The dental industry is in for a bumpy ride over the next few years as hiring challenges persist and new trends take hold of the industry. However, opportunities exist for growth and stability.
New research shows that while hygiene shortages continue to plague the industry, improvements are being made in retention and job satisfaction that could lead to an optimistic turn for the field. Despite this, dental assistant hiring has a negative outlook due to mounting workforce challenges. Data also shows that growth in the supply of dentists in the U.S. has slowed in recent years due to an increase in retirement.
Seven dental industry professionals shared their predictions for the workforce trends that will take center stage this year and beyond.
Note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What workforce trend(s) do you expect to continue or emerge this year? How will these trends affect the dental industry?
Debra Bafia, Office Manager at Ethos Dental Group (Munster, Ind.): Based on what we are seeing and what we are hearing in regards to dental industry professionals, I think the job market is going to become even more competitive from the employer’s side. Enrollment is down in dental hygiene programs, as well as in dental schools. The cost of education is ever increasing and doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. With the current administration’s new guidance on student loan restrictions, paying for a quality education in dentistry is going to prove to be even more difficult to obtain. From an employer’s perspective, applicants are requesting higher wages to account for the increasing cost of living (as well as being able to pay back their student loans), which makes being competitive in this market that much more difficult. I am optimistic that the right candidates will still find a way to their “dental home,” but I think the industry is going to have its fair share of struggles for quite some time.
Phil Cassis. Co-Founder and CEO of Providence Dental Partners (Atlanta): Staffing shortages in dental hygiene and assisting continue to be one of the most pressing challenges facing practices today. With slow pipeline growth from training programs, burnout and retirement outpacing new entries into the field, it’s forcing many offices to operate with reduced capacity or lean on costly temp staffing solutions. Rising labor costs compound the problem, as competitive wages, expanded benefits expectations and scheduling flexibility demands are straining the margins of practices not built to absorb those pressures. Taken together, these shifts are fundamentally challenging the traditional staffing model, where a practice could reliably hire, train and retain a stable, long-term team. These challenges are pushing practice owners to rethink how they recruit, schedule and invest in their people just to keep chairs filled and the business operating. It’s more important than ever for practice owners to invest in training, culture and delivering an enhanced patient experience.
Danielle Ecklund. Senior Vice President of People at PDS Health (Henderson, Nev.): Two workforce trends are shaping the future of dentistry in a significant way. First, artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming how front office teams operate — from smart scheduling and insurance verification to automated patient communication and real-time billing support. As these tools evolve, we’ll see front office staff shift from spending less time on paperwork and more time on building the relationships that drive patient loyalty and retention. These technological advances will strengthen office team members’ roles as patient experience advocates while enhancing administrative efficiency.
Second, we’re witnessing a remarkable and long-overdue shift in the composition of dentists. Women now make up the majority of dental school graduates, and that trend shows no signs of slowing. Similarly, the number of female practitioners is continuing to rise.
Together, these trends point toward a dental industry that is efficient and even more focused on the patient experience, powered by technology and led by a more diverse generation of clinicians.
Nels Ewoldsen, DDS (Davenport, Iowa): Printed removable prostheses will continue to replace traditionally molded acrylic partials and full dentures. A major driver of this trend is declining interest in manual skills teaching programs. Some manufacturers of traditional materials, for instance, no longer support their own lines of materials. Dentsply Sirona no longer sells baseplate wax.
While these changes arguably lead to a cleaner lab process with fewer hands on steps, the profession still needs acrylic technicians — knowledgeable, skilled denture technicians who manually repair, reline and modify existing prostheses, digital and traditional. The demand for these individuals will remain strong for years to come, yet few training programs and even fewer dental manufacturers are rising to the challenge.
The profession needs focused training programs addressing the shortage, which is already here. It is my prediction that technicians equipped with traditional acrylic knowledge and skills will be in an excellent position to name their own price for services the profession and patients urgently need. No one wants to wait two weeks for a printed replacement prosthesis when same-day repairs and relines can be done at lower cost.
Vilas Sastry, DMD. CEO of Teledentistry.com (Las Vegas): In 2026, we are seeing the dental workforce prioritize extreme flexibility and tech-enabled, hybrid care models. The chronic shortage of hygienists is forcing the industry to move beyond traditional staffing, increasingly relying on teledentistry for virtual triage and AI-driven automation to maximize the efficiency of existing clinical teams. These trends are transforming the dental practice from a static physical location into an agile, technology-integrated hub.
Thomas von Sydow. CEO of Cornerstone Dental Specialties (Irvine, Calif.): I see that hygiene and dental assistant turnover will be a challenge for the foreseeable future. New dental graduates and specialty graduates are mostly not interested in ownership, which leads practice owners, either private or [those in] DSO/groups, to a dilemma. Without that desire to own short term, the commitment levels cause risk for long-term planning. However, you need to fill the positions regardless to meet patient demand. I don’t see this as isolated to dentistry. Things tend to swing, thus maybe the next wave of dentists will go back to the desire to own earlier.
As far as emerging trends, mid-level providers are coming. This is not an endorsement or a criticism. It’s just a fact. It happened in medicine due to demand; it will happen here. I also think AI diagnostics will rapidly improve. This will put pressure on efficient, tactile hand skills for the new generation. The good news is I believe it will increase the patients’ dental IQ, which should increase urgency and case acceptance.
Steven Wilbanks. Practice Administrator at Matthew N. Wilbanks, DMD (Florence, Ala.): Within the past year, we have seen the general “AI hype” transition into the dental industry. Although some vendors continue to suggest that these technologies have the potential to replace administrative staff, I believe the emerging trend in 2026 will not be replacement, but evolved expectations of their roles as AI is integrated into their workflows.
In private practices, dentistry remains a connection-focused industry that prioritizes genuine, human relationships between patients and the dental team. However, we have begun to see a shift where dental leaders seek to implement AI to augment their team’s efforts in some backend processes — such as data entry and RCM functions — that have historically required the front office team to manually enter, review and process data. Although there are some areas where AI could be utilized in moderation as a supplemental tool to communicate with patients, I feel that it will never replace the importance of genuine human connection.
This shift has already begun to alter workforce expectations from dental leaders. Our industry (along with other specialties in the healthcare space) is moving toward a model where the administrative staff’s focus is placed on patient conversations and resolving the high-complexity issues that technologies can’t easily address.
This year, I believe dental leaders will place a greater demand on their teams to increase their skillsets so they can independently address complex issues. In addition, leaders will expect their teams to be willing to adapt to these new technologies and to the other changes occurring within the industry, which has been a common sticking point in recent years. These shifts will ultimately result in evolved expectations for new hires and existing team members alike.
From the employee’s perspective, I expect the top talent dental leaders are seeking will have similar expectations. These employees are looking for practices that provide the support and resources they need to foster these enhanced skillsets, and transition their roles from a data-entry focus to becoming involved in more complex issues and placing a greater emphasis on relationship-building, which I feel is one of the most important aspects of our industry.
