He graduated from Charlotte Hall Military Academy in 1823 and moved the next year to Mallorysville in Wilkes County, Georgia, and taught school.
Dent pursued farming and milling in Coweta, Carroll and Heard Counties.
He also did business in land holdings in Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas.
He returned to Newnan in 1849 and presided as judge of the inferior court of Coweta County.
In the 1850 U.S. Census, Dent was listed as having land holdings valued at $50,000 (~$1.42 million in 2023).