Dent began starring in film and television in the early 1990s. Her first feature film was the movie ''
Nobody's Fool (1994). On television she played Janice Talbert in One Life to Live, and made guest appearances on such shows as The Pretender, The X-Files, The Lone Gunmen, The Invisible Man, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Sopranos, Frasier, Judging Amy, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Without a Trace, Grey's Anatomy, NCIS, and The Mentalist.'' Her breakthrough role came in 2002, as LAPD Officer Danielle "Danni" Sofer on
FX's hit drama
The Shield. On film, she appeared in
Replicant (2001),
The Majestic (2001), and
21 Grams (2003). In February 2020, it was announced that Dent would play Jessica Wolcott in NBC's new show
La Brea, though the role was ultimately played by
Ione Skye. In 2021, she was a guest on
Lucifer playing Dr. Alice Porter. ==Personal life==