Clinic environment is a key factor in attracting talent

The shortage of dental practitioners is a pressing challenge in dentistry across Europe, and forecasts predict that it will be a market condition for years. As a result, high-end clinic design, ergonomic working environment and modern equipment become opportunities to attract talent.

Lack of educated dental professionals and increased competition in the dental market make it still more challenging to get the best – or even enough – dental staff. The situation is in the employees’ favor, and employers can no longer pick and choose between applicants.

Jashar Samadi is the founder and owner of Tandfakta, a dental recruitment business based in Sweden and operating in the Nordics with more than 10.000 members in their network. Jashar and his team have matched candidates and dental employers with great success for almost ten years, and he recognizes that attracting talent has become increasingly difficult.

“We see a general shortage of skilled staff, and it seems to be worse after the pandemic. At the moment, the number of patients is overwhelming because treatments have been postponed, and many clinics lack resources to keep up. Lately, some clinics outside the larger cities even had to close because they couldn’t recruit sufficient staff,” Jashar explains.

Jashar Samadi

Attracting talent with non-financial benefits

The shortage makes recruitment the employees’ market, and applicants now put more emphasis on non-financial aspects, like the clinic’s vision, interior design, and, not least, the dental equipment and instruments.

Ergonomic equipment not only protects the practitioners’ professional health but also makes the workday more comfortable. Trine Høgsbro, a dental nurse at Praxis, Vedbæk, Denmark, says: “I have worked with XO units for many years and sitting on the XO seat (the saddle chair) makes the long patient treatments so much easier for me, and the daily cleaning and disinfection of XO units is super easy.”

Going forward, we can expect that the younger generation dentists will be still more attentive to ergonomics. Today, dental education institutions/universities teach young dentists about ergonomics, but upon graduation it is hard for newly graduated to identify clinics equipped with dental units that allows the dentists to work in healthy and ergonomic postures; that is, taking professional work health precautions.

Aliza Sakhra, a young dental nurse studying in Germany within her final years to become a dentist, says: “At the university, we are only being taught to operate the standard dental unit with all instruments placed to the right, instead of in the over-the-patient-delivery system. This is crazy, for instance also because we have left-handed dental students that have great trouble using the old-fashioned units. Neither is it ergonomically friendly, nor very hygienic to have to stop and turn around, away from the patient, to put down or pick up instruments – compared to the smoother workflow in the over-the-patient delivery system”.

Wow beats ordinary

Using clinic design to stand out and attract talent comes with an added benefit. If a clinic looks great, has a beautiful interior, and leaves you with a “wow” feeling, it will attract both talent and patients.

Aliza Sakhra

Sofia Kjaer, a patient at ABC dentists in Copenhagen, says: “I must admit that the very smart design and tasteful interior helped to give an impression of quality; I thought to myself: okay, here are some dentists who are very proud of the business they have built. I know now that the experience of customer care, good taste and professionalism I was met with at the ABC clinic somehow guarantee dental professional quality. I would advise others to also be on the lookout for these qualities if they don’t already have a dentist with whom they feel comfortable.”

But what about the dental equipment? Do the patients even notice, or is it solely the dental practitioners who can tell the difference between a standard and a high-end unit?

Dental nurse Trine Høgsbro is not in doubt. “My patients always comment on the look and softness of the unit. And as for my own extensive experience in working with XO unit, I must say that it is super easy to operate, it is very good quality and has a fantastic timeless design.”

Jashar Samadi confirms that clinics with modern, ergonomic equipment often are ahead of competitors. “The candidates want to work with state-of-the-art equipment, so it’s a good idea to include this aspect in the recruitment,” Jashar says and elaborates: “In the final stages of a recruitment process, the clinic environment can turn out to be the decisive factor for the candidate because if the clinic appears untidy, if there’s a stressful atmosphere, or if the units or equipment are old-fashioned, I’ve seen candidates turn down a position based on that.”

The challenge of attracting talent is worldwide

The shortage of dental professionals is a critical issue worldwide, however, with regional differences. At XO CARE’s homeland, Denmark, a 20% fall in the workforce of dentists is expected towards 2030. In Sweden, the expected decrease is 10% fewer dentists by 2035. And in the Netherlands, 300 dentists retire every year, but only 240 graduate, leaving a large gap to be filled.

The conclusion is clear: Dental practitioners will be in great demand in the next decade, and clinic design and ergonomic equipment prove to be areas where employers can stand out from the competition to attract patients and talent.

Sources:
https://www.sst.dk/da/nyheder/2019/fremtidens-tandpleje-en-ny-prognose-frem-til-2040  
https://nordic.dental-tribune.com/news/sweden-predicts-continued-shortage-of-dentists/https://universitas.no/sak/46989/tannleger-blir-mangelvare/
https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2019/03/more-foreign-dentists-are-filling-the-gap-as-dentist-shortage-grows/ https://dentaltalent.co.uk/is-there-a-shortage-of-dentists-in-the-uk/