Why Great Dental Practices Struggle to Recruit : and What Candidates Actually Look For
Why is your dental practice struggling to recruit when you offer good facilities, friendly colleagues and meaningful clinical work?
Why are suitable candidates applying, interviewing and then disappearing?
And why does filling one vacancy sometimes feel like trying to complete a never-ending treatment plan?
It is frustrating. Especially when you know your practice is a good place to work.
But here is the difficult truth: being a good dental practice is not always enough to attract and retain the right people. Candidates are assessing far more than your surgery, location or job title. They are looking at the entire working experience : from the first email to the reality of a busy Tuesday afternoon.
The UK dental workforce remains under significant pressure. The British Dental Association’s 2025 evidence submission reported that many practice owners were experiencing difficulty recruiting dentists, dental nurses, hygienists and therapists, with vacancies often remaining open for extended periods.
So, what can you do?
Let’s have a look at the reasons great practices struggle to recruit, what dental professionals actually look for, and how you can improve your approach.
The recruitment problem is bigger than your vacancy
The first thing to recognise is that recruitment difficulty is not always a reflection of poor management.
Dentistry is operating in a challenging workforce environment. NHS contract pressures, rising operating costs, changing expectations around working patterns and concerns about wellbeing all influence how candidates view a role.
A practice may be supportive, ethical and clinically ambitious : but if the vacancy appears vague, inflexible or financially unclear, candidates may never discover that.
That is the first mistake: assuming the quality of your practice will speak for itself.
It often will not.
Your recruitment process has to communicate that quality clearly.
Mistake 1: Writing a job description instead of designing a role
“Dentist required for busy practice.”
“Dental nurse wanted to join our friendly team.”
“Experienced practice manager needed.”
These descriptions may be accurate. They are also easy to ignore.
A strong candidate wants to understand what their working life will actually look like. They are asking:
- What patients will I see?
- How long are appointments?
- What support will be available?
- Who will I report to?
- What equipment and systems will I use?
- What is expected during the first three months?
- Is there a pathway to develop?
- How much control will I have over my diary?
- What happens when the day becomes difficult?
A role should not be a list of duties. It should be a clear proposition.
Explain the clinical environment, team structure, support available, expected workload, development opportunities and practical arrangements. Be honest about the challenges as well as the positives.
Candidates do not expect perfection.
They do expect clarity.
A better way to describe the role
Instead of:
Associate dentist required for a well-established practice.
Try:
We are looking for an associate dentist to join a supportive mixed practice with an established nursing team, structured clinical support and the opportunity to develop particular interests over time. We will agree expectations around workload, patient mix and working days openly before you start.
It is more specific. More human. More credible.
Mistake 2: Selling the culture but failing to demonstrate it
“We are like a family.”
“We have a great team.”
“Patient care is at the heart of everything we do.”
Candidates have heard these phrases many times.
The key here is not to stop using them. It is to prove them.
If you say your practice supports development, explain how. If you value teamwork, describe how the team communicates. If you offer flexibility, set out what that means in practice.
For example:
- Are team meetings scheduled during paid working time?
- Can clinicians request changes to their working pattern?
- Are dental nurses supported through training?
- Do new colleagues have a named point of contact?
- Are concerns dealt with promptly?
- Does the practice review workload and appointment pressures?
- Are treatment co-ordinators involved early and properly supported?
Culture is not the fruit bowl in the staff room.
It is how people are treated when the diary is full, a patient is unhappy or a colleague needs help.
Candidates are increasingly alert to the difference between employer branding and daily reality. If your website promises collaboration but the interview feels rushed and disorganised, the contradiction is obvious.
Mistake 3: Treating communication as an administrative detail
Slow communication costs you candidates.
So does unclear communication.
A clinician who receives an enthusiastic call followed by two weeks of silence may reasonably assume the practice is disorganised or not genuinely interested.
Your recruitment process should have clear ownership. Someone should know:
- Who is contacting the candidate
- When feedback will be provided
- What happens after an interview
- Which documents are required
- What the next stage involves
- Who can answer clinical or contractual questions
This matters across the whole dental team.
A dentist may want to discuss clinical autonomy. A dental nurse may want to understand support and training. A hygienist or therapist may want clarity around their scope of practice and patient allocation. A practice manager may need to understand decision-making authority.
The conversation should reflect the role.
A generic process rarely does.
Mistake 4: Offering development as a vague promise
“Career progression available.”
It sounds positive. It also means very little without detail.
Dental professionals want to know how they can grow. That growth may be clinical, managerial, educational or financial. It may involve a special interest, additional responsibilities, mentoring or leadership.
For dentists, this could include support to develop areas of interest, appropriate case discussion and a route towards greater responsibility.
For dental nurses, it could mean support with additional qualifications, extended duties, mentoring or a lead nurse pathway.
For hygienists and therapists, it could mean a clearly defined clinical role, appropriate patient access and opportunities to contribute to prevention and education.
For practice managers and treatment co-ordinators, it could involve leadership development, operational responsibility and a genuine voice in practice decisions.
Do not promise everything.
Set out what is realistic.
A useful development conversation might begin with:
“Where would you like this role to take you over the next two years, and what support would help you get there?”
That question alone can tell you a great deal.
Mistake 5: Underestimating onboarding
A successful appointment is not the same as a successful placement.
The first few weeks shape how a new colleague views your practice. If they arrive without access, information, introductions or a clear timetable, uncertainty grows quickly.
Good onboarding should cover:
- A welcome before the first day.
- A clear first-week plan.
- Introductions to the whole team.
- Training on practice systems and protocols.
- Time to understand equipment and workflows.
- A named colleague for questions.
- Regular check-ins during the first three months.
- An early conversation about workload, expectations and support.
This is particularly important for newly qualified professionals, people returning to practice and colleagues moving from a different type of setting.
“Just shadow someone and see how it goes” is not an onboarding plan.
It is a gamble.
What candidates across the dental team are really assessing
Different professionals will have different priorities, but there are common themes.
Dentists
Dentists often assess clinical autonomy, support, patient mix, contract structure, nursing provision, diary pressures, development opportunities and the honesty of the conversation.
They want to know whether they can provide good care without feeling permanently squeezed by unrealistic expectations.
Dental nurses
Dental nurses look closely at respect, staffing levels, training, workload, teamwork and whether their contribution is genuinely valued.
They notice quickly if the role is described as “support” but the reality is constant pressure with no voice.
Hygienists and therapists
These professionals are likely to assess how their skills will be used, whether the practice understands preventive care, how patients are allocated and whether the role offers meaningful professional development.
A vague position can suggest that the practice has not thought properly about the clinical contribution it wants them to make.
Orthodontic professionals
Orthodontic candidates may want clarity around clinical systems, supervision, patient pathways, technology, team structure and opportunities to build or extend their experience.
The details matter.
Practice managers
Practice managers often assess leadership culture, authority, resources, accountability and whether they will be expected to solve structural problems without the ability to influence decisions.
If you want someone to lead, give them the information and authority required to lead well.
Treatment co-ordinators
Treatment co-ordinators need clarity around patient experience, communication expectations, training, clinical relationships and how success will be measured.
They are not simply an extra administrative pair of hands. They can be central to patient understanding, trust and treatment journeys.
What candidates should ask before accepting a role
Recruitment is a two-way process.
If you are considering a dental role, do not only ask about pay or working hours. Ask questions that reveal the daily reality:
- Why is the role available?
- What happened to the previous person?
- What does a typical day look like?
- How are appointment pressures managed?
- What support is available when the practice is busy?
- How are concerns raised and resolved?
- What does onboarding involve?
- What training or development is genuinely available?
- How often will we review the role?
- What would success look like after six months?
You are not being difficult by asking these questions.
You are doing sensible due diligence.
Try this affirmation before an interview:
“I am not only asking whether they will choose me. I am deciding whether this is the right environment for my clinical career.”
That mindset changes the conversation.
How a clinical talent partner can help
A specialist recruitment partner should do more than forward CVs.
At NeedAnOptom Healthcare, our clinical talent partner approach is based on understanding the person behind the application and the practice behind the vacancy. That means looking beyond job titles and asking better questions about clinical identity, expectations, team dynamics, working patterns and long-term fit.
For employers, the process should begin before the advert is written:
- Define the role properly.
- Identify the candidate profile.
- Clarify the practice’s genuine strengths.
- Be transparent about challenges.
- Build a consistent candidate journey.
- Review whether the offer matches the reality.
For candidates, the process should help you assess opportunities objectively : not pressure you into accepting the first available role.
The best match is not always the loudest advert or the quickest offer.
It is the role where expectations, support and ambition line up.
The final word
Great dental practices can struggle to recruit because the market is difficult, candidates have more choice and good intentions are not always visible from the outside.
But recruitment problems are not solved by making bigger promises.
They are solved by making clearer promises : and keeping them.
Design the role properly. Communicate quickly. Show candidates how they will be supported. Build genuine development pathways. Treat onboarding as part of retention. Be honest about the work.
That is how you move from filling a vacancy to building a team.
If you are a dental professional considering your next move, you can register your interest with NeedAnOptom Healthcare, explore job-seeker support or contact the team.
If you are an employer reviewing your recruitment strategy, visit our employer information page and start with a straightforward conversation about what your practice genuinely needs.
Draft for review only : not for publication.
leave your comment