Last November, Dr. Logan French took over a dental practice in Jackson Square, rebranding it as JP Dental.
He’s hired receptionists and assistants, but is having enormous recruitment trouble in one crucial category.
“We’ve been trying to hire hygienists since Day One,” French said. “We would like two full-time hygienists and we can’t even get one right now.”
Dr. French is hardly alone.
An American Dental Association survey done mid-pandemic found 40 percent of dental practices in the U.S. in the market for dental hygienists. Ninety percent of them reported it was very or extremely challenging to find them.
To say the least, it didn’t used to be that way.
Amanda Berthiaume became a dental hygienist in 2015. Now president of the Massachusetts Dental Hygienists Association, she remembers a much different job market nine years ago.
“We were actually over-saturated as a profession in Massachusetts,” she said. “A dental hygienist could not find a full-time position.”
And then came Covid.
While the infection rate among dental hygienists remained low -- the potential for getting sick was very high. In fact, hygienists scored near the top of a scale of ‘most risky professions’ for Covid, at 99.7 out of 100.
Berthiaume said there are currently 6,500 dental hygienists working in Massachusetts -- but that’s not enough.
“I know the schools are taking a huge step in trying to increase graduates in hygiene,” she said. “Expanding their programs, retaining students. Even during Covid, we didn’t stop teaching.”
Berthiaume said at any given time, 300 students are studying dental hygiene at one of eight schools in Massachusetts. And each year, about 150 graduate. The problem is, that number can’t keep up with the number likely to leave the profession in the short term. The ADA estimates about a third of current hygienists will retire in the next few years.
One possible avenue of relief -- a legislative proposal to give Master’s level dental hygienists the legal right to take on some minor duties of the dentist.
“What MDAH has done is introduce a mid-level provider position,” said Berthiaume. “We as dental hygienists can work at the top of the scope of our practice.It’s called the Dental Therapist. We would be able to relieve some of the simple things from them,” she said -- such as minor restorative work or even extractions.
That would certainly help Dr. French, who is getting by hiring hygienists from temp agencies and yes, sometimes cleaning teeth himself.
“It takes away from the larger work that I do,” he said. “I’m primarily cosmetic and surgery-focused. So I’ll go in and do a full implant surgery and then my next patient I’ll have to jump in and do the cleaning.”
As with many dental practices, getting an immediate appointment for a cleaning is nearly impossible at JP Dental -- and sometimes only happens if there’s a cancellation.
“We like to get all new patients in within ten days and right now, sometimes we’re pushing them out 3 months, 6 months,” said French. “I hope it changes quickly. Because we’d love to get a hygienist in here to help our patients out.”
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