Dentistry is a fast-paced and constantly evolving industry, so it’s important to stay on top of trends, especially when it comes to dental staffing. It’s clear for dental practice owners that traditional dental staffing is no longer the best choice, especially not during the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s why many dental offices are relying on TempStars for their dental temping and hiring needs.
Popular Dental Staffing Trends in 2021
It’s true that the pandemic is slowing down thanks to the vaccine, but dental practices will continue to benefit from the new dental staffing trends that emerged during such extraordinary circumstances. Additionally, dental hygienists and assistants who were proactive and readjusted to the new normal will enjoy many advantages.
If you want your dental practice to have a leg up on the competition and continue growing, you need to be aware of the most popular dental staffing trends in 2021 and use them to your advantage. Here’s a list that will help!
6 of the Best Dental Staffing Trends in 2021
#1 Work With Temps
Using temps to staff your dental practice is a great way to adapt to whatever current circumstances you’re facing. When business is thriving and your dental practice is always booked, having additional dental staff will allow you to keep up and grow.
When business is slow, you can work with temps as necessary instead of hiring more staff when it’s not the best move for your dental practice. Temps are amazing, they do their job well, and they are very easy to find thanks to the emergence of platforms that connect you with them.
#2 Use Outsourcing to Your Advantage
2020 was a hard year and we experienced uncertainty, stress, and worry. Many businesses had to reduce staffing needs to the essentials because they couldn’t afford anything beyond that. Dental practices were not the exception, so many owners had to take on the role of dental hygienists or assistants.
However, 2021 is the time to focus on your role. This is why you should consider outsourcing the aspects of your dental practice that you don’t have to keep in-house. It will help you save money and have a more productive dental practice. For example, HR, billing, marketing, and appointment scheduling are some of the elements you can easily outsource.
#3 Hire Specialists for One-Off Treatments
When you have patients that need special treatment, referring them to other dental practices puts you at risk of losing that patient. If you want to increase patient retention, you can hire specialists for one-off treatments instead of referring them to other practices.
Doing this will give your dental practice access to all sorts of specialists and it will not only increase your patient retention rates but also help you gain new patients. This way, your dental practice can grow and you can expand the list of treatments you offer.
#4 Accept Last-Minute Appointments
It’s safe to say that dental practices, just like any other kind of business, took a huge hit in 2020. That’s why you should get every possible penny in 2021. One of the many ways you can do that is to accept last-minute appointments.
If you avoid doing this because you don’t have enough staff, that’s where temps come in! Using temps will allow you to accept all patient appointments and you won’t have to over-spend on wages. Do this and your dental practice will grow tremendously.
#5 Make New Skills a Priority
Until we are truly past COVID-19 and it’s under control, you need to focus your dental staffing on people who have experience working during the pandemic and handling patients who are not easy. You also want to focus on people with infection control knowledge.
New skills are a priority because you can benefit greatly from hiring staff who is already skilled, so you don’t have to spend time or resources on training. Additionally, these professionals will know how to provide a good patient experience and it will help the reputation of your dental practice so it can grow and thrive.
#6 Take Action!
Reading about the latest trends in the industry is not enough, you need to take action and make changes so you can enjoy the benefits these popular trends have to offer. Whether you decide to start hiring temps or you want to focus on expanding your knowledge so you can be more valuable, you need to start today and take the first steps.
Now that you know how these trends can help you, we suggest you choose the ones that will benefit your dental practice the most and get started! Try TempStars dental staffing solutions – temping and hiring today.
