HIGHBusinessTier 1
The workforce trends that will dominate 2027
SourceBecker's Dental + DSO ReviewTier 1Hard News
By Ariana Portalatin
Originally at beckersdental.com
Summary & scoring by The Bell Brief (Dr. Jennifer Bell) using the Drill-Down Protocol (Drill-Down Score) — not the original publisher.
Why it matters for dental
Ongoing shortages of hygienists and assistants will keep pressuring wages and scheduling capacity for private-practice owners, DSOs, and smaller clinics through 2027; practices unable to compete on pay or technology may lose volume and quality.
Key points
- Eric Linden, DMD, predicts the shortage of auxiliary dental workers will worsen into 2027 because of high inflation and lower reimbursement rates, creating what he calls a workforce death spiral.
- Jean Pierre Rwigema, DDS, states that the hygienist and assistant shortage will continue to drive up wages and make it harder for smaller practices to match salaries offered by larger organizations.
- Eric Linden, DMD, warns that state dental boards will face political pressure to loosen licensure rules to attract more entrants into dental assisting and hygiene roles.
- Jean Pierre Rwigema, DDS, expects dental teams to adopt AI for scheduling, insurance verification, and radiograph analysis, shifting assistants toward digital scanning and treatment-planning tasks.
Who should care
OwnerDSOStaff
Read the original on Becker's Dental + DSO Review
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