Why Dental Employee Benefits Matter

Train people well enough so they can leave. Treat people well enough, so they don’t want to.

Sir Richard Branson

Finding and hiring the right dental employees is a tall order for many businesses. For the dental industry, it’s one of the biggest pain points of operating a dental practice. 

The dental industry continues to feel the ongoing effects of the Great Resignation. Last year, dental staff vacancies remained high, but individuals skilled, qualified, and willing to fill these positions remained few and far between. In short, dental employees, not employers, had the luxury of choosing a dental job that best suits their needs and requirements. 

Are Dental Employee Benefits the Winning Hand?

Providing employees with the right incentives has become key to attracting and retaining dental staff. Offering employee benefits can help your practice outbid competitors to win over applicants, as well as secure their employment for the long term. 

This blog explores why employee benefits are essential to U.S. dental professionals and employers. It looks at the benefits in the highest demand and how dental leaders can use these job perks to attract new dental employees and encourage them to stay.

What are Common Dental Employee Benefits?

State or federal law does require specific employee benefits from businesses of a certain size. However, most non-wage benefits are optional and offered at a dental employer’s discretion. These include perks like paid sick leave, annual or vacation leave, health or life insurance contributions, employer contributions towards retirement savings, and yearly bonuses. 

DentalPost’s 2023 Salary Survey findings reveal that the ten most common dental benefits received by responding registered dental hygienists, dental assistants, and dental front office staff include:

1. Paid holidays (89%) 
2. Paid vacation (89%)
3. Retirement contributions (77%)
4. Personal dental benefits (72%)
5. Dental benefits for their immediate family members (59%)
6. Work uniforms provided or uniform costs reimbursed (59%)
7. Paid sick leave (56%)
8. Health insurance (50%)
9. Employer-paid conference attendance (37%)
10. Reimbursement for further studies and tuition (36%)

Why Do Benefits Matter to Employees?

It should come as no surprise that employee benefits are significant to dental professionals and play a critical role in their decision of whether or not to accept a job offer. 

Our 2023 Dental Salary Survey found that, out of the total respondents, approximately 83% of dental assistants, 80% of front-office admin staff and managers, and nearly 79% of registered dental hygienists stated that benefits were “important” to them – ranging from “very” to “extremely” essential. 

Why is this the case? The American Dental Association (ADA) can provide insights. In their guide on Dentist Employment Agreements, ADA highlighted that employees consider benefits essential because they directly impact the lifestyle they want to lead. 

Discretionary staff benefits can affect an employee’s ability to visit their preferred medical practice or practitioner and other lifestyle choices, such as saving for retirement or being able to travel because they have enough paid time off. 

3 Top Employee Benefits That Matter the Most

In a 2022 Employee Benefits Survey, US-based employers identified the top three benefits they felt most important to offer their staff: health-related benefits, retirement and savings, and leave benefits.

1. Health-Related Benefits

It’s little surprise that healthcare is a crucial concern for employers looking to secure a healthy workforce in a post-COVID environment. Nearly all HR professionals that participated in the survey stated that their companies provide a degree of healthcare compensation to their staff. Almost 72% reported offering fully-insured employee health plans, and nearly 26% provided self-insured plans to their team.

2. Retirement Planning and Savings Benefits

Retirement and savings benefits also ranked high in the SHRM survey findings. Despite falling somewhat during the initial phase of the pandemic, possibly due to businesses’ financial recovery attempts, retirement and savings have re-emerged for employers as an essential benefit to offer their staff. 

Of the HR professionals who participated in the study, 94% reported offering their employees 401(k) retirement savings accounts, with 68% offering a Roth 401(k). Many companies go a step further to match employee contributions into these accounts, with 83% of employers contributing to employee 401(k) plans and 76% contributing to Roth 401(k) plans.

3. Leave Benefits

Leave was another significant benefit that employers felt they should offer employees. For non-family obligation types of leave, 99% of HR professionals reported offering paid vacation leave, and 96% offered paid sick leave. On top of regular sick leave, 20% of HR respondents stated their companies also offered paid mental health days to their staff. 

Why Dental Employee Benefits Should Matter to You

Benefits Help Attract and Retain Skilled Staff

A comprehensive benefits package can give your practice a competitive advantage, attracting more interested applicants. Remember that prospective job applicants will be most attracted to the benefits they believe are essential. Benefits include healthcare, retirement savings, and paid leave benefits. Providing such job perks also signals to job seekers that your practice is financially secure and stable and can provide long-term job security. 

In addition, employees who receive benefits are more likely to be satisfied in their roles and less likely to resign, minimizing staff turnover. 

Benefits Help Existing Employees Feel Appreciated

As Richard Branson once aptly said, “Train people well enough so they can leave. Treat people well enough so they don’t want to.”

According to the 2022 DentalPost Dental Job Satisfaction Poll results, two of the top three things cited as essential to job satisfaction included:

• A competitive and steady income. This income should match employees’ skills and experience levels and sufficiently cover their living costs. This prevents the need to take on additional jobs to meet their expenses. Refer to our 2023 Dental Salary Survey Report for more information about competitive salary ranges by dental role and state.

• Trust and appreciation. Employees want to feel trusted, valued, respected, and appreciated by clients, managers, and employers. 

Dental employers can help improve job satisfaction levels and show their practice team appreciation by offering them discretionary benefits.

DentalPost’s 2023 survey registered a 16% increase in dental team satisfaction with their total compensation, including pay, benefits, and bonuses. Fifty-seven percent of dental hygienists, assistants, and front office staff reported they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied with their compensation in Q3 of 2022, compared with 39% in Q3 of 2021. 

The following chart shows that the percentage of dental hygienists, assistants, and front office staff receiving employer-provided benefits increased significantly between 2021 and 2022. The percentages in this chart have been rounded to the nearest whole number. 

Benefits Help Encourage a Healthy Workforce

A healthy workforce is a happy and productive one. Employees who can protect and maintain their health are better able to give full attention to their workplace responsibilities. 

Employee-sponsored benefits like paid annual leave, sick leave, or healthcare insurance or savings are a way employers can support their dental employees’ mental and physical well-being. 

Stay on Track with DentalPost

Dental employees care about the type and quality of benefits they receive as part of their workplace compensation. Benefits can help employees feel appreciated and motivate them to stay and perform at their best.

Leverage your staff benefits packages to help attract and retain a wider net of skilled and professional dental applicants. Further, building a more positive workplace culture and environment will also be helpful. 

Are you looking to hire the ideal candidate for your dental practice but unsure where to begin? Consider creating a free employer account on DentalPost to access additional, helpful recruiting resources and information. 

Updated January 2023