In a system that is somewhat bewildering for civilians, the Navy frequently changes which of its enlisted ratings or job types (think of the Army’s “Military Occupational Specialty”) have a career path that can lead to a position as a Chief Warrant Officer. Sometimes it is because the Navy has acquired a more-than-adequate number of CWOs in a given field; other time it is because an enlisted rating becomes obsolete or is merged with one or more other ratings.
In 2005, the Navy eliminated its Dental Technician rating, folding it into the much broader Hospital Corpsman (HM) rating and guaranteeing the end of Warrant Officer Dental Technicians. That category had been established on 15 November 1954 for Warrant Officers in the Hospital Corps who had been assigned to a Dental Corps facility.
In this role, CWOs served mainly as administrators and managers, overseeing personnel, finance, administration, and clerical functions and supervising dental prosthetic laboratories. Chief Dental Service Warrants and Dental Service Warrants who wished to advance to higher levels of responsibility could take examinations to qualify them as Ensigns in the Medical Service Corps.