Healthcare Technology Trends in 2024: Enabling Patient Care at Home Supply, Demand, and Recruiting Considerations in Dentistry
Supply, Demand, and Recruiting Considerations in Dentistry
Introduction AMN Healthcare, the nation’s leading healthcare workforce solutions company, produces a wide range of thought leadership resources on various healthcare workforce related topics. These resources include surveys, reports, podcasts, speaking presentations and white papers. In this white paper, AMN Healthcare’s Physician Solutions division (formerly known as Merritt Hawkins) examines supply, demand, and recruiting trends in dentistry. Dental Education and Training The path to becoming a dentist is the U.S. typically includes completing a four-year bachelor’s degree and completing four years of dental school to earn a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) or a Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) degree. Dentists who have a DDS or a DMD have the same education and training. It is up to the individual dental schools to determine what degree is awarded, but both degrees entail the same curriculum requirements.
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Supply, Demand, and Recruiting Considerations in Dentistry
Career Options and Specialties Career opportunities in dentistry include academics, private practice, public health, and more. A dentist could work in several different settings across the course of a career—for example, starting in public health, moving into private practice and finishing in academics.
In addition to becoming a general or family dentist, dentistry also offers a number of specialties. The American Dental Association (ADA) recognizes 12 dental specialties within the field:
Dental anesthesiology
Orofacial pain
Dental public health
Orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics
Endodontics
Pediatric dentistry
Oral and maxillofacial pathology
Periodontics
Oral and maxillofacial radiology
Prosthodontics
Oral and maxillofacial surgery
Oral medicine
To become a dental specialist, dentists must complete a residency following dental school. Most residencies range between two and three years, with oral and maxillofacial surgery requiring between four and six years. Some programs offer a stipend and pay students during the training, while others require students to pay tuition.
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Supply, Demand, and Recruiting Considerations in Dentistry
Dentists in the U.S.: By the Numbers
There are currently 202,536 dentists in active practice in the U.S., according to the ADA, including those in general dentistry and those in various specialties (see below):
DENTISTS BY SPECIALTY
160,000 General Practice
7,440 Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery
5,759 Endontics
10,904 Orthodontics & Dentofacial Orthopedics
9,783 Pediatric Dentistry
5,542 Periodontics
3,584 Prosthodontics
784 Public Health
Source: Statista
The ratio of dentists per population now stands at 60.8 per 100,000. Approximately 6,800 dentists graduate from dental school each year.
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Supply, Demand, and Recruiting Considerations in Dentistry
A Shortage of Dentists Like other types of healthcare professionals, dentists are in short supply in many areas of the country. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects 19% job growth for dentists from 2016 to 2026, with demand driven by an aging population and the increased perceived importance of dental care to overall healthcare. The number of dental school graduates peaked at 5,750 in 1982, then declined for sixteen years and stayed flat at about 4,500 for almost a decade. The number of dental schools has increased in recent years and there are now 75 accredited dental schools in the U.S. that produce about 1,000 more graduates than in 1982.
However, the supply of dentists continues to be inhibited by exits from the field due in part to aging, as many dentists are reaching retirement age (see below)
DENTISTS BY AGE/U.S.
17.4% 34 or younger
25.5% 34 - 44
33.4% 45 - 54
15.8% 65 or older
18.9% 55 - 64
Source: American Dental Association
The COVID-19 pandemic caused many healthcare professionals to retire, including dentists, which also has had an inhibiting effect on the supply of dentists.
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Supply, Demand, and Recruiting Considerations in Dentistry
The Impact of Turnover and Burnout The pandemic also caused many healthcare professionals – and people from all walks of life – to rethink where, when, and how they work. This reassessment has continued, causing physicians, nurses, dentists and other healthcare professionals to seek different positions or different practice styles, including locum tenens, and causing high turnover rates. According to DentalPost’s 2024 Dental Salary Survey, 28.21% of responding dentists who are associates at dental practices changed jobs last year. The top motivations for these changes were career advancement, a better work environment, and higher pay. The percentage of associate dentists who reported they were currently applying for jobs or would be looking for new jobs before 2025 is 19.64%, according to the survey. Another 37.50% reported they might apply for new jobs. According to respondents, the top motivations for these changes are higher pay, followed by a more appreciative employer, and a better work environment. In addition, one-third of responding dentist-owners reported they plan to retire within the next six years. As a result, there is a considerable level of volatility in the dental workforce, as there is in the healthcare workforce in general. Like other healthcare professionals, many dentists are experiencing feelings of stress and burnout. According to the ADA’s 2024 Dentist Trend Report Survey and Consumer Trend Report Survey, 82% of dentists are experiencing some type of major stress in their careers. Of these, nearly 60% are considering changing careers or retiring early (Burnout pushes dentists to leave the industry. Becker’s Dentist and DSO Review. October 10, 2024) . The Impact of the Hygienist Shortage According to an ADA survey, 95% of dentists are encountering considerable difficulties in recruiting hygienists and over 87% are facing challenges in hiring assistants. (Economic outlook and emerging issues in dentistry: insights from data from November 2023. American Dental Association Health Policy Institute) . In a January 2022 poll from the ADA and the Health Policy Institute, 73.4% of respondents said that it was "extremely challenging" to recruit dental hygienists and 55.4% said the same for dental assistants. (Economic Outlook and Emerging issues in Dentistry. Health Policy Institute/ADA. January 17, 2022).
An inability to fully staff dental practices has diminished the overall patient capacity of dentists nationwide by 11%, according to the ADA.
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Supply, Demand, and Recruiting Considerations in Dentistry
A Maldistribution of Dentists
Like physicians, dentists are not distributed evenly across the country, and many mostly rural and inner city areas have an insufficient number of dentists to meet patient needs.
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) identifies dental Healthcare Professional Shortage Areas, which are areas that fall below a ratio of one dental professional to 5000 people. HRSA dental HPSA numbers are provided below.
32 % of Needs Met
6,825 Total Dental HPSAs
58 million Dental HPSA Population
9,214 Number of Dental Professionals Needed
Source: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), April 2024
As these numbers indicate, close to 60 million Americans live in dental HPSAs, in which only 32% of dental care needs are being met. HRSA estimates it would take 9,214 dental professionals distributed across these HPSAs to remove the shortage designations. It also now designates 6,826 dental HPSAs nationwide, compared to 5,493 less than ten years ago.
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Supply, Demand, and Recruiting Considerations in Dentistry
Compensation According to DentalPost’s Dental Salary Survey 2024, the average full-time income of general dentists who are practice owners or partners rose to $300,273 in 2023. The average full-time income of general dentists who are employed associates rose to $217,867.00. Compared with DentalPost’s 2022 metrics, the income of dentist-owners rose by 3.72% and the income of associates rose by 11.27%. However, despite an increase in average income the survey notes that compensation dissatisfaction significantly rose among associate dentists. In 2023, 29.83% of associates were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their income, according to the survey. By contrast, in 2022, only 4.8% were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied.
Recruiting Trends and Recommendations The supply and demand dynamics reviewed above underscore why searches to fill permanent dental positions can be challenging today. Given the geographic maldistribution of dentists, demand for dental services is particularly strong among the nation’s community health centers (CHCs), many of which are in underserved rural or inner-city areas and often are seeking general dentists. While demand for general dentists remains high, demand is particularly strong for permanent dentists who specialize in endodontics, pediatrics, oral & maxillofacial surgery and other dental specialties. There are fewer than 10,000 potential candidates in each of these specialties nationwide – a very limited pool given a population of over 320 million people.
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Supply, Demand, and Recruiting Considerations in Dentistry
Dental practices, community health centers, and other employers who are recruiting dentists therefore need to ensure their positions are competitive in terms of compensation, practice style, equipment and other factors.
Today we are seeing starting salaries for dental associates in permanent positions in the $170,000 to $210,000 range. Signing bonuses are commonly offered and range up to $30,000. Retention bonuses also are common. For example, community health centers often offer a retention bonus of $5,000 - $10,000 a year for three to four years or for the length of the contract. Retention bonus amounts will vary for other types of facilities and practices. Other frequently used incentives and benefits include loan repayment, malpractice insurance, continuing medical education (CME) allowances, health insurance, dental insurance, 401k or 403b plans, paid time off and paid holidays. Four weeks of paid time off (PTO) is standard at community health centers. Those dentists affiliated with a dental support organization (DSO) may not be offered PTO. Though they can take vacations, their time off will not be paid since they are not in the office generating revenue.
A competitive dental opportunity typically will offer more than a strong financial and benefits package. Few dentists today want to work chairside five days a week, so it is important to be flexible on schedules if possible.
In addition, allowing dentists to have some say in equipment, when applicable, can be a strong recruiting incentive. Being open to updating practice procedures to accommodate differing practice styles also goes a long way in attracting and retaining new talent. Understandably, candidates don’t want to work with outdated equipment or compromise patient care in practices with sub-par equipment.
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Supply, Demand, and Recruiting Considerations in Dentistry
In general, it is a best practice today to be flexible and tailor the opportunity to each candidate’s needs or interests. For example, one of our clients, a rural hospital, is planning to expand and renovate its dental wing, but they are delaying the purchase of new equipment until they have obtained input from a newly signed dentist. It also is important to consider all viable candidates regardless of age, gender, or national origin. Recognize that not all foreign medical graduates on visas are going to leave after three years. When appropriately matched to the practice and community on the front end it is not uncommon for them to put roots down and remain in the community for many years.
The supply and demand dynamics in dentistry are tighter than ever before. A willingness to listen to and be open minded with each qualified candidate is the key to recruiting dentists to permanent positions in today’s market.
Conclusion Given current supply and demand trends, it is apparent that dentists will be in short supply on at least a regional basis for the foreseeable future, with patient access driven by distribution of dentists, economic trends, turnover. and related factors. Effective strategies, robust incentives, and a concerted commitment will be needed to successfully recruit dentists in today’s competitive market.
For additional information about AMN Healthcare Physician Solutions’ capabilities and thought leadership resources, contact:
physiciansolutions@amnhealthcare.com
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