Every year, dental industry reports come out ad nauseam about demographic patterns, the rise of DSOs, and trends in materials, instruments, and treatments. But we felt something wasn’t being captured by those reports: How it actually feels to work at a dental practice in 2022. What keeps dentists up at night and what fuels them to keep going when things get tough? We had some theories based on conversations with friends and customers, but quantitative answers were hard to find. So we started gathering that data ourselves. This Chairside Dental Report is just the beginning for us. Our first survey answered a lot of questions, but also got us wondering about many more. We hope you’ll find something of interest here and choose to follow along.
We surveyed 120 industry insiders, from practice owners to associates, hygienists, and office managers from practices of all sizes to learn:
The data gave us a peek inside the average practice. We hope you’ll find something of interest – whether it’s affirmation that your fellow dentists feel the same as you, a benchmark to compare your practice with, or a takeaway tip to apply yourself.
Here’s a preview of some of our major findings – keep reading to dive deeper:
Owners are the happiest person at the practice, followed by support staff, with associate dentists coming in last.
Team member turnover and low patient volume are the two biggest stressors across the board.
Providing amazing care is still the biggest focus and motivator for the whole industry.
Marketing investments are low, but that’s in part because word of mouth is such a successful driver of growth.
Investments in team training, CE, and consultants are low on most owners’ priority lists – which leads to team members paying their own way and seeking out free educational resources on social media.
Like any good check up, we started by asking about well-being. How do dentists and their teams feel when they’re commuting to the practice every morning? We heard about an owner’s pride in the team they’ve built, an associate’s dreams about one day owning the practice, and a hygienist’s satisfaction with how smoothly their practice’s systems run.
Almost everyone experiences some level of stress – particularly about a continued post-Covid dip in patient numbers and staff shortages – but they have intrinsic motivations that keep them coming back.
The biggest trend that stood out in our well-being metrics is how much happier owners are than their non-owner dentist counterparts. 88% of practice owners – dentist or not – feel at least “pretty good” about their practice; compared to 76% of non-owner dentists.
Why? The 24% of unhappy associates cited a feeling of disrespect from colleagues and a lack of control over the practice systems they believed they could improve if they were in charge. A large percentage of associates, 40%, said their top professional goal was to own their practice. Planning for ownership was what kept them in dentistry.
So, the people with less authority and control are less happy – what’s new, right? Still, we found two things interesting:
“I love that I can run the practice the way I would like to.”
“Being a boss makes me feel proud”
“Stress - staff shortage, staff underperforming, cancellations, etc”
“Enjoy my job, can be rough on the body and mind”
“Too much pressure to produce and overtreat”
“Great working environment and great employees!”
“Overall work is okay, but I do not feel valued a lot of times”
“We work together as a team and teach before we criticize”
“Great team and the same dental philosophy throughout. Lots of consistencies. Meaning less surprises.”
After we learned how dental teams feel about the practice, we asked how they think patients feel. 78% of respondents said patients perceived their practice positively. That contingent talked about patients leaving great feedback, consistently scheduling follow-ups, expressing gratitude for excellent treatment outcomes, and even sending annual Christmas cards.
20% said patients had a neutral opinion about the practice with comments about things like appointments starting late and a not-particularly-loyal patient base. Only a tiny 2% said patients had a negative perception of the practice.
Swell Tip: Do you make a point of celebrating high patient satisfaction? Knowing your practice has a great reputation and recognizing everyone who helps make that happen is a good way to keep morale up.
Owners feel the best about their jobs, followed by support team members, with associate dentists coming in last. A bright spot is the majority of respondents who believe that patients are happy with their practice.
We surveyed 120 industry insiders, from practice owners to associates, hygienists, and office managers from practices of all sizes to learn:
The data gave us a peek inside the average practice. We hope you’ll find something of interest – whether it’s affirmation that your fellow dentists feel the same as you, a benchmark to compare your practice with, or a takeaway tip to apply yourself.