Typical tasks and duties
Oral health therapists may perform the following tasks:
- educate and motivate people to maintain good oral health
- promote oral health in the community by providing relevant education and information, and working with other health services and groups such as parents' groups, play groups and parents and citizens' associations, residential care settings and schools
- work to improve oral health within child care and elderly residential care and other health support settings, especially those that cater to people who do not have access to dental care
- provide routine dental treatment for people of all ages including dental examinations and diagnosis, cleaning, scaling and polishing teeth, filling cavities and extracting deciduous (baby) teeth under local anaesthetic
- treat people of all ages for gum conditions, take X-rays of teeth and jaws, apply sealants and fluoride therapy, and take impressions for mouthguard construction
- bring more complex dental problems to the attention of dentists
- liaise with other healthcare providers to support oral health as part of general health.
Possible visa pathways
This occupation appears on ROL and CSOL and Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional Occupations. The right visa pathway depends on factors such as your age, English level, qualifications, work experience, skills assessment, points score, nomination options and employer sponsorship.
Skills assessment
For skilled migration purposes, Dental Therapist usually requires a suitable skills assessment. Relevant assessing authorities may include:
Additional occupation-specific assessment information
Dental Therapist is classified as Group A occupations by Vetassess. The criteria for skills assessment of Group A occupations is to hold qualification(s) assessed at Australian Bachelor degree or higher degree with a highly relevant field of study and at least one year of post-qualification highly relevant employment in the last five years.
Accoring to Vetassess, highly relevant qualifications would usually be in the area of Dental Therapy or Oral Health Therapy. Studies and employment in Dentistry or Dental Surgery cannot be assessed positively for this occupation. Tasks undertaken must be related to those of a Dental Therapist.
Legacy subclass 187 pathway
Do you currently hold, or have you previously held, a subclass 457 or 482 visa?
If you have worked for a sponsoring employer in regional Australia, please note that Dental Therapist — ANZSCO 411214 was included in the legacy Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (subclass 187) occupation list. The subclass 187 Direct Entry stream is closed to new applications, but the Temporary Residence Transition stream may remain available to certain transitional subclass 457 and subclass 482 workers. Eligibility is limited and depends on your visa history, relevant dates, sponsored regional employment, employer nomination, age, English and other requirements. Being included on this occupation list does not establish eligibility.
If this may describe your circumstances, we can assess whether the subclass 187 transitional arrangements may still apply to you.
Check your options
Check your skilled migration options
If Dental Therapist is your nominated occupation, complete our skilled visa assessment form so we can review your possible migration pathways.
PointsView report available
Dental Therapist historical SkillSelect report
The current PointsView report includes historical SkillSelect data through June 2026 for ANZSCO 411214.
View report detailsPurchase full report Historical information does not predict invitations, visa outcomes or migration eligibility.