The world has experienced an employee shortage and dentistry is not immune. There is not a vaccine to cure the staffing shortage that began at the inception of the Covid-19 pandemic. In Ohio, the dental offices had been mandated closed by the Ohio State Dental Board from March 16, 2020 to mid-May of 2020, according to CDC guidelines. Many dental clinical employees, including dentists and dental hygienists abruptly chose to retire as dental offices reopened to caring for their patients. Staffing shortages permeated nearly every dental office creating staffing challenges in nearly every city or town. Patients felt displaced as dental offices experienced a decline in employees. So what did dental offices do about the shortage and how did they get their patients the dental care that they need?
In March 2022, one in three dental offices were attempting to hire dental hygienists through any creative means necessary, including sign-on bonuses. According to the Health Policy Institute, 92% of dentists surveyed said that finding employees to hire was very challenging, even with the help of staffing and recruitment agencies. In 2021, 6,641 dentists over the age of 55 retired, compared to 4,785 in 2017. Fortunately, there will be an increased number of dentists coming to the rescue, and is expected to increase into 2040. Most will not open their own private practices, seeking employment within dental service organizations, or group dental practices instead. Currently many dental offices throughout Ohio are in need of licensed dentists.
As dental offices navigate this new normal, they have brought in new smiling faces to care for their patient populations. Changing hours, and cancelling/changing patients’ appointments have led to increased demands on dental office front desk and administration staff. Offices that have not experienced as much employee turn around are finding other creative ways to navigate the new norm, such as condensing patient schedules and/or shortening patient appointment durations, which allow more patients to be seen by each provider. Through these unprecedented times, patients will notice the changes, and hopefully after reading this article-will be better informed.
Stats derived from:
American Dental Association. (2022, April 10). HPI dental office employment declined in March.
