Staffing is the number one issue facing dentists today, with shortages affecting production in many practices across the country. While the crisis may ease somewhat in the short-term, it will remain a problem over the long haul. Below we discuss the strategies your colleagues are using to successfully overcome it.

We received almost 500 responses (490) to our recent member survey on staffing. Of those, 61% were from general dentists, 22% were from orthodontists, 8% were from pediatric dentists, 4% were from oral surgeons, 2% were from endodontists, 2% were from periodontists, and 1% were from prosthodontists.

National Labor Problem

Currently, the U.S. unemployment rate stands at 3.5%, a 50-year low. While there are 10 million job openings, there are only roughly 6 million people unemployed. Accordingly, there are about 2 times as many job openings as there are those actually looking for work.

More importantly, the labor force participation rate (the percentage of able adults who are currently working) stands at only 62.3%, down from a high