The Dental Hygienist Shortage Is Not Temporary: What the Data Say in 2026

The hygiene column has holes again. The ad has run for weeks, the one applicant wants three days a week at a rate your fee schedule barely supports, and last month's temp is booked elsewhere. In many practices, an empty hygiene hour is also a recall exam that did not happen.

It is tempting to call this a pandemic hangover. Data from the ADA Health Policy Institute (HPI), the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) say otherwise. Here is what they show, what states and practices are doing, and a checklist.

Quick Answer

No, it is not temporary. In Q2 2026, 87.7% of dentists recruiting a hygienist called it very or extremely challenging, against about 95% at the end of 2022 and roughly 90% in every quarter since early 2024. BLS counts about as many employed hygienists as in 2019, and HPI says record graduating classes do not seem to be expanding the labor pool. Plan for scarcity: protect exam time, keep the hygienists you have and cut rework chair time.

How Hard Is It to Hire a Hygienist in 2026?

HPI polls dentists in private practice every quarter. In Q2 2026 (552 responses), 36.8% had recruited a hygienist in the previous three months, and 87.7% of those called it very or extremely challenging.

• Staffing gaps: in Q1 2026, only 60.3% of dentists had enough hygienists, against 73.5% for assistants and 79.3% for administrative staff.
• Unfilled jobs: in Q3 2025, only 42.8% of dentists recruiting a hygienist had filled the position, and 21.5% said it took more than six months.
• Reasons: in Q1 2026, dentists most often cited too few applicants (66.5%), high wage and benefit demands (36.8%) and applicants not wanting the advertised hours (7.9%). Many named more than one reason.

How Does 2026 Compare With 2022 and 2019?

Readings were higher in 2022 and 2023. In July 2022, nearly 4 in 10 practices were recruiting hygienists, and about three-quarters of those hiring called it extremely challenging.

HPI began polling dentists on recruiting during the pandemic, so there is no 2019 figure. The best 2019 benchmark is headcount: BLS counted 221,560 employed hygienists in May 2019, 214,700 in May 2022 and 222,740 in May 2025, about where it started.

Is it easing? HPI noted that dental office jobs grew 1.5% in the year to Q2 2026 after two years of stagnation, possibly an early sign of relief, though HPI says it is too soon to tell. Its April 2026 analysis concluded that without reforms, the shortage could persist.

Why Did It Happen, and Why Is It Not Going Away?

Hygienists who left during COVID

An ADA and ADHA survey estimated that the pandemic cut hygienist employment by about 8% by October 2020, and 59.1% of that drop was voluntary. HPI found that fewer than half of those who left early had returned in 2021, and that 1.6% of hygienists left permanently that year through retirement or a career change.

Age and retirement

Hygienists are not unusually old: their median age in 2025 was 41.5, against 42.1 for all workers. Still, in HPI's 2022 survey of 5,122 current and former hygienists, 31.4% expected to retire within five years.

Part-time preferences

BLS notes that many hygienists work part time. In the same 2022 survey, 28.8% worked under 32 hours a week, against 53.7% full time, and HPI's Q1 2026 report lists applicants preferring temporary work among dentists' main recruiting problems.

Burnout and workplace culture

Hygienists in the 2022 survey ranked workplace culture, insufficient pay and feeling overworked as their top sources of dissatisfaction. A 2025 study of 397 hygienists found burnout, work environment and physical discomfort were the main reasons they planned to cut clinical hours or leave. ADHA calls the shortage "a retention crisis, not a supply crisis."

School capacity

The pipeline has grown. Between the 2019 to 2020 and 2025 to 2026 school years, CODA-accredited programs rose from 327 to 345, first-year seats from 9,138 to 10,325 and first-year enrollment from 8,322 to 9,482. Graduates dipped to 6,857 in 2022, then reached 7,882 in 2025, the most ever. Yet HPI says more enrollment does not seem to be expanding the labor pool.

What Do the BLS Numbers Say About Jobs and Pay?

Hygienist pay fell behind inflation through 2022, then caught up: a real gain of about 2.5% over six years. In the New York City metro area, the May 2025 median was $109,720. BLS cautions that OEWS data are not designed for comparisons over time, so treat these changes as approximate. HPI's broader measure for all dental office staff shows inflation-adjusted wages below where they were a few years ago, and HPI ties that to the gap between reimbursement and practice costs covered in our analysis of the practice squeeze.

BLS projects hygienist jobs to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, from 225,300 to 243,200, with about 15,000 openings a year, many of them to replace hygienists who retire or change occupations.

What Are States Doing?

Check your state board before relying on any of these.

• Foreign-trained dentists as hygienists: Virginia (SB 282 and HB 1036) and Indiana (House Enrolled Act 1254) opened this pathway on July 1, 2026. Virginia's board said in April it must first write regulations.
• Assistants who scale: Virginia's HB 970, also effective July 1, 2026, lets assistants with at least 1,800 clinical hours become certified for supragingival scaling and coronal polishing. In a Missouri pilot, 15 expanded-function assistants treated 1,626 patients; clinic capacity rose only where they handled more than 4% of appointments.
• Dental therapists: Minnesota limits them mainly to settings serving low-income, uninsured and underserved patients or shortage areas; Wisconsin created a license in 2024. CODA-accredited programs graduated just 16 dental therapists in 2025. New York's dental therapy bill (S6532A) was sent back to a Senate committee on May 26, 2026.
• On-the-job training: since 1959, Alabama has let sponsoring dentists train hygiene students in their offices alongside classroom instruction.
• Faster licensure and portability: a 2025 Virginia law ordered a work group on expedited licensure. The Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact has 13 member states but is not yet issuing privileges; its site says implementation takes 18 to 24 months. New York is not a member.

These moves are contested: the ADA backed foreign-trained-dentist pathways in October 2024, while ADHA opposes substituting other personnel and argues for better pay, benefits, culture and the compact.

What Are Practices Doing About It?

• Raising pay: in 2022, more than 8 in 10 dentists recruiting hygienists or assistants raised starting pay. In a June 2023 HPI poll, about 4 in 5 owner dentists had given hygienists and assistants a raise in the past year, and 22.8% said their latest hygienist raise was 10% or more.
• Flexible schedules: about 45% of recruiting dentists changed hours to meet applicants' needs (2022).
• Temps and recruiters: about 1 in 4 used staffing agencies or recruiters (2022).
• Benefits: in Q1 2026, practices with enough staff offered benefits more often than understaffed ones.
• Fewer open appointments: in July 2022, about 1 in 3 dentists without full schedules said vacant staff positions were at least part of the reason.

What Does It Mean for Patient Flow and Restorative Work?

No national study we found measures how much restorative treatment goes undiagnosed when hygiene hours go unfilled, so this is a mechanism, not a statistic. In many general practices, the periodic exam, radiographs and treatment planning happen at the recall visit. When a hygiene column stays empty, those exams move later, and so does the restorative work they would have found.

Demand has not disappeared: in Q2 2026, 12% of dentists were too busy to treat all patients requesting care, and new patients waited an average of 13.9 business days for a first visit. So every restorative appointment has to count; a remake spends chair time you cannot easily replace (see crown remakes).

A Checklist for Practice Owners

1. Measure the gap: unfilled hygiene hours per week, patients past due for recall, days to fill each opening.
2. Price the job on current data: use the BLS median for your metro area.
3. Offer the schedules hygienists want: fixed days, part-time options, predictable end times.
4. Offer benefits: health insurance, paid leave and CE funds are rare in dental offices but matter for retention, HPI found.
5. Fix why people leave: culture, pay and workload top hygienists' own lists.
6. Protect exams: when hygiene is short, recall patients with watched teeth or pending treatment first.
7. Cut rework: send digital scans with a complete Rx and the seat date written on it.

How Can Your Dental Lab Help?

A lab cannot hire a hygienist for you, but it can protect restorative chair time. In a systematic review of 17 clinical studies, intraoral scanning was faster than conventional impressions for quadrant and full-arch cases. Not scanning yet? Read whether a scanner is worth it.

• Full-service dental lab at 2308 McDonald Ave, Brooklyn, NY: a 7,000 sq. ft. facility with more than 35 technicians, founded in 2007 by Gary Fingerman. Every case is made in house, with no outsourcing.
• Digital scans reviewed before production. Submit a digital case.
• 5 business day standard turnaround on most restorative cases, with rush options available.
• Case pickup by our own drivers in the New York area (call to confirm availability) and UPS shipping labels for practices anywhere. Send a case.
• Up to a 7-year warranty on final restorations and up to 20 years on screw-retained implant abutments. See policies and warranties.

Get started or call 877-335-5221.

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FAQ

Is the dental hygienist shortage getting better?

Slightly: 87.7% of dentists recruiting a hygienist found it very or extremely challenging in Q2 2026, against about 95% at the end of 2022.

How much do dental hygienists make?

The latest BLS median, for May 2025, is $98,100 a year, or $47.16 an hour. In the New York City metro area, it was $109,720.

Can dental assistants clean teeth to fill the gap?

Only where state law allows it. Since July 2026, Virginia lets trained, experienced assistants perform supragingival scaling and coronal polishing; ADHA opposes such substitutions.

Can I hire a hygienist licensed in another state?

Not through the compact yet: it is not issuing privileges, and New York is not a member. The hygienist needs a license in your state.

Why don't practices just raise wages?

Many have. HPI links the limits on further raises to reimbursement that lags practice costs.

Reviewed by Gary Fingerman, founder and CEO of Elegant Dental Laboratory, Brooklyn, New York (founded 2007). Last reviewed: September 28, 2026.