Here are six recent stories covered by Becker's highlighting the state of workforce shortages and how these shortages are affecting dentistry:
1. Ten states have joined the interstate dental compact aimed at making it easier for dental professionals to practice across all states participating in the compact without the need for individual licenses.
2. There are currently 6,861 dental professional shortage areas in the U.S., according to data from the Health Resources and Services Administration. The U.S. is in need of 9,938 dental professionals to fill those shortage areas.
3. The number of graduates from accredited dental hygiene and dental assisting programs have both decreased since 2019, according to data from the American Dental Association's Health Policy Institute.
4. An April survey from the American Dental Association shows that dental assistants and hygienists are still the most difficult roles to recruit for practices.
5. Consulting firm McKinsey & Co. projects that the U.S. will be short more than 36,000 dental professionals by 2031.
6. Dental workforce shortages could be exacerbated by future retirements as 34% of dental hygienists reported planning to retire within six years. About 33% of dentist owners also plan to retire within six years.