Salaries in dental practices: Germany, Austria, Switzerland

€6,152 per month · Germany25th percentile €4,206 · 75th percentile €7,795 · 15,948 Employees

There is no collective agreement for dentists employed in practices; the only official figure is the Federal Employment Agency's median. It covers all employed dentists, including assistant dentists, employed specialists and orthodontists.

By federal state

By gender and age (Median)

Covers full-time employees subject to social insurance on 31 December, i.e. employed staff; self-employed practice owners are not included. "Not published": the Federal Employment Agency publishes no value for fewer than 500 employees or when there is no data. "Above the contribution ceiling": the value lies above the pension contribution ceiling (€8,050 a month in 2025), so the exact amount is unknown. The values cannot be split by years of experience.

The TV-Ärzte (TdL) applies to "physicians including dentists" (§ 1) at university hospitals whose employer is a member of the TdL (association of German federal states as employers). Shown is pay group Ä1 (physician/dentist with corresponding duties), Anlage A, valid 1 April 2026 to 31 August 2027, 40 hours a week. § 12 does not say whether specialist dentists are grouped as Ä2, so only Ä1 is shown.

€2,841 per month · Germany25th percentile €2,440 · 75th percentile €3,287 · 86,872 Employees

By federal state

By gender and age (Median)

Covers full-time employees subject to social insurance on 31 December, i.e. employed staff; self-employed practice owners are not included. "Not published": the Federal Employment Agency publishes no value for fewer than 500 employees or when there is no data. "Above the contribution ceiling": the value lies above the pension contribution ceiling (€8,050 a month in 2025), so the exact amount is unknown. The values cannot be split by years of experience.

Pay agreement for dental assistants (ZFA) of 30 June 2025 (AAZ and vmf), table of § 4(3), valid from 1 January 2026, terminable at the earliest for 31 December 2026. It applies only in Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Saarland and the Westphalia-Lippe region, only in dental practices and only where employer and employee are members of the parties (AAZ or vmf) or the employment contract refers to it; it is not generally binding. Part-time: per hour 1/169 of the monthly amount (§ 4(7)).

• TG I: (Grundvergütung): ZFA nach abgeschlossener Berufsausbildung
• TG II: (+7,5 %): Fortbildungsnachweise mind. 65 Unterrichtsstunden
• TG III: (+17,5 %): Fortbildungsnachweise mind. 200 Unterrichtsstunden
• TG IV: (+25 %, mehrere Qualifikationen mind. 30 %): ZMF, ZMP, KFO-Assistenz (ab 2021), Fachwirt/in ZÄ Praxismanagement, ZMV, AZP
• TG V: (+30 %, mehrere Qualifikationen mind. 35 %): Dental-Hygieniker/innen (DH), Betriebswirt/innen im Gesundheitswesen

€3,250 per month · Germany25th percentile €2,727 · 75th percentile €3,837 · 5,755 Employees

Group value: the Federal Employment Agency assigns prophylaxis assistants (ZMP), dental specialist assistants (ZMF) and dental hygienists (DH) to this "specialist" group. It is not a value for dental hygienists only. Only Germany and three federal states are published.

By federal state

By gender and age (Median)

Covers full-time employees subject to social insurance on 31 December, i.e. employed staff; self-employed practice owners are not included. "Not published": the Federal Employment Agency publishes no value for fewer than 500 employees or when there is no data. "Above the contribution ceiling": the value lies above the pension contribution ceiling (€8,050 a month in 2025), so the exact amount is unknown. The values cannot be split by years of experience.

Pay agreement for dental assistants (ZFA) of 30 June 2025 (AAZ and vmf), table of § 4(3), valid from 1 January 2026, terminable at the earliest for 31 December 2026. It applies only in Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Saarland and the Westphalia-Lippe region, only in dental practices and only where employer and employee are members of the parties (AAZ or vmf) or the employment contract refers to it; it is not generally binding. Part-time: per hour 1/169 of the monthly amount (§ 4(7)).

• TG IV: (+25 %, mehrere Qualifikationen mind. 30 %): ZMF, ZMP, KFO-Assistenz (ab 2021), Fachwirt/in ZÄ Praxismanagement, ZMV, AZP
• TG V: (+30 %, mehrere Qualifikationen mind. 35 %): Dental-Hygieniker/innen (DH), Betriebswirt/innen im Gesundheitswesen

€3,277 per month · Germany25th percentile €2,692 · 75th percentile €4,029 · 26,832 Employees

By federal state

By gender and age (Median)

Covers full-time employees subject to social insurance on 31 December, i.e. employed staff; self-employed practice owners are not included. "Not published": the Federal Employment Agency publishes no value for fewer than 500 employees or when there is no data. "Above the contribution ceiling": the value lies above the pension contribution ceiling (€8,050 a month in 2025), so the exact amount is unknown. The values cannot be split by years of experience.

As of: collective agreement (KV) from 1 January 2025 – the 2026 figures were not available at the time of writing

Collective agreement for employees of dentists, specialists in oral and maxillofacial medicine and Dentisten (scope of the KV).

Statutory minimum under § 17 BBiG for all training occupations, including dental assistants and dental technicians. What counts is the calendar year in which the training started, not the current year. Where a collective agreement binds both sides, its rates apply (§ 17 BBiG).

From 1 July 2025 (§ 3 of the pay agreement). Same scope as the ZFA tariff: Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Saarland and Westphalia-Lippe, only where both sides are members of the parties or the employment contract refers to it.

Collective agreement for employees of dentists (Austrian Dental Chamber and the GPA union), nationwide, valid from 1 June 2024, salaries from 1 January 2025, 38 hours a week (§ 5). The amounts include the hazard allowance (Gefahrenzulage) of €151 a month (§ 21). In addition, § 19 provides special payments of two monthly salaries including the hazard allowance per calendar year, i.e. 14 payments a year.

Prophylaxis assistants receive a 20% supplement on the amounts of § 18 a) under the conditions of § 9a KV. We show no amount because the KV does not say clearly whether the supplement applies to the base salary only or also to the hazard allowance.

In Austria, dental assistance is not an apprenticeship (training under the Dentists Act, 3 years); the amounts are KV minimums including the hazard allowance. For part-time contracts concluded from 1 January 2025, at least 80% of these amounts apply regardless of hours.

Prophylaxis assistant / practice administrator SSO: supplement of CHF 400 per month (13 times) on the applicable dental assistant salary.

The SSO calls these rates binding, in the sense of its association rules, not as law. They are also paid 13 times a year.