Dental hygienist shortage impacts practices in Hampton Roads

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) – You may experience a longer wait time when you go to make an appointment at the dentist. That’s because some local dental offices here in Hampton Roads are experiencing a workforce shortage. There’s a shortage of educators to teach them, too.

One local college, however, just increased its dental hygiene class size to help combat the issue.

“You get a chance to make a difference in people’s lives, which is the best part,” said Dr. Dani Howell.

Dr. Dani Howell is a third generation dentist at Howell Dentistry in Suffolk. She says at their practice, the earliest cleaning appointment you can get right now is for February. That’s more than six months out. That’s because, like many other practices in Hampton Roads, they’re feeling the impacts of a hygienist shortage.

“We have between our two offices a total of nine hygienists,” said Dr. Howell. “We could probably use three or four more in our practice alone just to meet our existing patient need.”

According to the Virginia Dental Association , a workforce shortage is impacting patient wait times.

In 2023, Virginia had 483 newly licensed dentists and 287 newly licensed dental hygienists. This compares to 515 new dentists and 302 new hygienists in 2022. These numbers are from the Virginia Department of Health Professions .

“During COVID, we did have a whole lot of hygienists leave the profession,” said Dr. Howell. “It’s also a profession that over time has not regenerated itself quite as quickly. We’re graduating a lot more dentists right now than we are hygienists.”

This shortage comes as there is a lack of educators to teach dental hygiene.

Virginia Peninsula Community College has paused enrollment for its dental hygiene program , according to its website.

This, as ODU has expanded its program to increase the class size from 42 students to 48. They were approved by CODA to add 6 more spots.

“It makes us so proud here at ODU to prepare future professionals, and we need more educators as well, so here at ODU, we have a master’s program where we’re also able to prepare future educators within dental education,” said Associate Professor and Chair of the ODU School of Dental Hygiene Ann Bruhn.

In addition to expanded class sizes, ODU is also expanding its facilities. Professor Ann Bruhn said students are able to see patients in their clinic and know they’re making a difference.

“For us in dental hygiene, we’re about preventative care and we’re able to build those relationships and work with the patient to help them have optimal dental health,” said Bruhn.

They also held a camp for high school students interested in dentistry last week, hoping to target the younger generation.

“They got to come on our campus and in our clinic one of those days and sit in a lecture classroom and see what that was like and then go right down into the labs and apply what they learned,” said Bruhn.

Dr. Howell said a great way to get started to see if you’re interested is to job shadow at your local dentist office.

She said she has an 8th grader shadowing now, so it’s never too young to start thinking about the future.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.