#74 Where Have All the Dental Teams Gone? with Special Guest, Kevin Henry of IgniteDA

Dental Assistants and Hygienists are in high demand and short supply these days. The Compliance Divas sit down with Kevin Henry co-founder of IgniteDA to discuss how dental practices are affected by the high number of dental team professionals leaving the field and not enough skilled newcomers entering it.

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SPEAKER_04 0:04

Welcome. I'm Leslie Cannum. I'm Mary Gavoni.

SPEAKER_03 0:09

I'm Linda Harvey. I'm Olivia Juan. And together we are the Compliance Divas.

SPEAKER_04 0:21

Welcome to the Compliance Divas Podcast. I'm Mary Gavoni and I'm going to be the moderator for this episode today. We bring clarity and simplicity to compliance by navigating the regulatory compliance world to keep you on course. You can subscribe to the Compliance Divas podcast through your favorite podcast channel or on our website, thecompliancedivas.com. Resources that we mentioned during our podcast can be found on thecompliancedivas.com on the resources page. And you can always submit questions by email to support at thecompliancedivas.com. So we have a very special guest joining us this morning, our good friend Kevin Henry, founder of Ignite DA. Kevin, thank you for joining us. We so appreciate you being with us this morning. And just in case any of our listeners are not familiar with who you are and Ignite DA, can you just give us a little bit of background about you?

SPEAKER_00 1:25

Absolutely. And first of all, it's great to be on with you all. And I so appreciate everything that you all are doing for the dental industry. You know, as Mary said, my name is Kevin Henry. I've been speaking to dental assistants around the world since 2005, found Ignite DA in 2014, uh in the hopes of providing uh a place for dental assistants to be educated, empowered, and enlightened. That's what we always like to say. And lucky enough to go out and and be in so many dental practices, working with with dental assistants to not only remind them of the important role they play, but also uh help push them to be better. And I and I think that's what uh we're all about here, uh and one of the reasons that we all get along so well and and talk about dental assistance so often. So thank you so much for having me on.

SPEAKER_04 2:14

Great. Thank you, Kevin. Linda, will you start us off? And I have a question for you and and Kevin together that dentists are obviously struggling to fill staff positions right now. What are you seeing, um, Linda and Kevin, in terms of dental assistant job openings and what are dentists doing to fill them?

SPEAKER_02 2:36

That's such a great question, Mary. There's so much that Kevin and I can share with you on this topic. So, what we're seeing is that dentists are hiring individuals that don't have any dental background. And I know Kevin's going to have some stories on this for us as well. And there aren't enough dental assistants to fill the shortage. I have some local clients that have uh several years ago opened up their own dental assisting school here in Florida. So they have a small number of students that come through. So there's still not enough, even in my geographic area. So while it's invigorating to see new faces come into our profession, folks that haven't been into dentistry before, we find that most of the time they are placing these individuals in this role of sterilization. So that presents some number of challenges and for lack of knowledge. And as Olivia will talk about with some of the things that she's seen and challenging from the legal perspective. But it's just uh it's it's a crazy world out there. And I can't wait to hear what Kevin has to say in addition to those thoughts.

SPEAKER_00 3:34

And and I'll just duplicate uh what Linda said is that so often we're seeing people come in to the dental industry from outside. So dentistry is something that was very foreign to them, at least on the back side of things. They're used to being a patient, but all of the things that go on behind the scenes that that you know patients don't ever really know uh is what they're having to learn at a very warped speed. And and I can tell you, uh, Linda, you mentioned the the opening of dental assisting schools. I'm seeing that more and more in dental praxis, that dentists are trying to figure out a way to open their own school and then pluck the best of those students uh to work in their own practice. So it's something that uh I can tell you in the dental assistant community, it's becoming a big topic because dental assistants are wondering about these schools that are popping up. They're wondering about is the cost worth it? And then they're also wondering about what they get out of it if they're not one of those, shall we say, top students who get selected by the dentist who opened the academy. Uh, so so that's really uh something that's going on behind the scenes in the dental assistant community as well. Now, certainly those assistants don't have a difficult time finding a job because we know, as you said, uh the shortage is real. And it doesn't matter in what part of the country you're in, the shortage is real, probably on all team members' side of things. Uh, but for the dental assistant side, I think that we need to think about how we're bringing these young men and women into the industry, how we're teaching them that they matter, and then how we're teaching them that the importance of the clinical side of things, the infection control side of things, and who's actually doing that. Is it another team member that maybe isn't always doing things the best way that then is teaching this team member their bad habits? And then it's kind of a domino effect from there.

SPEAKER_02 5:24

I would like to echo that, Kevin, because I feel exactly the same way. And I've seen those similar situations happen. While the dentists are opening up a dental assisting school that meets the standards in each state, um, it's not usually the same type of standard you expect from the American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation, which we see at our community colleges where dental assistants take a nine or 12-month course and really learn a lot of the science and background because it's a lot more than just knowing how to throw some instruments into an autoclave and turn all the dials and look to see if the pouches have turned colors. There's so much more information that needs to be behind that because the doctors have invested a lot of money in their equipment. And without the proper upkeep, there's issues with maintaining it and protecting the lifespan of the equipment. And then also we have the whole patient safety issue, not to mention the worker issue, when a team member who's new to dentistry doesn't even know what hazards they are facing. So a lot of challenges there. And I would I would love to see our doctors, Kevin and Mary, that open up their own schools, provide ancillary resources for those for their students and graduates, you know, membership in OSAP, um, taking additional courses like through the Dale Damby, and where they really get some, you know, foundation of outside of the information they're learning in the classroom at their school and outside the information they're learning in any externship that they have, because again, they're only learning what that office does. And a student is not going to understand whether or not that office is doing things the best way, whether they're following the manufacturer's instructions for use, or whether there's any science behind it, or whether it's a practice that's just doing something because that's the way they've always done it. So a lot of considerations there. Thanks for asking, Mary.

SPEAKER_04 7:09

Absolutely. Thank you, Linda and Kevin. Um, as a former dental assisting educator in an ADA accredited program, when I see these schools popping up everywhere, it makes me cringe on one hand, because we don't know what the quality of these programs are. Um, but on the other hand, I understand why it's happening. So it's kind of a double-edged sword. Olivia and Kevin, let's take a little deeper dive into this whole issue of infection control and people being credentialed. I know, Olivia, you were involved in an issue with a state dental board just recently. So what can you tell us about that?

SPEAKER_03 7:53

Well, dental practices across the nation are experiencing staff shortages, particularly with dental assistants and dental hygienists. And so recently I was hired by a dentist to deal with a dental board investigation that involved allegations of a non-licensed dental assistant functioning in the scope of duties of a licensed assistant. And we understand that is subject to penalties and discipline. But I think we're going to see more of that as we struggle through the staffing shortage. And and Kevin, in listening to you and Linda, one of the things I wanted to bring up, I was licensed as a dental assistant back in 1997. I went to technical school, it was a nine-month program, but that did not ensure quality either. Because when I went to school, it was after work, at night, at a technical school, and the instructor who was a dentist did not show up for class. And so we really just learned it out of a textbook. But luckily, we worked for a wonderful dentist that day-to-day was teaching us. And I really want to echo the importance of what Linda said of joining these groups such as OSAP. But Kevin, from your perspective, what do you find with uh dental practices and dental assistance as it relates to instrument sterilization and infection control? What are the concerns that you have in that area?

SPEAKER_00 9:27

For me, the one of the biggest concerns, I think, is is as we mentioned a minute ago, that there are team members teaching other team members how to do things properly. Well, and I'm going to use air quotes here properly. Uh, and unfortunately, those team members may have those bad habits that are passed on to the new dental assistant. And it's really just a circle effect. And that's why I think there's such value in things like OSAP, where you don't have to guess if it's the right answer. You don't have to rely on what you were taught by the previous dental assistant 20 years ago. You know, it is current information, it's correct information. And so, you know, I echo what you all say. If somebody could actually wave a magic wand and do two things. Number one, make sure that every dental assistant in the country is under the same law. You know, I think that's one of the things that is so confusing is that every state has different requirements, different rules, different things for their dental assistants that they have to follow. So if you live in Illinois and drive across the Mississippi River to work in St. Louis, it's a completely different environment where you work versus where you where you sleep. So I wish that that would change. And then I also wish that every dental practice, as you said, would be a part of OSAP, because then the infection control training that happens and infection prevention training that happens is under the guise of an organization that knows what they're doing. Um, you know, and and I think that would be one of the biggest things that we could do to not only turn around some of the issues that I know we all see in dental practices, but also turn around the perception that is out there that it's okay just to have someone else train someone else because that's the easiest thing to do. And I think that's one of the biggest mistakes that dental practices are making right now is you already have team members who are so stressed, have so much on their plate and everything else. Then you bring in someone new and you say, Hey, could you train this person? Oh, and by the way, we just gave them a signing bonus to come on as well. But here you go.

SPEAKER_03 11:34

So true, Kevin. And I agree with you. And I think that what we need to focus on is the science of dental assisting. They have to understand the science of infection control and prevention, and that will help them to excel at their jobs and to really adhere to the infection control principles. So really glad you're focusing on that.

SPEAKER_04 11:56

And that is such a critical thing. Um, and I hear what you both are saying about wouldn't it be great if it was standardized from one state to another? And I know dentistry and dental hygiene are starting to move in that direction. And so perhaps once that happens, it will happen for dental assisting as well. Um, but the one good thing we have, of course, is our CDA credential, which is standardized and recognized in a lot of states, but we still have a long way to go. So um, Leslie, can you and Kevin discuss a little bit about the infection control coordinator in a practice? And how do we convince a dental practice that they really need one?

SPEAKER_01 12:46

Well, absolutely. It's a great idea to say we have an infection control coordinator. And many times when I uh speak at conferences, I ask people who are in the role of the infection control coordinator to raise their hand. I usually don't see very many hands. And then when I have a chance to talk with these individuals, they say, well, they just said that's your job. You're the infection control coordinator, but they didn't give me what the role and the responsibilities are. And it's interesting that uh while a study shows uh through the dental assisting national board that infection control usually falls on the shoulders of one dental assistant in every dental practice. What really ends that, I guess you'd say the bottom line is that the responsibility falls on the shoulders of the supervising dentist. And a lot of times the supervising dentist does do what we had heard earlier in the podcast, uh, delegate one person to train another person. And that training may not be what is the best training or or the right way. It's just the way we've always done it, as Linda said. In California, we're fortunate in that our state has a requirement for unlicensed dental assistants to take what's called an eight-hour infection control course on dental uh infection control. And it's a very remedial course that focuses on very basics like hand hygiene and uh PPE and then instrument processing, a little bit of OSHA, a little bit of chemicals, a little bit of uh of equipment maintenance and decontaminating uh instruments and properly sterilizing them. But but it's only eight hours and it's not enough. It really isn't. And I have been seeing the same thing that we're seeing around the country where anybody that's a warm body that can put on a clinical jacket is placed in the role of sterilization tech, or we need you to turn over treatment rooms. And I've even seen um kids being brought in by their parents, college kids sometimes that are brought in to help out because there's such a big need. I had a good time in one dental office in San Francisco where it was a brother and sister dentist that owned the practice. And they they both had kids. They had a boy and a girl. And so we had brother, sister, brother, sister cousins that were part of my eight-hour infection control course. And they were college students, so they really grasped the concept and were able to learn quickly. But I'm I'm a little concerned about what they'll do once they're turned loose in that dental office. Are they actually going to uh, you know, really be able to understand the basic tenets of placing those instruments properly in the sterilizer? And are they going to forget or overload? And so I do see that that it seems that that we've got a good start with this eight-hour infection control course. Do all dentists adhere to training their new dental assistants? No, the and this has been the law for almost 12 years now. So uh while there's a sum format here, it's not consistent. Kevin, what do you see in other states? Is there anything like California?

SPEAKER_00 15:54

Not really. You know, that I was sitting here as you were talking, just going, wouldn't that be cool if dot dot dot, you know, I would love that. You know, in my home state of Colorado, it feels like a little bit of the wild west sometimes, whenever it comes to dental assistance and bringing them in and what they can do, you know, and and I think that what you said a minute ago about well, that's part of my job, or that's part of your job. I think that that's a big perception issue that we have to battle with dental assistants is uh number one, just saying, well, this is what you do, so go do it. And and a lot of times I I know talking to dental assistants, they're the ones that actually have to go out and figure out how to find the resources to make that happen. You know, that's why I bang the drum so often with uh about OSAP in my talks as well, because there's so many assistants who A don't know where to find the resources and B don't don't know that OSAP exists. So I that's something that's very important to me. And I think the second thing that we have to battle a little bit is the fact that a lot of these assistants come in and it's almost viewed as a stepping stone job. It's almost viewed as something that all they're doing is preparing for. Well, maybe you can get into hygiene school, you know, maybe you can do this, maybe you can move up front and help help up there. And I think that we've got to turn that perception around that dental assisting is important. And part of that dental assisting job is being the infection control coordinator and really giving them that responsibility and letting them take that ball and run with it. Of course, provided that the dental practice helps them with resources, helps them with learning, things like that. I think that that's a very important thing for us to do is to give these dental assistants responsibilities and let them know how important their job is.

SPEAKER_01 17:41

And you know, Kevin, it's so easy to provide some of these free resources. I'm telling all of my infection control uh courses, all of my lectures wherever I speak now, to utilize the free CDC uh resources on the website, uh, particularly the dental settings, um, the infection prevention and control and dental settings, uh, building the safest dental visit, where someone can learn to actually be an infection control coordinator and can get a slide set and some speaker notes so that they can actually lead the way for what even if they're the newest dental assistant, they have the tools to uh conduct a format of training. And then, of course, the uh there's the ability for team members to get that infection prevention and control certificate, the collaborative through OSAP and Danby. And so each dentist who's ultimately responsible should say, you know, this is basic boot camp training for our practice here. Sit down and read the summary of infection prevention and control uh from dental uh from CDC, and then take this building, the uh safest dental visit. And then we're gonna give you a one-year member. We're gonna we're gonna pay for your OSAP membership, and we want you to to read the the bi-monthly newsletters and bring that information, book report it back to our practice. We'll set aside some time at our staff meeting to talk about infection control or at our morning huddle. And there's so many ways that a team member can be empowered to do this, even if they are on the job trained and don't have a formal dental background. That is so true, Leslie.

SPEAKER_04 19:21

Thank you for all of that. Well, the I think one of the things that that has to be discussed is kind of the elephant in the room that even if a practice is fortunate enough to be able to find team members, find people to join their team, the emphasis on patient safety and infection control has to come from the practice leadership. And so if the doctor doesn't value infection control um as a basic concept of their ethical responsibility to their patients, then it's not something they would necessarily emphasize with new team members. And I think a good um example of that is the almost the complete lack of onboarding of employees in dental practices. I always say, and Kevin and I, you have discussed this before. You hire them on Friday, the we throw them to the wolves on Monday, and what happens in between is almost nothing. And so we have to find a way. And and maybe it's the five of us keeping on beating the drum and getting the message out there about how important that is. So, Kevin, any final thoughts for us um as we close out this podcast?

SPEAKER_00 20:38

You know, one of the biggest things that I I hope happens and and that I, you know, bang the drum on as well is I I hope the dental assistants actually talk to each other, find those people in the community where they can ask what's going on in their practice, how they do things, what are they hearing? Because I think whenever dental assistants can talk to each other, they can learn that maybe what they're doing in the practice isn't up to the standards that it should be. And it'll hopefully inspire them to ask some questions and make some changes. And I am a big believer that anybody in the practice, including dental assistants, can be a leader, but they have to actually have the courage to say, What about this? Could we try this? I heard this, and and that's where I think that we have to invest in our dental assistants and let them know A, they're important, and B, that we'll actually listen to them if they come to us and say, uh, what if? That they're we're not just gonna blow them off. We're actually gonna say, okay, let's talk about that. And I think that when a dental practice can actually open up those lines of communication and be willing to change, whether it's an infection control and prevention or anything practice management-wise, I think that it's really important that dental assistants know that that avenue is there.

SPEAKER_04 21:56

Absolutely. Thank you so much, Kevin, not only for joining us on this episode, but for all you do, as you said earlier, to elevate dental assistants because they tend to be sort of the stepchildren sometimes in the dental practice. They don't always have the education and the credentials, but they're such vital key team members. And again, because they're responsible in so many cases for infection prevention and control, we need to help them to feel more confident in who they are. So thank you to our listeners. Please join us for our next episode. Remember that we bring clarity and simplicity to compliance by navigating the regulatory world to keep you on course. You can submit questions by email to the compliance support at thecompliancedivas.com. And if we have some resources for you for this podcast, we will include them on our resources page on our website, thecompliancedivas.com. Thanks for joining us. See you next time.