Here are four updates about how workforce shortages are affecting dental practices:
1. White Smiles Family Dentistry is closing one of its three locations after being unable to fill a vacant dentist position for the office.
2. Patients in Southern Nevada can wait four months for an appointment due to a shortage of dental hygienists in the area.
3. A March poll from the American Dental Association's Health Policy Institute found that 33.7 percent of practices are actively recruiting dental hygienists and assistants. More than 80 percent of practices indicated it was "extremely challenging" to recruit dental hygienists, while 54.4 percent of practices indicated it was "extremely challenging" to recruit dental assistants.
4. Patients of Greg Baker, DMD, in Hazard, Ky., have to wait months for an appointment due to ongoing workforce shortages.