Dental assistant shortage: what ADA data shows

Is there a dental assistant shortage?

Yes, but the data shows the picture is easing slowly. ADA News reported Health Policy Institute (HPI) data in February 2025. Among dentists actively recruiting, nearly 87% said it was very or extremely challenging to hire dental assistants in late 2022. By the end of 2024, that share had fallen to slightly more than 70%.

An April 2026 HPI piece says the situation is “a bit less dire” for dental assistants and administrative staff than for hygienists, with higher shares of dentists reporting an adequate number. This post gives each figure with its date. It is general information from published sources.

What are the key numbers?

Why is hiring assistants still hard?

Several forces combine. ADA News quotes the chair of the ADA Council on Dental Practice, who said the pandemic sped up the decline of an already shrinking pool of allied team members. They left through retirement, a career change, or other reasons.

BLS says about 53,000 openings are projected each year over the decade, and that many come from workers who move to other occupations or leave the labor force. That means turnover is a large part of demand, not only new jobs. BLS also projects 28,800 more jobs from 2025 to 2035, a 7 percent rise, which is faster than the 3 percent average for all occupations.

See the glossary entries for workforce shortage and dental assistant.

What do assistants say about their jobs?

The 2022 HPI survey asked thousands of assistants, hygienists, and dentists about satisfaction. It found that 60.0% of employed dental assistants rated their satisfaction between 8 and 10 on a 10-point scale, and 7.2% rated it between 1 and 3.

Among assistants with low satisfaction, the three most common reasons, in order, were insufficient pay, feeling overworked, and negative workplace culture. HPI reports that roughly half of assistants and hygienists had a raise in the past year, and most raises were in the 1% to 3% range. It also reports that health insurance, paid sick time, paid leave, and continuing education funds are rare overall.

These are 2022 results. Conditions may differ in your area now.

How do pay data compare?

BLS reports a median annual wage for dental assistants of $48,070 in May 2025, or $23.11 per hour. The median across all occupations was $50,980. That is a national figure and not a range for your area. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $37,130, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $62,250.

HPI’s April 2026 piece says that, after adjusting for inflation, the average wage for dental office staff is down from a few years ago, while wages for all private workers rose steadily. It ties this to rising practice costs and flat reimbursement, a squeeze on margins. See dental assistant pay in Missouri for state-level context.

What are states doing about workforce limits?

Some states are changing who may do which tasks. HPI says Missouri recently introduced a pilot in which dental assistants trained to perform expanded functions, including supragingival scaling in patients diagnosed as periodontally healthy or with gingivitis. The Missouri Dental Association also runs a program for expanded function dental assistants. See expanded function dental assistants in Missouri, Missouri oral preventive assistant pilot, and the glossary entries for EFDA and scope of practice.

What does the shortage mean for scheduling and patients?

The sources here do not measure effects on patients or access to care, so this post makes no claim about them. What they do show is that most recruiting dentists still report hard hiring. An office with an open assistant position may need to plan coverage, cross-train current team members within the law, or adjust schedules while it recruits.

Any shift in tasks must stay within your state’s rules. BLS notes that each state regulates the scope of practice for assistants, and that duties vary by state and office. Ask the Missouri Dental Board or your attorney before you change who does what. See the glossary entry for delegation.

How can an office respond?

This post does not give a method. It points to what the sources describe. The 2022 HPI report says factors tied to retention include work-life balance, positive workplace culture, and the ability to help patients. The same report lists insufficient pay, lack of growth opportunity, inadequate benefits, and feeling overworked as attrition factors.

It also reports that many recruiting dentists had raised starting pay, and about 45% had changed hours to meet applicant needs. Dentists facing extreme hiring difficulty used a wider range of recruitment outlets.

For process, see how to hire a dental assistant. For the other half of the clinical team, see dental hygienist shortage. For the glossary view of retention, see employee retention.

Next step

For the full process of hiring and keeping a dental team, see hire and keep a dental team. To ask about staffing topics, Contact Dr. Copeland about consulting.