Resources for dental offices
It's 7:00 a.m., and your hygienist calls out sick. You scramble to find coverage, reschedule multiple patients, and your front desk spends the morning managing frustrated callers. Situations like this highlight a deeper issue: a lack of hiring preparedness. Hygienist shortages and high turnover are ongoing challenges across the industry. Relying on last-minute job postings—especially when there are such significant dental hygienist shortages—puts your practice in a constant state of reaction. This framework helps you build a consistent talent pipeline, so you're not hiring in crisis. With the right strategy in place, you can keep schedules full, reduce lost production, and make staffing a source of stability instead of stress.
Jul 22, 2025
Strengthen Your Employer Brand and Online Presence
Candidates research your practice before applying. They read reviews, check your website, and scroll through your social media, often before responding to a job post.
Claim and Optimize Your Online Profiles
Start by claiming and updating your profiles on Google, Glassdoor, and Indeed. Make sure your branding is consistent: use real photos of your team at work, not stock images. Highlight your practice culture through short videos or day-in-the-life posts.
Create a Compelling Careers Page
Your website should have a dedicated "Careers" page with current openings, salary ranges, benefits, and growth opportunities. Be specific; vague promises don't attract quality candidates. Update all job-related listings within 48 hours to show you're responsive and organized.
Manage Your Online Reputation
Monitor reviews regularly and respond professionally within 24 hours, especially to negative feedback. Follow up offline if needed. Reputation management is part of recruiting, as candidates notice how you handle feedback.
Forecast Staffing Needs and Define Your Ideal Hire
Now that your digital presence is professional, you need to determine exactly who you're looking for and when you'll need them. Start with your hygiene department, where gaps have the biggest impact on production and patient flow.
Analyze Your Utilization Data
Run a 12-month hygiene report from your practice management system. Flag weeks where chair utilization falls below 85 percent. Look at PTO patterns, seasonal trends, and upcoming retirements. If you're consistently under your target utilization, set a hiring goal to close that gap.
Define the Role Clearly
Before you post it, list required certifications, relevant clinical experience, and the skills needed based on your current case mix. If you handle a high volume of perio, that should shape the candidate profile.
Research Competitive Compensation
Research what hygienists earn in your state and position your compensation competitively based on local demand. For detailed salary benchmarks and market insights, check out our comprehensive guide to dental hygienist salary ranges.
Create Your Candidate Scorecard
Use a short scorecard to outline what matters most: must-have credentials, preferred experience, and practice-specific traits. This helps you filter candidates early and avoid wasting time on poor fits.
Develop Your Sourcing Strategy
With your employer brand polished and hiring needs defined, it's time to create multiple pathways for qualified candidates to discover your practice. The most effective sourcing strategies combine proactive outreach with strategic positioning across various channels.
Build Educational Partnerships
Start with local hygiene programs. Build relationships with program directors, offer externships, and participate in job fairs and panels. These early touchpoints help you connect with future graduates before they start applying elsewhere. Invite top externs back for paid shifts so you can assess fit before committing to a long-term hire.
Optimize Job Board Presence
Keep your listings active on dental-specific job boards. Instead of reposting the same listing, refresh titles and lead paragraphs to highlight different strengths: flexible scheduling, digital tools, or mentorship opportunities. Active job seekers often scroll quickly; repetition gets ignored.
Activate Your Internal Network
Set up a referral program that offers meaningful incentives—not just gift cards or vague "bonuses," but rewards tied to hires who stay. Your current team likely knows other professionals who would thrive in your practice environment.
Track Your Results
Record where each candidate comes from, how long it took to fill the role, and how long each hire stays. This data helps you focus on high-yield channels and reduce time spent on ineffective ones.
Master Engagement and Selection
Your sourcing strategy is now bringing in candidates, but converting interest into hires requires two distinct skills: nurturing relationships over time and making efficient hiring decisions when candidates are ready. This step combines long-term relationship building with streamlined selection processes.
Nurture Your Talent Pool
Start by identifying high-potential candidates early, whether from externships, past interviews, or temporary shifts. Add them to a simple tracking system (this can be a spreadsheet or basic CRM) and set regular check-ins.
Make those touchpoints valuable. Instead of generic newsletters, send quarterly updates that include CE opportunities, job-shadowing availability, or updates about new technology you're adopting. Highlight team wins, expansion plans, or leadership changes that show your practice is growing and forward-thinking.
Use small events to build rapport. Lunch-and-learns, CE nights, or invite-only Q&As with current staff give candidates a window into how your team operates. These formats work especially well for hygienists who want to assess culture and clinical standards before making a move.
Streamline Your Selection Process
When candidates are ready to apply, speed and structure matter equally. Use a three-part process:
Focused phone screen to confirm licensure, availability, and basic clinical skills
Working interview to evaluate fit and performance in your environment
Reference and credential checks to verify experience and reliability
For active applicants, respond within 24 hours—even if you're not moving forward. A timely, respectful message builds trust and sets you apart from practices that don't follow up at all. If someone isn't the right fit now, flag them for future roles and stay in touch.
If you're unsure about long-term fit, consider using temporary-to-permanent arrangements. You can bring in a hygienist for short-term shifts and convert to a full-time role if it works out—a low-risk way to fill gaps while evaluating real-world performance.
Monitor your engagement metrics: open and response rates for outreach, time-to-hire, and conversion rates from different sourcing channels. If engagement drops, adjust your format or frequency.
Perfect Onboarding and Retention
You've identified the right candidate and made the hire. Now comes the critical phase that determines whether they'll stay long-term and become a valuable team member. Success here depends on structured onboarding and creating an environment where hygienists want to build their careers.
Structure Your Onboarding Process
Give new team members immediate access to the systems they'll use daily. Pair them with a peer who can guide them through clinical protocols and communication norms. Schedule check-ins at 30, 60, and 90 days to catch issues early and reinforce expectations.
Review documentation standards and billing compliance on day one—small mistakes can quickly become legal or financial problems. Don't assume previous experience translates directly to your systems and workflows.
Focus on Retention Fundamentals
Hygienists expect market-based pay, CE support, and some degree of scheduling flexibility. If you're not offering these, you're likely losing candidates to practices that are. Understanding what drives dental hygienist job satisfaction can help you create a more attractive work environment.
Pay attention to signals during the first 90 days. If multiple hires disengage during the same stage, the issue may be a lack of mentorship, unclear workflows, or mismatched expectations around pace or responsibilities. Exit feedback, even informal, can reveal what's missing.
Culture also plays a role. Does your team communicate openly? Are hygienists empowered to give input on tools and protocols? High turnover often comes down to whether people feel respected, equipped, and part of a well-run team.
Measure What Matters
Building an effective talent pipeline requires continuous improvement based on real data, not assumptions. While many practices focus on surface-level metrics, the most successful ones track outcomes that directly impact their bottom line and team stability.
Focus on these two key outcomes to improve over time:
Time-to-hire: Shorter hiring cycles reduce lost production and burnout for your current team
First-year retention: A drop here signals deeper issues, often related to onboarding quality or unclear role expectations
If new hires keep leaving, reexamine the full experience you're offering—not just the job description, but how it feels to work at your practice from day one. Often, small changes like assigning a peer mentor, reviewing feedback loops, or adjusting how new hires are introduced to your systems can significantly improve retention.
Put Your Pipeline on Autopilot with Teero
Building a talent pipeline takes time, but filling urgent shifts shouldn't. Teero's marketplace connects you with pre-vetted hygienists ready to work when you need them most. Whether you need coverage for a sick call or want to try someone for a permanent role, the platform handles both.
The best part? Permanent placements cost nothing. No placement fees, no hidden costs. Just qualified professionals who fit your schedule and budget. Stop the last-minute scramble. Your patients deserve consistent care, and you deserve peace of mind. Sign up for Teero today to sort out your staffing needs.