Dental Staffing Has Changed Forever. Here's How to Stay Ahead.

COVID-19 has drastically changed almost every aspect of our lives, including the way dental practices approach staffing. Decades ago, a practice owner would hire a small team and they’d remain unchanged for years, until staff members eventually began to retire. Fast forward to the present day and the landscape of dental staffing looks very different. Working with temporary dental staff is nothing new, but the struggles brought about by the pandemic have highlighted the amazing benefits of flexible staffing. Adding temp dental auxiliaries to your team when you need them allows your permanent staff to focus on their patients and continue providing the excellent quality of care people have come to expect from your practice. The advantages of flexible help aren’t just useful during these uncertain times. The pros of working with temp dental staff extend way beyond into the future and will set your dental practice up for success. To help you achieve your practice’s goals, here’s how you can turn the current situation to your advantage and stay ahead no matter what 2021 has in store.

The problems COVID-19 caused practice owners

Back in March when most dental practices across the US were only able to provide treatment for emergency cases, many offices were over-staffed. Patient numbers were extremely low and unpredictable, yet dental practice owners were still obligated to pay their employees. As income from patient appointments diminished, many owners found they simply couldn’t afford to continue paying their current dental team, no matter how hard they worked nor how much they wanted to stay on. This resulted in many dental hygienists and assistants being dismissed with nowhere else to go. In May, when dental practices across the country were re-opening for regular patient appointments, few had enough staff to meet demand. As they’d suffered for months with little to no income, practice owners were desperate to find a way to restaff their practices and start treating patients once more. Some practice owners were lucky enough to rehire their complete previous team, but others discovered that a number of their hygienists and assistants had found work elsewhere. To add to their team of permanent employees and ensure they had enough staff to treat the increase of appointments, many practice owners went in search of temp staff.

The problems COVID-19 caused dental professionals

Dental professionals were greatly impacted by the pandemic, too. Lack of patient appointments caused many RDHs and RDAs to be dismissed from practices they’d been loyal to for years. Finding another position at a new practice was almost impossible as many dental offices were almost entirely closed for months. According to an ADA survey, by the week of May 4th, 68.9% of dental practices remained entirely closed or only open for emergency appointments and unlikely to be hiring. By this point, many dental staff had been out of work for two months and the prospect of finding a new position was low. The dental staff fortunate enough to hold onto their jobs and continue to provide emergency services surged ahead. They learned how to practice dentistry during a pandemic, how to reassure anxious patients during incredibly uncertain times and the protocols needed to reduce the risk of infection. Meanwhile, the hygienists and assistants who were unable to find work got left behind and didn’t develop these newly in-demand skills and knowledge. Having little option but to work for less than they’re worth in practices that didn’t respect their efforts meant some dental professionals’ hearts weren’t in the job and they weren’t doing their best work. As the months continued, some started losing interest in dentistry and began considering different careers.

What practice owners can do about it

Although we’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, not all dental practices have fully recovered. As of March 15th 2021, 50.8% of practices are open and experiencing business as usual, but 48.5% are open and seeing fewer patients than normal. This translates to almost half of all dental practice owners struggling to generate as much income as they usually receive at this time of year. If you find yourself in a similar position, there are things you can do to get out of it and enjoy a happier, more lucrative 2021. Start by incorporating temp workers into your permanent team. By taking advantage of a flexible staffing model, you can always guarantee you’ll have the perfect team size to adapt to the number of appointments you have on any day. Since you only pay temp workers for the exact hours they work, this staffing model will also help you keep employment costs down. As well as helping you reduce your staffing budget, temporary RDHs and RDAs also allow you to accept last-minute appointments. If your hygienists and assistants already have full schedules, additional temp staff allow you to accept more patient appointments with little notice, all without compromising on the quality of your care. Some online staffing sources provide you with a real time view of dental professionals’ schedules so you can see who is available for work when you need them. After months of limited income, it’s likely you want to accept every appointment request you can and temp workers can help you do just that. If your schedule is fully booked for the week and a patient wants an appointment as soon as possible, you can find a dental temp worker who is available on short notice, book them for their next available shift and give your patient an appointment. This way your patient receives the treatment they need at the last minute, the dental temp increases their income, and you boost your practice’s revenue. You should also consider hiring additional dental hygienists to help you cope with the influx of patients that is to be expected as the COVID-19 vaccine rolls out to the wider population. As anxiety levels over the virus drop, many patients will be in need of dental hygiene care and trying to make appointments that they’ve been postponing for months. To provide top quality dental hygiene services to as many patients as you can, it’s important you have enough dental hygienists on your team. Hiring temp workers to fill the gaps and meet the increased demand will help you treat more patients. Hiring specialist dentists for complex one-off treatments you can’t provide yourself should also be on your mind. Whenever you have to refer a patient to another dentist, you always run the risk of losing them for good. With temp workers, you can hire a temporary specialist dentist to provide the treatment necessary and retain more patients.

Temp dental staff help you adapt to any situation

Dental staffing today looks very different than when dental practices first started treating patients. While permanent employees will always provide great value to any dental practice, temp staff can fill in unforeseen gaps as they appear and help practices keep their doors open to treat more patients. When a staff member falls sick or goes on vacation, a temporary dental professional can act as an interim stand-in so your practice can still carry on. Or when a patient requires specialist treatment or there’s an increase in demand for services no one else can provide, temporary dental professionals can pick up the slack so you never have to cancel an appointment. The next time you’re temporarily short-staffed, consider enlisting the services of a temp dental professional. The value, flexibility, and benefits they provide will pay off, long after the pandemic is over.