Staffing Crisis Management

Keeping a dental practice properly staffed has always presented challenges, but the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in a full-blown staffing shortage in the industry, making it difficult for dentists in many areas to recruit dental hygienists, dental assistants, and even experienced front office staff. This month, our April cover story examines some of the factors and challenges that are contributing to dentistry's staffing shortage and discusses strategies to mitigate the fallout from having to work understaffed as well as how to attract and retain talent.

As you may have experienced, for a variety of reasons, hygienists have been particularly difficult to recruit. It's so bad in some areas that many dentists who have pursued all of the more passive options to no avail are developing some aggressive tactics. I've even heard stories about dentists acquiring contact information from their states' dental hygienists' associations and using it to try to poach hygienists from other practices. It's extreme, but can you blame them? I'm lucky to have an assistant and front office staff who have been with me for 20 years, but like many others, I've had difficulty finding hygienists. Once I do, however, I have no problems retaining them. I only lose hygienists when they retire or need to move. I attribute this to a combination of offering them great benefits and bonuses and maintaining a positive workplace culture. You have to be creative with your incentives and treat your team right. As Kirk Behrendt notes in the cover story, "People usually won't leave for more money unless they're also unhappy."

Other articles in this issue include a CE on using screw-retained implant-supported restorations with angulated screw channels to improve esthetics, a clinical and histologic evaluation of a gingival recession defect that was treated with a hydrated acellular dermal matrix material, and a great case demonstrating the power of clear aligners in which the patient's crowded lower anterior teeth are intruded by 6.6 mm in less than 6 months to correct her two-plane occlusion. There are also informative strategy articles, including one on how the power of saying no can help dentists protect their patients and practices, articles offering product insights, and more. I hope you enjoy the issue!

Robert C. Margeas, DDS
Editor-in-Chief, Inside Dentistry
Private Practice, Des Moines, Iowa
Adjunct Professor
Department of Operative Dentistry
University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
robert.margeas@broadcastmed.com