Dental professionals are optimistic that growing enrollment in dental hygiene programs and increased retention rates will help alleviate workforce shortages in the field. But others say more work is needed before further improvements can take place.
Enrollment in dental hygiene programs has continued to increase after experiencing a drop during the early years of the pandemic. Dental hygiene programs have seen a 15% increase in total enrollment since 2021, according to new data from the American Dental Association. The number of graduates from hygiene programs has also continued to increase since 2022, reaching 7,739 in 2024.
Dentalpost concluded in its “2026 Dental Salary Survey Report” that the industry could see improvements in hygiene staffing thanks to increased job satisfaction and retention rates. According to the report, 71% of hygienists said they are happy in their current role, up from 68% the previous year.
Survey results showed hygienists favor flexibility, autonomy over clinical decisions, trust from dentists and relationships with patients and colleagues. The 27% of hygienists who said they were considering changing jobs were driven primarily by higher pay, better benefits and healthier work environments, factors also favored by the American Dental Hygienists’ Association.
The ADHA issued an updated position statement on the hygienist shortage earlier this year, suggesting that it is “retention” rather than a “supply” crisis. The ADHA has pushed back against proposals from other groups — such as allowing foreign-trained dentists to practice as hygienists, expanding dental assistants’ scope of practice and accelerating alternative licensure pathways — and has instead advocated for transparent compensation, competitive benefits, accountable workplace culture, professional autonomy, license portability, targeted pipeline growth and professional development for dental hygienists.
“ADHA maintains that the most effective, ethical, and durable solution to the dental hygiene workforce shortage is to address the conditions that cause hygienists to leave and to build a profession that trained, licensed dental hygienists actively choose to remain in,” the organization said May 1.
Many dental leaders agree that the main challenge for the hygienist shortage is retention. Hamza Asumah, MD, director of operations for Juniper Services in Sparks, Nev., said the hygienist shortage cannot be solved if there are leaks in the pipeline.
“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,” Dr. Asumah told Becker’s. “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.”
Jaime Burks, the senior director of operations at Providence Dental Partners in Atlanta, said the issue requires increased investment from leaders to ensure their organizations are ones hygienists want to remain at.
“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,” he said. “That means investing in onboarding, continuous education, career pathways, mentorship and creating an environment where every team member feels valued and heard … 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.”
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.
