and reading how a case is progressing stay with you.
What can an orthodontist do later in their career?
Orthodontists hold a dental degree, so returning to general dentistry is possible, though that work sits outside the specialist scope they trained in. Others move into teaching registrars or clinical leadership in a hospital dental service. Buying into a practice or opening your own is a common route too, and it changes your income from a share of fees to what the clinic earns after its costs.
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