Workforce shortages are a long-standing challenge facing dentistry, affecting practices’ ability to treat more patients.
Four dentists recently spoke with Becker’s to share how staff shortages are affecting their practices this year:
Note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Murat Ayik, DDS. Woodhill Endodontics (Dallas): We haven’t faced significant staffing shortages this year, but we know the real challenge is finding the right person for the right practice. In today’s environment, it’s about more than just clinical skill. It’s about blending dental expertise, patient-focused service and the business knowledge it takes to keep a practice thriving in 2025.
Dan Bishop, DDS, PhD. Dentist at Metroplex Endodontics and Microsurgery (Duncanville and Mansfield): It’s funny you ask this. It’s not just this year, but we have had issues hiring qualified assistants since Covid. I’m not sure why it started around that time, most likely a coincidence. We are short-staffed right now and have been for at least two years. We have found that our best new assistants are coming from dental assisting school. Just about every assistant we hire that boasts multiple years of experience, and any of those having a lead position, display little to no skills. Very disappointing.
We have not changed our schedule but must work short one to two assistants or front desk [employees] most days. Our schedule is usually not light so the assistants have to do more than what you would expect in a normal practice. We are very open with our assistants and praise them constantly about being effective and hardworking. It’s not fair to expect the assistants to work harder for no more pay. In a few cases they will receive a bonus from the DSO if we knock a month out of the park but those are very few and far between. The doctors will give bonuses out of our pockets for key anniversaries and Christmas with some minor help from the DSO. I think we maintain a very positive vibe in the office that is comfortable and safe. We also treat our assistants with a great deal of respect. This might seem minor, but from what we hear from assistants we hire, they are always surprised by how relaxed and efficient we are as a team. We always strive to keep a very high morale.
So, at this point, staff shortages have not had a profound effect on our practice, but our current staff must work harder than they should. In our case the staff shortages are affecting the staff more than the practice. They know we are aware of this, and are constantly trying to hire new, qualified staff. This is how we deal with staff shortages: We keep looking (there are a lot of imposters out there), praise for excellent work, support those who are slower to learn and reward all when we can. Right now, we are short one to two staff and have two getting ready to go on maternity leave. Now that will be interesting.
Samson Liu, DDS. CEO of SOHDental (St. Louis): Overall, team shortages have been less of an issue for us this year versus previous years as a company. However, since we are a national group with practices located in nine states, certain geography does continue to be a challenge. For example, in the state of Hawaii, team shortages have been a bigger issue than provider shortages in the last couple of years. As a result, last year we developed company initiatives to address this very issue. We are in the process of evaluating and investing in technologies that will automate or simplify certain team responsibilities. We are also implementing a call center to streamline practice-patient communications. Lastly, we are in the midst of centralizing and optimizing our revenue cycle workflow. It is not a surprise that we are also diligently monitoring the development of AI technology and its impact on team shortages as well as other areas of opportunities.
Eric Veenstra, DMD. Co-owner and dentist at Veenstra Family Dental (Midland Park, N.J.): As an owner general dentist with two associates, we’ve had to adjust hours because it’s been hard finding enough administrative help or the right fit for the team. Shrinking our open hours has put an increased backlog on an already stressed hygiene recall system.
