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ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – An American Dental Association study shows a nationwide dental workforce shortage.
According to the study, one-third of the dental assistant and hygienist workforce plan to retire in the next five years.
According to the Mayo Clinic, poor oral health can lead to conditions like gum disease, which has been linked to heart disease, diabetes and dementia.
Toothlessness continues across Minnesota.
“I know there’s a shortage all over Minnesota, whether it’s in the Twin Cities or the smaller towns,” said Minnesota Dental Association President Dr. Rose Perpich. “Dental hygienists and assistants, there’s quite a shortage in both of those areas to the point where some offices are having to cut their hours because they can’t find staff.”
Perpich said the shortage began long before the pandemic.
“Baby boomers are retiring,” she said. “Around 2011, the number of graduates from dental assisting schools dropped dramatically. There have been some changes in the regulation that accredits hygiene schools, which has lowered the student-to-faculty ratio.”
Minnesota Department of Health Chief Workforce Analyst Teri Fitzma said retiring dental professionals are outpacing younger ones.
“We’re really seeing an aging of that dental workforce and the pipeline just isn’t able to keep up,” she said.
Uptown Dental in Albert Lea is booked through spring. He said there simply aren’t enough providers in the area. Uptown also takes most insurance policies, including Medicare and Medicaid. He said this is not a common practice for dental offices, so it is increasing demand.
“We seem to be seeing more patients with more needs,” Uptown dental assistant Meka Simmons said.
To help with the workload, Uptown employs several dental therapists. They are trained to do many procedures that a dentist can do.
“The dental therapist can do most fillings,” Simmons said. “Or for children, the stainless crown and the pulpotomy which is like a baby root canal. Or simple extractions.”
In Rochester, at Family Dentist Tree, staff said it’s also been very busy. Dr. Robert Stroope, with the office, said they could use more support staff.
“Areas like Rochester, what I would call desirable places to live, don’t seem to have as much of a problem with dentists themselves, but we still struggle to find enough support staff to support the office,” said Dr. Stroop. .
The Minnesota Department of Health said it is working to ease the shortage by offering loan forgiveness options and promoting programs such as cooperative hygienist practice jobs.
Collaborative hygienist practice is when the dental hygienist is able to go outside of a dental clinic to places like schools and community settings to provide oral care, under the supervision of a dentist.
“Cooperative practice is a way to reach people in a community who may not go to the dentist as often as Zora,” said Minnesota Department of Health Office of Rural Health and Primary Care Director Radosevich. “Or, not having a dentist that they’re already seeing is another way to promote that care to areas that don’t really have good access at that point.”
Another solution that MDH is promoting is for dental students to do rotations in rural areas, in the hope that they will want to settle in the area and set up a practice.
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