About 40 percent of dentists are recruiting dental assistants and more than a third (35 percent) are recruiting hygienists, according to the American Dental Association Health Policy Institute's latest poll.
This is compared to roughly one-third of practices recruiting dental assistants and one-quarter recruiting hygienists in October.
For the week of Nov. 15, dentists were asked, "Have you recently or are you currently recruiting any of the following positions in your dental practice?"
Of 1,390 owner dentists, the below percentage said they were recruiting for each role:
Dental hygienists: 35 percent
Dental assistants: 39.8 percent
Dentists: 14.7 percent
Administrative staff: 26.6 percent
For the week of Nov. 15, dentists listed "trouble filling vacant staff positions" as the top factor limiting their practice's ability to see more patients, with 43.9 percent of dentists selecting the option.