More than 30% of dentists are currently or recently were recruiting dental hygienists and dental assistants, according to the ADA’s monthly “Economic Outlook and Emerging Issues in Dentistry” survey from December.
Due to the high levels of difficulty recruiting staff, practice owners have had to offer more benefits to applicants.
Here is the percentage of practice owners who offered specific benefits to dental hygienist and dental assistant applicants in 2022 and 2023:
Starting pay rate increased from prior year
2022: 84.2%
2023: 90.9%
Retirement plan
2022: 75.8%
2023: 77.7%
Health insurance
2022: 48.3%
2023: 49.7%
Sign-on bonus
2022: 7.1%
2023: 8.9%
Paid time off
2022: 84%
2023: 86.8%
Changed hours to meet applicants’ needs
2022: 44.5%
2023: 55.8%
Other
2022: 6.3%
2023: 6.9%
