Here are five dental workforce stories Becker's has reported on since July 27:

Several states experiencing an acute shortage of dental practitioners are also struggling with unemployment.

The American Dental Association is asking Congress to make changes to the VA Workforce Improvement, Support and Expansion Act of 2022, or WISE Act, to increase support for the Department of Veterans Affairs' dental workforce.

More dentists who accept Medicaid are needed in Maine as the state struggles to keep up with an influx of patients under the program, Maine Beacon reported Aug. 9. 

Miami is the city with the lowest unemployment rate, according to WalletHub.

David Tripp, senior vice president and chief human resources officer at Sage Dental, connected with Forbes in an Aug. 8 article to give advice on how DSOs can engage, hire and retain dental talent.

New Hampshire lawmakers approved expanded access to Medicaid basic dental benefits for adults, but there is a lack of dentists in the state who accept Medicaid, the New Hampshire Bulletin reported Aug. 5. 

An award of more than $1 million was allocated to alleviate workforce shortages and two other updates on the dental workforce from July:

The HHS Health Resources and Services Administration recently awarded $1.6 million to the Nevada Medicaid program to help alleviate dental workforce shortages.

The dental industry is facing recruitment challenges, but recruiters in some states may find it harder than others to find staff.

The number of vacant faculty positions at U.S. dental schools rose during the 2020-21 academic year, according to data from the American Dental Education Association.

Dental staffing platform DirectDental has seen record growth this year amid the ongoing workforce shortages rocking the dental industry. 

The number of dental assisting graduates dropped 18.7 percent over five years, according to the American Dental Association's "Dental Education Program Enrollment and Graduates Report: 2021-22."

Paid vacation, sick time and holidays are the top three benefits offered to employees at dental practices, according to a June poll by the American Dental Association's Health Policy institute.

A large percentage of dentists offered dental assistants and hygienists raises in the past year as staff recruitment continues to be a top priority at practices nationwide, according to a June poll by the American Dental Association's Health Policy Institute. More than 1,200 dentists were polled, though not every question yielded that many responses, according to the institute.

More than half of dental hygienist positions at practices in the top 20 largest cities are open, according to a recent poll from the American Dental Association. 

Beam Dental, an employee benefit company, has rebranded to Beam Benefits. The company has a new brand identity and website to go along with the change.

Several Southern states are facing a shortage of dental practitioners, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated ongoing staffing challenges facing the dental industry, largely affecting the supply of dentists, dental assistants and dental hygienists. 

Here's how a dental company, practice, nonprofit clinic and college are working to alleviate staffing issues in dentistry: