National dental hygienist shortage causes backup of local care
BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – A national shortage of dental hygienists has caused up to 10 month long wait times for appointments at one local dental office.
Southern Smiles Family & Cosmetic Dentistry has several open hygienist roles, and no applicants. Office manager Kristy Hixson said those slots have been open since June of this year.
“I’ve been in this field doing this since about 2006. This has been the one and only time we have experienced this problem with not being able to recruit,” Hixson said.
As a result, patients all across the region are waiting upwards of 9 or 10 months for care, regardless of their dental needs. The recommended time between dental appointments is six months.
Hixson said this isn’t a new issue. During the COVID-19 pandemic, several of the hygienists they employed left the field entirely due to safety concerns. However, experts say this isn’t the only factor causing the shortage.
“I think they’re out there, but they’re not restricted to staying where they go to school,” Lisa Wiese, director of the Blinn College dental hygiene program, said.
According to Wiese, applications to the program – which is located in Bryan – have increased by 20 percent. The local shortage, she said, is caused in part by a lack of incentive to stay in the area.
“When we have a young graduate that doesn’t have any ties to the area, and they want to go experience something other than Bryan/College Station. They go to Austin, Dallas, Houston. They go somewhere else,” she said.
As a result, local offices are doing what they can to compete with bigger cities.
“We’ve been able to make those changes, I think, on our part to make it a little bit more enticing to those. We got to do our part and so I think we’ve done that. We offer great benefits and I do think that the pay is fantastic,” Hixson said.
Blinn College holds semimonthly information sessions for its dental hygiene program.
