New dentists and hygienists are entering the profession, but the pipeline is still flatlining. The culprit, according to dental leaders, isn’t supply. It’s the turnover that empties the bucket faster than it can be filled.
Dental practices and organizations are losing staff to burnout, disillusionment and cultural mismatches. Dental executives and dentists share what they see as the biggest threat to the workforce pipeline and how their organizations are responding.
The 16 leaders featured in this article are speaking at Becker’s 2026 Fall Future of Dentistry Roundtable, set for Sept. 14-15 at the Hilton Chicago.
If you work at a DSO or dental practice and would like to be considered as a speaker, please contact Scott King at sking@beckershealthcare.com.
Editor’s note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What is the biggest threat to the dental workforce pipeline right now, and how are you responding?
Hamza Asumah, MD. Director, Operations of Juniper Services (Sparks, Nev.): The biggest threat isn’t the pipeline — it’s the leak at the bottom of it, and it runs across both clinical and non-clinical roles. On the clinical side, hygiene programs graduated the highest number of students on record in 2025, yet the total dental workforce has stayed essentially flat because new graduates are replacing people who are burning out and retiring rather than expanding the pool. The same churn quietly hollows out the non-clinical side — office managers, treatment coordinators and front-desk and billing staff — where turnover breaks scheduling, collections and the patient experience just as surely as an empty hygiene chair does. So the industry keeps pouring more water into a bucket that has holes in both the clinical and business ends.
As an operator, I’ve stopped treating this as a recruiting problem and started treating it as a retention and productivity problem across the whole team: we track turnover and capacity — clinical and administrative — as first-class operating metrics, invest in compensation, culture and flexible scheduling because those are the documented drivers of attrition, cross-train and use technology to raise the output of the people we already have, and build defined growth paths so a front-desk hire or an assistant can see a future with us rather than a revolving door. The organizations that will win the next five years aren’t the ones that recruit hardest — they’re the ones people don’t leave.
Catrise Austin, DDS. Owner of VIP Smiles Cosmetic Dentistry (New York City): The biggest threat to the dental workforce pipeline right now is retention, and it runs across the entire team, dentists, hygienists and assistants alike. We keep treating this as a supply problem, but people are still entering the profession. The real trouble is how many leave faster than new graduates can replace them, and it is rarely about pay. In the book, Dental Exit Blueprint, co-author Leah Roling says it best: people don’t leave practices, they leave confusion. Most turnover traces back to a role that was never clearly defined and a standard that lived only in the owner’s head.
So my response starts with operations, not perks. Give every seat a clear scorecard so people know exactly what winning looks like. Treat the first 90 days as a real onboarding, because the decision to stay is usually made in the first three months. Build a path people can grow into instead of out of. And install those standards as systems the team can hold without the owner in the room, because a culture that lives in your personality walks out the door the day you do.
Branding plays a role too. A recognized, respected practice is one people are proud to stay in and one that talent seeks out. But the operations are what make it stick. Put both together and you don’t just survive this shortage, you build the durable, self-sufficient team a buyer pays a premium to inherit.
Murat Ayik, DDS. Partner, Specialty1 Partners (Houston): The biggest threat to the dental workforce pipeline is the growing gap between the increasing demand for specialty dental care and the limited number of trained clinicians entering the profession. Addressing this requires more than recruiting; we must invest in mentorship, professional development and creating environments where clinicians can build rewarding, long-term careers. That’s how we’ll strengthen the pipeline for the future.
Jaime Burks. Senior Director of Operations of Providence Dental Partners (Atlanta): The biggest threat to the dental workforce pipeline right now isn’t just a shortage of people, it’s a shortage of engaged, supported and developed professionals who want to stay in the field. Staffing challenges are real across dentistry, but I think the deeper issue is that people’s expectations of the workplace have changed. Team members are looking for more than a paycheck. They want meaningful work, opportunities for growth, flexibility where possible and leaders who genuinely invest in their success.
Our response must start with leadership. We can’t solve staffing challenges simply by recruiting harder; we must become the kind of organization people want to join and, more importantly, want to stay with. That means investing in onboarding, continuous education, career pathways, mentorship and creating an environment where every team member feels valued and heard.
Today’s workforce expects great leadership, not just financial performance. They want transparency, recognition, clear communication and leaders who are present and willing to develop people. When employees feel connected to a purpose and believe their leaders are invested in them, retention improves, engagement increases and patients ultimately receive better care.
For me, the dental workforce pipeline is strengthened one team member at a time. Every investment we make in developing our people is an investment in the future of our profession. While competitive compensation is important, culture, trust and leadership are what truly differentiate organizations in today’s environment.
Aditya Desai, DDS. Chief Clinical Officer of Familia Dental (Clovis, N.M.): The biggest threat to the dental workforce pipeline is the growing reluctance of new graduates to practice in rural and underserved communities. Compared to previous generations, many early-career clinicians are placing greater emphasis on lifestyle and geographic preferences, resulting in fewer providers relocating to tier two and tier three markets where access to care is needed most. At Familia Dental, we address this challenge by highlighting the unique professional advantages of these communities, including higher patient volume, broader clinical exposure, mentorship opportunities and accelerated skill development. If this trend continues, disparities in oral healthcare access will likely widen for underserved populations. Additionally, recruiting experienced dental assistants remains a challenge, which is why we have implemented structured internal training programs that allow new team members to develop skills alongside experienced staff and build confidence in a supportive environment.
Eva Frelix. COO of Krengel Dental (Bloomington, Minn.): One of the greatest challenges facing the dental workforce pipeline is the delay in licensure approval for new graduates. Even after completing all educational requirements, many new providers must wait before they are legally able to practice. These delays create a bottleneck that impacts not only individual careers but the entire dental care delivery system.
At a time when access to care is increasingly important, it is essential that qualified providers enter the workforce as efficiently as possible. Continued investment in automated licensing workflows and modernized systems can improve both the speed and reliability of the approval process, helping practices fill critical staffing needs while expanding patient access to care.
At Krengel Dental, we chose to make the most of this waiting period. While our newest provider awaited licensure, we focused on comprehensive open dental training and immersing her in our culture and patient experience. As a result, when she was cleared to practice, she was fully prepared to deliver the exceptional Krengel Dental experience from the very first patient she treated.
Haim Haviv. CEO of Hudson Dental (New York City): The biggest threat to the dental workforce pipeline is thinking the solution is simply to hire more people. The real opportunity is to attract great talent — including from outside traditional dental backgrounds — and invest in training, mentorship and career development. Combined with a culture that values and retains great people, that approach creates a stronger workforce and ultimately a better experience for patients.
Sepand Hokmabadi, DDS. CEO and Founder of Total Health Dental Care (Oakland, Calif.): The workforce answer isn’t deciding between technology and people — it’s building a system where each does what it does best. Our example: rather than outsourcing patient calls to a third-party call center, we built a Native AI orchestration layer in-house that handles every inbound call across our offices, resolving roughly half of patient contacts without any human need — freeing our teams to focus where a person actually matters. And after exploring less-to-no front desks at some of our locations, we found the opposite to be true where it counts most — dedicated, in-person front desk staff has driven production increases of 40% to 47% where we’ve implemented it. That combination of Native AI absorbing volume and people driving relationships is how we see the real threat to the workforce pipeline: practices forcing a choice between the two instead of building both.
Ian Miller. Strategic Growth Consultant of Cal Dental USA (Los Angeles): I am actually tired of everyone talking about the dental staffing shortage. We all know it exists, just like we know that geopolitical turmoil exists. Yet, almost nobody talks about the much bigger shortage… efficiency.
Too many practices are trying to solve a 2026 staffing crisis with workflows that belong in a dental museum, then wondering why their team is burned out, turnover is through the roof and hiring feels like speed dating at the DMV.
AI, automation, analytics and smarter patient engagement aren’t here to replace great people — they’re here to stop great people from spending half their day doing work a computer should have done before their first cup of coffee.
What I do is help DSOs and practices uncover the hidden bottlenecks, wasted effort and silent profit leaks that make every day harder than it needs to be. The practices that use technology to make their teams superheroes will win the talent war, while everyone else keeps posting the same “Now Hiring” ad for the 47th time and acting surprised when it gets the same results.
Nick Murray. Vice President, Operations of Tailwater Dental Partners (Nashville, Tenn.): The biggest threat to the dental workforce pipeline is that patient demand continues to outpace the supply of dentists and hygienists, while the next generation of clinicians has different expectations around work-life balance, mentorship and career growth. Our response is to focus on retention just as much as recruitment by creating an environment where clinicians want to build long-term careers. That means investing in efforts that build a model for the items that our supported clinicians actually want, such as clinical mentorship, modern technology, flexible scheduling and reducing administrative burdens for their teams.
With regard to dental assistant pipelines; we have found that the highest level of attraction and retention have been a combination of items that range from top-tier pay, detailed role outcomes and expectations, as well as specifically hiring from hands-on educational schools versus online-only curriculum.
Abhi Nyatee. Chief Financial and Transformation Officer of Rock Dental Brands (Little Rock, Ark.): People have always been — and will continue to be — the greatest driver of success in dentistry. The biggest challenge facing our industry isn’t simply attracting more talent; it’s the growing gap between the demand for care and the available workforce. Expanding the workforce is part of the solution, but that’s a long-term curve that won’t keep pace with patient needs. The more immediate opportunity is to fundamentally redesign how care is delivered, how decisions are made and how teams work together, so every clinician and team member can focus on the work only they can do. AI is an important enabler of that transformation, but it isn’t the strategy itself. The real strategy is building a more scalable operating model that empowers our people, expands patient access and allows great teams to deliver even greater care.
Nimesh Patel, DMD. COO of Brite Dental Partners (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.): The current workforce has a greater emphasis on work-life balance. We’ve adapted by cross-training more of the existing team in anticipation of team members being out.
Francesca Pregano. COO of Smile Makers Dental Center (Tysons Corner, Va.): The biggest threat to the dental workforce pipeline is the growing gap between rising labor costs and stagnant insurance reimbursement. Practices are expected to offer increasingly competitive wages while reimbursement rates have remained largely unchanged, creating significant financial pressure.
The response can’t be limited to compensation alone. It requires investing in workforce development, creating clear career pathways, improving operational efficiency and advocating for reimbursement models that reflect the true cost of delivering care.
Alex Sharp, DDS. CEO of Shared Practices Group (Scottsdale, Ariz.): What impedes dentistry’s ability to attract a vibrant workforce is the same element that lures patients away from accepting our treatment recommendations: bright/shiny object syndrome. Distraction. The adjacent possible. Literally anything other than dentistry. COVID normalized remote (and often asynchronous) work. Folks sought work-from-home opportunities and left what they viewed as archaic, restrictive, monotonous work in the dental office.
But the cultural sentiments are changing. Companies aren’t hiring remote workers as much. In-person work environments are regaining favor amongst large employers. But, most of all, people are learning that work without meaning leads to burnout. Dentistry offers one of the scarcest commodities in the modern world: in-person value creation. Why do concert tickets cost more than ever? Because life’s best moments happen together.
Additionally, the best of us want to be of service. We enjoy being useful. And we enjoy creating wins for those around us. For dentistry to attract top-tier talent, we need to shout from the rooftops our value proposition: we actually make a difference for people. We change lives, we improve health outcomes and we have the capacity to improve someone’s day, which isn’t going to happen moving numbers around on a spreadsheet or jockeying to be an internet influencer.
Change your view of dentistry first. Understand that the features outnumber the bugs. Tell your network. And that will continue turning the tide.
Mariz Tanious, DDS. Chief Dental Officer of Affinity Dental Management (Holyoke, Mass.): The biggest threat to the dental workforce pipeline isn’t the shortage. It’s that we keep treating it like a pipeline problem when it’s actually a perception problem. Dental school enrollment hasn’t collapsed. Hygiene programs still graduate students. Associates are out there. But somewhere between graduation and long-term practice, we’re losing people — to burnout, to disillusionment, to a version of dentistry that doesn’t match what they signed up for. And that gap starts in school.
Clinical competency gets trained. Crown preps, extractions, board scores. What doesn’t get covered is the actual environment they’re walking into — production targets, schedule pressure, the emotional weight of a full patient load inside an organization moving fast. When reality doesn’t match the pitch, one of two things happens. You adapt slowly and painfully. Or you leave.
It starts with honesty in recruiting. It requires onboarding that goes beyond compliance training — real clinical mentorship, not a handbook. And it demands that performance measurement reflects what we say we value: outcomes, diagnostic consistency, patient retention — not just the collection report. The organizations that win the workforce battle over the next decade will be the ones where good clinicians actually want to stay.
Sami Webb, DDS. CEO of Epic4 Specialty Partners (Scottsbluff, Neb.): The greatest threat to the dental workforce pipeline isn’t simply recruiting dentists — it’s adapting to a rapidly changing workforce. As experienced doctors and seasoned team members retire, the next generation is entering the profession with different expectations around work-life balance, flexibility and career development, while practices continue to face labor shortages and rising employment costs. As leaders, we have to evolve by creating more efficient practices through technology, AI and standardized systems while investing in strong culture, leadership development, career growth, competitive compensation and meaningful benefits. From AI-powered phone systems and insurance verification to revenue cycle management and workflow automation, technology helps fill workforce gaps, improve efficiency and make our teams’ jobs easier — not replace them. At the same time, practices must advocate for appropriate fee structures and insurance reimbursement so they can continue investing in their people while delivering exceptional patient care.
At the Becker's 5th Annual Future of Dentistry Roundtable, taking place September 14-15 in Chicago, dental leaders and executives will gain insights into emerging technologies, practice growth strategies and the evolving landscape of dental care delivery, with a focus on innovation, patient experience and operational excellence. Apply for complimentary registration now.
