What are the best staffing options for dental hygienists?
Dental hygienists play an important role in helping your practice to deliver consistent patient care. As a recruiter, remember that when you plan to hire a dental hygienist, they are also responsible for maintaining daily operations at your dental clinic.
However, a recent spike in patient volume has led to workforce shortages. These shortages can make dental hygienist recruitment difficult and make it hard to find qualified professionals.
While you are facing shortages, relying on a single recruiting approach may not help you fill positions on time. This blog explains proven dental hygienist staffing options to improve recruiting efficiency.
Option#1: Choosing full-time dental hygienist staffing
If your dental practice is seeing steady growth in patient numbers, choosing a full-time dental hygienist model with skills helps you maintain consistent care daily.
It is essential for you to consider the skilled full-time dental hygienist recruitment process when there is predictable patient growth.
Skilled professionals who can play a vital role in this situation help you build a brand for the clinic.
For example: If you are planning to hire a dental hygienist for your clinic in NewYork to handle patient care regularly by assisting the physicians.
You can also choose this model when your facility does not have limits on the recruiting budget.
Professionals hired through full-time staffing models come with skills and help you build a stable workforce.
However, as a recruiter, you should also know what skills to consider before you hire. To keep you informed, a detailed list of skills related to dental hygienists is added.
Key professional skills for dental practice
Option#2: Opting for per diem dental hygienist staffing
Most dental clinics may see unexpected recruiting changes, such as employee absences. It can make your facility understaffed and can make patient care less effective.
As a result, it may become difficult for the existing staff to keep appointments on schedule and maintain smooth operations.
To overcome this situation as a clinical manager, you must hire dental hygienists on a per diem basis.
This model helps you improve patient care by giving you access to qualified professionals who can provide temporary support during employee absences.
For example, if your dental hygienist takes unexpected leave because of health issues, you can choose the per diem method. It is a proven method to hire professionals with dental hygienist certifications to avoid disruptions in patient care.
Most recruiters are opting for this as it gives you more flexibility without increasing your full-time workforce.
Option#3: Selecting contract dental hygienist staffing
Dental practices in most areas often need additional hygienist support when their patient volume grows.
To meet the patient demand and expand services, facilities may need time to find the right full-time professionals. These situations can create workload pressure for the existing team.
This growing pressure can make it challenging to maintain efficient operations without addressing the staffing shortages at the clinic.
To overcome these challenges as a recruiter, you can choose and hire dental hygienists on a contract basis.
Choosing contract staff can support your workforce needs for a defined period. This allows your clinic to maintain productivity while you evaluate long-term staffing requirements.
For example, if your dental practice launches a new service and experiences a higher number of patient appointments, you can hire a contract dental hygienist to manage the increased workload.
Many recruiters are choosing the contract staffing option because it can be a more cost-effective option than expanding the full-time workforce.
To make informed, cost-effective staffing decisions, it is important to understand current dental hygienist salary trends. The infographic below provides a quick overview to help you plan your recruiting needs.
Dental hygienist compensation overview in the USA
Source: BLS
Option#4: Partnering with dental colleges
When clinics are planning to address workforce gaps, recruiters often need to look beyond traditional recruiting methods to hire dental hygienists.
The new recruiting approach includes partnering with dental colleges and universities. This new approach is essential because many new professionals enter the workforce after completing their education.
Partnering with colleges can help you build a stronger candidate pool within your budget.
One more benefit of partnering with dental colleges is that you can meet future dental hygienists before they start looking for jobs.
For example, if yours is a community clinic and has budget limitations to hire dental hygienists, your facility can partner with dental colleges to learn about their skills and introduce them to dental practices.
These partnerships help you create a reliable talent pipeline and reduce future talent acquisition pressure.
Reduce your recruiting delays with the right dental staffing platform
Sourcing and onboarding skilled dental hygienists becomes easier when you understand the staffing options available to your clinic.
Understanding staffing models or options is essential because each option has different recruiting needs.
As a recruiter, you must choose the right one that helps you maintain an adequate dental team. Even with the right recruiting strategy, finding qualified professionals may be challenging at times. To overcome this challenge, many facilities choose a trusted staffing partner.
The right partner can assist you in simplifying your recruiting process and will allow you to onboard skilled professionals on time.
But before choosing a recruiting partner, it is your responsibility to know what platform to choose and what to avoid. Many dental clinics still rely on traditional agencies to hire certified dental hygienists, but the process is often delayed.
The main reason behind this delay is that agencies still rely on manual working processes. This age-old process can slow down hiring and provide limited credential transparency.
Along with this, agencies may come with markups that increase your overall recruiting costs. To overcome these challenges, it is essential to choose a modern platform. One such platform to choose is MedSquirrels.
This modern platform is designed to help you hire faster and more efficiently. MedSquirrels also come with benefits such as:
- You get access to verified professionals with credential information.
- It has no markups and helps you reduce unnecessary staffing costs with transparent pricing.
- You can hire within your budget, as it has staffing plans that help you hire as per your budget
Choosing the right recruiting partner with staffing plans can make hiring less stressful and help your facility maintain consistent patient care.
Dental recruiters can book a free demo to see how the platform helps them with staffing. Healthcare professionals can check open jobs and apply for those that match their interests.
FAQs
How do I know which dental hygienist staffing model is right for my client?
Start by understanding why the position is open. If the practice needs ongoing support, a full-time approach is usually the best choice. If the need is short-term or project-based, a contract option may be more suitable. For unexpected absences, the per diem option helps maintain patient care without disrupting daily operations
When should I use more than one staffing option?
You may need multiple staffing options when your hiring needs change throughout the year. For example, you can maintain a full-time workforce while using per diem staff for unexpected absences or contract professionals during periods of increased patient demand
How can the right staffing strategy improve patient care?
Having enough qualified dental hygienists allows your practice to keep appointments on schedule and support daily operations. A well-planned strategy also reduces pressure on existing staff and helps maintain consistent patient care.
How does MedSquirrels help me hire dental hygienists faster?
Once you submit your requirements, MedSquirrels begins sourcing qualified professionals based on your hiring needs. The platform streamlines candidate matching, credentialing, onboarding, and compliance, helping you reduce hiring delays and fill positions more efficiently
Can I hire both contract and full-time dental hygienists through MedSquirrels?
Yes. MedSquirrels supports both contract and full-time hiring. You can choose the right option that best matches your facility’s workforce requirements and hiring goals.
