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We surveyed the industry to learn what today's dental assistants are saying about the state of the dental career for 2020.
How much are dental assistants paid? How many hours a week do they work? What do they think about their current employee benefits?
We answer all these questions, and more in our annual salary survey. The largest of its kind, RDH Magazine partnered with DentalPost to survey 8,855 dental professionals, including 2,495 dental assistants.
KEY FINDINGS FOR 2020
Methodology
RDH Magazine partnered with DentalPost to conduct original research, polling 8,855 dental professionals, including 2,495 dental assistant respondents.
Hosted on SurveyMonkey between June 2019 and September 2019, the study consisted of 30 questions ranging from compensation to how employees felt about their roles in the dental community and the changes that have occurred in the industry.
About the Survey Creator
Connecting 850,000 dental employees with 64,000 dental practice employers, DentalPost is the largest dental job search board in the industry.
Founded in 2005 by Registered Dental Hygienist, Tonya Lanthier, DentalPost leads the dental industry in metric-based career matching including personality tests, work culture preferences, skill matching, and career goal assessments.
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Takeaway for Employers:
Just over 40% of respondents have been with their primary employer for 5 years or more. Of all the employees in the dental office, dental assistants have the most turnover.
As a career path, dental assistant educators are doing the best training new professionals to enter the industry. Specifically, there are 50% more dental assistants with less than 5 years of experience in the industry then dental hygienists of similar industry experience. Among the average employee age dental assistant respondents are the most evenly distributed among the generations.
Key Finding: Both private practice and corporate dental practices almost exclusively hire dental assistants as full-time employees. While part-time employment is rare, dental assistants working for a private practice are 2x more likely to be part-time when compared to those working in corporate dentistry.
How are private dental practices similar to DSOs and other large group practices? How are they different? The data is quite interesting...
DentalPost has crunched the numbers. Some comparisons are obvious, others are quite surprising! Throughout the year, DentalPost will be releasing new content on this topic, and more. Members get early access and notifications about new content and live events.
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As we enter the 2020s, what are the traits of a modern dental assistant? What are their demographics? What about their life at home? Respondents share info about age, gender, head of household status and the impact of children in the home.
Among all employees within a dental practice, dental assistants are the best staffed for the future. A near equal distribution of talent is present throughout the generations. Further, dental assistants are entering the industry at rates higher than any other position. It’s working and those over the age of 65 are taking notice. Adjusted by age, dental assistants working full-time are likely the youngest employees to officially retire from dentistry.
Are Millennials and Gen Z Keeping Wages Low?For Gen X and the Boomers, compensation growth was regularly reported as a concern. In many geographic areas, these dental assistants expressed competition among Millennials and Gen Z entering the industry were keeping wages lower.
Did You Know: A dental assistant working in 2020 is just as likely to be under the age of 40, as over the age of 40. This is the only position in the office to have an equal representation of Millennials and Gen Z, compared to Boomers and Gen X.
Key Finding: Dental assistants ages 18-34 are 30% more likely to work at a corporate dental practice than those who are 45 years or older.
Unlike with their dental hygienist and dentist peers, DSOs hold a narrow hiring advantage among young and newer dental assistants entering the industry. With shorter educational requirements to become a dental assistant, DSOs struggle to have enough time to build relationships at the same level as with dentists and hygienists.
Where DSOs will win among younger dental assistants is an ability to offer a larger number of scheduled hours. This is a great feature to attract new dental assistants. Long term, this can become a retention challenge -- dental assistants working at DSOs are 50% more likely to feel overworked compared to dental assistants working at a private practice.
Dental assistants are predominately staffed by females (97%). This is similar to dental hygienists (97% female) and front office staff (98% female).
With the exception of a male dentist present in the office (57% of dentist respondents), it is not uncommon for nearly half of small dental offices to be fully staffed by females.
A large portion of dental assistants live in multi-income households. At the same time, dental assistants are one of the most likely employees in an office to be a sole income provider.
In particular, ages 35 - 44 are significant among the average dental assistant’s career. It is at this age that dental assistants are the most likely to be a household's sole income provider (44%). As a comparison within the office, a dental hygienist of the same age (35 - 44) is only 22% likely to be a sole income provider, the lowest point of a RDH’s career.
Dental Assistants between the ages of 35 to 44 are the most likely in the office to have at least one child under the age of 18 in the home. Similar to front office staff, dental assistants tend to start their families at a younger age. If a dental hygienist or dentist of a similar age is expecting their first child, it is likely a dental assistant of the same age already has two children.
At their peak in their late 20s to early 50s, dental assistants tend to have 2 children under 18 living in the home. Only 1 out 10 have 3 children, and 1 out of 20 have 4+ children.
Average pay for dental assistants can vary greatly by state, hours worked and status (full-time vs part-time). Overwhelmingly, dental assistants are paid hourly (94%). Another 5% are paid an annual salary. The remaining 1% are paid a daily rate. Only 1% of dental assistant respondents identify receiving a percentage of production/collections or other performance comp structure.
Overall, the fastest way for a dental assistant to improve her earnings is to increase her hours. Shorter commutes and more flexible schedules that allow more hours to be worked can be just as effective for dental assistants looking for a change, as a $1 - $2 per hour increase in pay.
Switching Jobs to Earn More. Typically, the lowest paid employees in the office, approximately 50% of dental assistants surveyed are unhappy with their overall pay. Worse, only 1 of 8 dental assistants report being satisfied with her last annual raise.
As a result, it is expected that 2020 will be a popular year for dental assistants to test the market for better opportunities. Among respondents, over 6 out of 10 dental assistants are open to applying for a new job in 2020.
Average number of hours worked, one job or multiple, and the participation rate of temping among dental assistants.
Similar to other dental office employees surveyed staff, the majority of dental assistants work 31 to 40 hours per week (73%). About 1 in 14 dental assistants work more than 40 hours per week.
Note: Surveyed dental assistants working less than 30 hours per week, are primarily practicing part-time or working as a temp.
Dental assistants are overwhelmingly likely to work full-time (83%), of which 75% are working 1 job and another 8% are working multiple jobs.
Among respondents that identify as part-time (14%), a majority report working one part-time job (10%) versus multiple part-time jobs (4%). Approximately 3% of respondents are retired or unemployed.
Whether a planned absence or sudden emergency, there is an increasing need for dental assistants to step in.
For 1 in 5 dental assistants, temping is on their mind. This includes 11% of dental assistant respondents currently working as a temp. This 11% is significant. Among respondents, only RDHs are currently temping at a higher rate (21%).
Currently 9% of dental assistant respondents are considering temping in the future. We can expect participation to climb, especially among dental assistants working at DSOs, and among dental assistants in their 50s and 60s seeking to work on a limited basis.
Digging Deeper: How is your office incorporating temps as part of its 2020 staffing strategy? How does temping align with your future career goals? DentalPost wants to hear from you.
Here's what dental assistants say about their current compensation and benefits. We ask them to rate satisfaction and provide feedback where employers can impove. Putting it together, we uncover who might be looking to make a job change soon.
Dental assistants throughout the industry are loud and clear about their opinion on annual raises. Beyond disappointment in the raise itself (61% dissatisfied or very dissatisfied), respondents regularly expressed confusion and frustration with the review process itself.
Takeaway for Employers: Beyond evaluating what can be financially budgeted during the employee review process, employers are encouraged to look at the process itself used for annual raises. This includes the level of preparation dental assistants are expected to do in advance, along with the documentation and coaching they will receive during the review.
One of the most interesting statistics, 61% of dental assistants are considering looking for a job in the next year. That is a significant percentage for any profession. In addition, 44% of dental assistant respondents had applied for a job in the past year.
DentalPost Explains: A Matching Work Environment
Every dental assistant deserves to work in a great place where you are valued and treated with respect. When core values and personality match closely there is a higher percentage of satisfaction in careers. Among dental assistants earning at the top of the profession, work environment, relationships with co-workers, patients, even commute times can make the difference between staying or deciding to look at other opportunities.
We are obsessed with the details because you are too! Tell us more about you, and we'll provide you with the tools you need to build a better future. Click toGet Started
Your next job is a few clicks away
Best candidates are on DentalPost
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