It’s a professional’s market right now when it comes to recruitment in dentistry. It has been tough for practices looking to grow their team for some time, with a high level of competition for talented individuals. As such, it’s important for businesses to elevate their appeal by offering tangible benefits to their staff and to show themselves in the best light throughout the interview process and beyond.
An excellent place to work
First and foremost, your practice needs to be a great place for individuals to work. This means creating a culture that truly embodies your ethos, enabling all team members to enjoy where they work. For this to be successful, you need to have clearly defined values that are proactively reflected in everyday practice. If you’re all about collaboration with the team, for example, you’ll need to establish robust systems that facilitate open communication with individuals and then actually put their ideas and suggestions into action. Where you promote a good work-life balance, there need to be tangible processes in place that make this a reality for the team. This could mean offering flexible hours, compressed working weeks, job sharing or increased maternity/paternity support.
Just as important is the support afforded to team members at the practice to help them deliver the very best standard of patient care. This will vary depending on the size of your organisation and your resources, but it remains a key aspect of creating an excellent place to work. Support on any scale is crucial, from access to online research journals to a designated clinical mentor, administrative help, compliance assistance – the potential list is extensive.
Development opportunities
Another area in which the team can be supported is in their career progression. Training and development opportunities are important to clinicians across the country,[i] who value the chance to further their skills and advance in their career. Practices that can facilitate this, or proactively deliver training, will stand in good stead when looking to bring on new professionals.
This training should be varied in order to meet the needs of all candidates. From clinical topics like orthodontics, endodontics and oral surgery, to courses in patient management, communication or oral health education, there are a huge number of options beyond the recommended CPD topics to consider. For some businesses, this can be most economically achieved by collaborating with a training partner, who offers reduced rates for broad investment in programmes, and/or who may provide special rates for individuals seeking specific or advanced postgraduate training.
To complete the pathway, it’s important to think about how these new skills are then utilised and valued by the practice post-qualification. Clinicians may need help marketing a new service, or dental nurses might be able to take on additional responsibilities to practise their new skills. Individuals will also need to be recognised for their enhanced capabilities, whether that takes a financial or other form.
Tools
To complement these new skills, while also ensuring clinical excellence for all patients, the availability of effective equipment is crucial. After all, your team could be the best in the industry, but if they don’t have accurate diagnostic imaging, durable materials or a high-quality lab to work with, your patient care will suffer.
For example, dentists around the world agree that digital equipment increases efficiency, reduces treatment time and improves the patient experience.[ii] There are also implications for enhanced predictability of treatment processes, expanded treatment options for patients and elevated standards of communication.[iii]
Beyond capital equipment, everything from restorative materials to orthodontic aligners and endodontic files will impact the quality of care delivered – and the happiness of staff. Offering a choice of clinically-proven solutions and remaining open to requests where appropriate is important to allow the clinical freedom that dentists need to practise their very best dentistry.
Providing evidence
When you have all of this in place and you are actively creating the best environment for your team to work, it’s important to show this to applicants when advertising a vacancy. To show that it’s more than just lip service, provide evidence of the culture that you maintain in the practice and the benefits that are available. You can share testimonials from existing or previous staff members; provide an opportunity for candidates to speak to staff directly; outline the training package details; or give them a tour of the practice so they can see for themselves how everyone is valued. It will also be advantageous to give examples of how specific professionals have progressed since being with your practice and what your role as a business has been in their development.
For the most efficient recruitment process, it’s also important that you are seeing suitable candidates for your practice who share your ethos. Working with Dental Elite makes this simple, with recruitment experts narrowing down applicants to those most appropriate for you, saving both parties time and hassle. For information on the support available, as well as fresh ideas on how to make your business more appealing to potential new candidates, contact the team today.
For more information on Dental Elite visit www.dentalelite.co.uk, email info@dentalelite.co.uk or call 01788 545 900
[i] Holloway JA, Chestnutt IG. It’s not just about the money: recruitment and retention of clinical staff in general dental practice – part 1: dentists. Primary Dental Journal. 2024;13(1):38-54. doi:10.1177/20501684241232212
[ii] Al-Hassiny A. Digital vs Analog Dentistry: quantifying the real-world benefits. Institute of Digital Dentistry. May 2025. https://instituteofdigitaldentistry.com/cad-cam/digital-vs-analog-dentistry-quantifying-the-real-world-benefits/?srsltid=AfmBOorynZ9zMARAuPVbygBG3DiNqqSAdETPN21ubhdUwGLRfDbwkIdh [Accessed June 2025]
[iii] Gawali N, Shah PP, Gowdar IM, Bhavsar KA, Giri D, Laddha R. The Evolution of Digital Dentistry: A Comprehensive Review. J Pharm Bioallied Sci. 2024 Jul;16(Suppl 3):S1920-S1922. doi: 10.4103/jpbs.jpbs_11_24. Epub 2024 Apr 3. PMID: 39346228; PMCID: PMC11426768.
