Where dental staff recruitment stands in 2024

Dental assistants and hygienists remain the most challenging roles to recruit for dental practices, according to a report from the American Dental Association’s Health Policy Institute.

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The ADA recently released its “Economic Outlook and Emerging Issues in Dentistry” report for the first quarter of 2024.

Here are the percentages of dentists who have recruited dental staff in the last three months: 

Dental hygienists

Yes: 35.5%

No: 64%

Not sure: 0.5%

Dental assistants

Yes: 37.5%

No: 62.1%

Not sure: 0.4%

Dentists

Yes: 13.7%

No: 85.6%

Not sure: 0.7%

Administrative staff

Yes: 27.3%

No: 72%

Not sure: 0.7%

Here are four positions dental practices have been recruiting and the level of difficulty they have faced with recruiting each role:

Dental hygienists

Extremely challenging: 71.9%

Very challenging: 16.9%

Moderately challenging: 8.1%

Dental assistants

Extremely challenging: 47%

Very challenging: 30.2%

Moderately challenging: 13.6%

Dentists

Extremely challenging: 52.4%

Very challenging: 16.9%

Moderately challenging: 14.5%

Slightly challenging: 8.9%

Administrative staff

Extremely challenging: 33.7%

Very challenging: 29.7%

Moderately challenging: 26%

Slightly challenging: 7.7%

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