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How to Grow a Dental Practice During a Hygienist Shortage

Jan 08, 2026
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One of the biggest challenges in running a dental practice today is the ongoing hygienist shortage. Many practice owners are experiencing strong new patient flow, solid dental practice operations systems, and a well staffed front office, yet growth stalls because hygiene capacity cannot keep up. This creates frustration, limits dental practice profitability, and contributes directly to dentist burnout.

At Dental Practice Heroes, we focus on practical dental practice management strategies that allow dentists to grow their practice, reduce clinical days, and improve dentist work life balance. In this article, we break down five proven ways to continue practice growth for dentists even when hygienist staffing is less than ideal.

If you want to grow your dental practice, increase dental practice revenue, and protect long term dental revenue growth, these strategies are essential.

Why the Hygienist Shortage Is Holding Back Practice Growth

From a dental business management perspective, hygiene is a math problem. A full time hygienist typically sees seven patients per day, four days per week, for about 48 weeks per year. That creates capacity for roughly 672 patients twice per year.

High growth practices that attract 80 to 100 new patients per month can max out one hygienist in less than a year. Without additional hygiene capacity, dental patient management becomes reactive instead of strategic. This limits new patient intake, strains your team, and slows down building a dental practice that supports dentist financial freedom.

Rather than choking off new patient flow, smart dental practice management coaching focuses on adapting systems to reality.

Solution One: Pay What the Market Demands for Hygienists

The simplest solution is hiring more hygienists, even if that means paying more than you have historically paid. From a dental practice consultant standpoint, this decision should be framed around opportunity cost.

If dentists are performing hygiene while associate driven dentistry or higher value procedures are waiting, the practice is losing money. Paying more for hygiene may feel painful, but it often leads to higher overall dental practice profitability.

Strong dental practice coaching emphasizes aligning compensation with production and long term growth, not just hourly cost control.

Solution Two: See Fewer Patients for Recall

One overlooked strategy in dental practice management is intentionally not reappointing every recall patient. When hygiene capacity is tight, it is reasonable to offer patients the option to call when they are ready rather than automatically scheduling six months out.

This approach allows practices to prioritize patients who value access and timeliness. It also helps build an ASAP list, which improves schedule efficiency and supports smoother dental practice operations systems.

Not every patient needs to be scheduled far in advance for your practice to grow.

Solution Three: Extend Recall Intervals Strategically

Six month recalls are not a universal requirement. Many low risk patients can safely be seen on eight month or even annual recall intervals.

From a dental business coaching perspective, this is a powerful lever. Seeing patients less frequently immediately doubles hygiene capacity without hiring additional staff. A hygienist who sees patients once per year instead of twice can support over 1,300 active patients.

This approach improves dentist work life balance while maintaining excellent dental patient management and clinical outcomes.

Solution Four: Reserve Hygiene for SRPs and Recalls Only

Another effective dental practice growth strategy is shifting all new patient appointments to the doctor side. In this model, assistants handle radiographs, doctors perform exams, and hygiene time is reserved strictly for SRPs and recall visits.

This system allows practices to maintain new patient flow while protecting hygiene capacity. It also creates opportunities for same day dentistry, improving clinical efficiency and dental revenue growth.

Many successful practices featured on the Dental Practice Heroes podcast use this hybrid approach during staffing shortages.

Solution Five: Increase Hygiene Efficiency With Assisted Hygiene

Assisted hygiene can be a controversial topic, but when implemented correctly, it improves productivity and team satisfaction. Hygienists often appreciate reduced room turnover and increased focus on patient care.

Shortening hygiene appointments without support often leads to frustration. Assisted hygiene, on the other hand, allows hygienists to see more patients per day without compromising care.

This strategy supports running a dental practice that remains profitable and scalable even during labor shortages.

Prioritizing New Patients Is Not Neglecting Existing Ones

A common concern from teams is that prioritizing new patients feels unfair to existing patients. From a dental practice management coaching standpoint, the opposite is often true.

New patients are typically a higher need population. Existing patients have already completed treatment and are generally stable. Prioritizing new patients ensures the practice serves those who need care most while continuing to grow.

This mindset shift is critical for reducing dentist burnout solutions and sustaining long term practice success.

Final Thoughts on Growing Through a Hygienist Shortage

There is no perfect solution to the hygienist shortage, and no strategy where everyone wins without compromise. However, by applying intentional dental business management systems, practices can continue to grow, remain profitable, and protect dentist leadership training and culture.

The most successful dental heroes adapt their systems instead of waiting for ideal staffing conditions. With the right dental practice coaching, you can reduce clinical days, improve dentist work life balance, and build a practice that supports both your patients and your personal life.

For more guidance on dental practice management, dental practice books, and proven systems for practice growth, visit DentalPracticeHeroes.com and learn how to grow your dental practice with confidence.

 
 
 

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