Tackling the Dental Assistant Shortage

Because dental assistants wear many hats, the job has been likened to that of an air traffic controller, copilot, flight attendant and booking agent—all rolled into one. And as most dentists know, skilled dental assistants can be an invaluable asset to a dental practice. They contribute to ensuring patient coordination and safety, and they help dental offices run smoothly on a day-to-day basis. 

As valuable as dental assistants are to a practice, there is unfortunately a continuing shortage of them. A late 2023 survey by the American Dental Association’s Health Policy Institute found that nearly 90 percent of practices have found it “extremely” or “moderately” challenging to fill open dental assisting positions. That’s 33 percent higher than the same survey reported earlier that year. Worse yet, almost one-third of current dental assistants plan to retire within the next five years.¹

The College of Dentistry is working to alleviate the problem via a dental assistant externship program. Launched earlier this year, the program brings students from Columbus’ Southwestern Academy and Eastland-Fairfield Career and Technical Schools to Postle Hall to shadow dental assistants. 

The students are high school juniors and seniors who are considering becoming dental assistants. During the externship program, they spend half days in their regular classes and five to 10 half days visiting various student and graduate clinics at the college. They sit chairside during patient treatments and learn to mix or take alginate impressions, use the suction hose, and assist in sterilization, stocking, and other tasks. Although they cannot take x-rays until they become certified dental assistants, they can observe how assistants prepare patients and the work area for treatments, hand instruments to dentists at exactly the right time, and instruct patients in proper oral hygiene. 

College of Dentistry Receiving and Distribution Manager Yvonne Young, who serves as the program’s scheduling coordinator, ensures the externs rotate through a variety of clinics, such as orthodontics, instrument management, periodontology, central sterilization, emergency and others. “The externship program helps future dental assistants learn which dental field they would like to work in, so I try to ensure students visit a different clinic each time,” she explains. She has found that about five students in a class of 20 tend to have an interest in open positions, and two of the five go on to take classes in the specialty they’ve chosen.

As a home-schooled senior, Gabriella Chavez took advantage of the externship program through Reynoldsburg High School - Livingston Campus in Columbus. After being in the program, she was determined to have a career in the dental field. This spring, she passed the Registered Dental Assistant certification test. 

“The program was very positive. It gave me clinical experience and opened up job opportunities,” she said. “I learned something new every day. I saw patients of different ages and who had very different dental situations. It was fascinating to learn about new machines and instruments, but also to see the different roles involved in serving patients.” 

For another student, Makenzie Barker, the program was an exciting experience of “firsts.” A graduating senior at Eastland-Fairfield’s predental program, she said, “The externship program was my first hands-on assisting experience and my first experience working with patients. I was given the opportunity to learn about instruments that I hadn’t seen before and how to relate to patients in different situations. The program was really helpful in advancing my career in dentistry.”

Dean Carroll Ann Trotman is looking forward to the program continuing in the next academic year. “The externship program is a positive step toward solving the issue of dental assistant shortages,” she said. “It’s also motivating students to choose a career that offers variety, good earning potential, and flexible hours, and one that makes a big difference to the patients dentists serve every day.”