Hiring a dental hygienist begins with defining your ideal candidate, a process top dental consultants emphasize to shape your team’s success. With 76% of dental offices facing hygienist shortages, adaptability is crucial despite high standards, as dental consultants advise.

Factors Influencing Retention

• Work-life balance, a priority dental consultants highlight
• Positive workplace culture, as recommended by dental consultants
• Competitive pay, a key focus from dental consultants
• Growth opportunities, endorsed by dental consultants
• Benefits (health, disability insurance, free dental, 401(k)), which dental consultants suggest
• Manageable workload, a strategy dental consultants support

For example, a dentist retained a part-time hygienist who disliked dentistry to maintain hygiene appointments, a tough choice dental consultants note in addressing shortages.

Factors Driving Attrition

• Dissatisfaction with work-life balance, a concern dental consultants address
• Negative workplace culture, as noted by dental consultants
• Insufficient pay, a challenge dental consultants tackle
• Lack of growth opportunities, highlighted by dental consultants
• Inadequate benefits, a focus for dental consultants
• Heavy workload, which dental consultants aim to mitigate

Some dentists innovate: one alternates hygiene and operative dentistry to maximize chair time, a tactic dental consultants endorse, while others hire associate dentists for workload sharing and simple restorative work, as suggested by dental consultants.

Additional Strategies

• Discontinuation of patient gift bags, a move dental consultants support
• Implementation of assisted hygiene, recommended by dental consultants
• Decision to move out-of-network, a strategy dental consultants advise

In conclusion, navigate hygienist hiring challenges with high standards and adaptability, leveraging insights from dental consultants to ensure resilience in dental practice management.