How to Build a Sustainable Recruitment Strategy for Your Dental Practice

Recruiting qualified dental professionals is becoming increasingly challenging in the UK. In England, 21% of general dentist posts in the NHS were vacant as of March 2024, equivalent to 2,749 full-time-equivalent vacancies left open for an average of 180 days, and amounting to almost 495,774 lost days of NHS activity.

With this pressure on the dental workforce, practices cannot rely on last-minute hiring. A long-term recruitment strategy for dental practice teams should anticipate future staffing needs, build a reliable candidate pipeline and support long-term retention.

Start With Your Practice’s Future Recruitment Needs

The first step in creating a recruitment strategy for dental practices is to understand what your practice will need in the future. Recruitment decisions should be based on the direction of the practice rather than only its current vacancies.

Assess Your Current Dental Team

Start by reviewing your existing workforce. Identify the roles currently covered and assess whether the team has the skills and capacity required to meet patient demand.

Consider factors such as:

• Current staffing levels
• Existing skills and experience
• Areas where the team has limited capacity
• Roles that are difficult to fill
• Staff members approaching retirement
• Employees who may leave or reduce their working hours
• Planned changes to services

Forecast Future Hiring Requirements

The next step is to consider how the practice may change over the next one to three years. Growth plans can have a direct effect on staffing requirements.

Consider:

• Expected patient growth
• Planned practice expansion
• New treatments or services
• Changes to opening hours
• Additional surgeries or locations
• Expected staff turnover
• Changes in employee working patterns

Prioritise Critical Roles

Not every recruitment need has the same level of urgency. Once future requirements have been identified, divide roles into priority categories.

Clinical positions such as dentists, dental hygienists and dental nurses may require more planning because suitable candidates can be difficult to find in some locations. Management and administrative roles may have different recruitment requirements.

Create a Continuous Dental Recruitment Pipeline

A sustainable approach to recruiting dental professionals does not begin when someone hands in their notice. Practices can benefit from developing relationships with potential candidates before a vacancy becomes urgent.

This is particularly important for roles where qualified professionals are in high demand.

A recruitment pipeline can include:

• Previous strong applicants
• Candidates introduced through professional networks
• Contacts made through industry events
• Candidates referred by existing employees
• Professionals sourced through specialist recruiters
• Suitable candidates who may become available in the future

Decide When to Recruit Directly and When to Use a Dental Recruitment Agency

Direct recruitment can work well when a practice has the time, resources and expertise to manage the entire process. However, some vacancies require specialist sourcing or a wider candidate network.

A dental recruitment agency can support practices with sourcing, screening and shortlisting candidates, particularly for difficult-to-fill roles.

An agency may be useful when:

• A vacancy has remained open for an extended period
• The practice needs a specialist dental professional
• Internal recruitment resources are limited
• The role requires access to passive candidates
• The practice is considering international recruitment
• A vacancy needs to be filled within a defined timeframe

Recruit Dental Professionals for Long-Term Fit

Effective dental professional recruitment starts with defining exactly what your practice needs. A clear role description helps attract suitable candidates and makes the selection process more focused.

Before advertising, assess:

• Relevant qualifications and GDC registration
• Clinical experience and treatment skills
• Communication and patient-care approach
• Teamwork and professional attitude
• Career goals and working preferences

The goal is not simply to fill a vacancy. Assess whether the candidate is a good fit for your practice and likely to stay long term.

Make Your Dental Practice Attractive to Candidates

Recruitment is competitive, particularly for experienced dental professionals. Practices need to communicate why a candidate should choose their organisation.

Salary is important, but it is not the only consideration. Candidates may also look at:

• Working hours and flexibility
• Professional development
• Career progression
• Mentoring and support
• Practice culture
• Clinical autonomy
• Facilities and technology

Build Retention Into Your Recruitment Strategy

Recruitment and retention should be considered together. Frequent staff turnover creates additional hiring costs and can affect team performance and patient experience.

New employees should be given a defined 90-day onboarding plan with clear responsibilities from day one. Check-ins should be scheduled at 30, 60 and 90 days rather than waiting for an annual review; most early resignations trace back to concerns that went unaddressed in the first few months. 

Professional development and clear career opportunities can also support retention. Reviewing pay, working conditions and workload regularly can help the practice remain competitive.

A sustainable dental recruitment strategy should therefore measure not only how many people are hired, but also how long they remain with the practice.

Measure Whether Your Recruitment Strategy Is Working

Tracking a few key measures can show whether your recruitment process is effective.

Useful recruitment metrics include:

• Time to hire
• Cost per hire
• Number of suitable applicants
• Interview-to-offer ratio
• Offer acceptance rate
• New-hire retention
• Staff turnover
• Successful recruitment sources

When to Consider Overseas Dentist Recruitment

With the ongoing UK dental crisis and shortages of dental professionals in some areas, overseas dentist recruitment helps practices access a wider talent pool.

Key areas to consider include:

• GDC registration: Overseas dentists must register with the General Dental Council before practising in the UK; processing times vary by qualification route.
• PLVE opportunities: The Performer List Validation by Experience scheme allows some overseas-qualified dentists to join the NHS performer list without sitting further exams, subject to eligibility criteria.
• Visa requirements: Practices sponsoring overseas candidates need a Home Office sponsor licence and should budget for visa processing time.
• Relocation support: Offering help with housing, travel costs or settling-in period can make a practice more competitive against others recruiting the same candidates.
• Clinical integration: New overseas hires may need induction on UK clinical protocols, record-keeping standards and patient communication expectations, even when highly experienced elsewhere.

Visage Dental Recruitment helps candidates with all these things.

Final Thoughts

A sustainable recruitment plan helps dental practices move from reactive hiring to proactive workforce planning. By understanding future staffing needs, maintaining a strong candidate pipeline and focusing on long-term fit, practices can build more stable teams.

For hard-to-fill roles, specialist dental recruitment agencies and international hiring can provide access to a wider pool of qualified professionals. The key is to make recruitment an ongoing part of practice planning rather than something addressed only when a vacancy arises.

Frequently Asked Questions