Volume 9 • 2022 • Issue 5

Dr. Lynn Tomkins president@cda-adc.ca BuildingGreatDental Teams D ental assistants are crucial members of dentist-led oral health care teams. The advances that we hope to make in the next few years—to make oral health care accessible to more Canadians—require a robust workforce of dental assistants and other dental staff. But there has been a shortage of dental assistants in Canada for a number of years. In 2019, 36% of dental offices had unfilled dental assistant positions. The problem has only been exacerbated by the pandemic. COVID-19 has caused disruptions in health care and labour markets around the world; the dental profession in Canada is no exception. From 2010 to 2020, the ratio of new certified dental assistants to new dentists entering the workforce fell from over 3-to-1 down to almost 1-to-1. In response to these trends, CDA has been working collaboratively with the Canadian Dental Assistants’ Associations (CDAA) to create and implement strategies to help attract and retain more people in the dental assisting profession. Together, we submitted a project to Employment and Social Development Canada ’s (ESDC) Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program called Building the Professional Dental Assisting Workforce of the Future . Our joint proposal is currently under review by the ESDC. This multi-pronged project is designed to provide mental health and wellness training for dental office staff as well as human resources training for dentists and office managers. It would also improve access to certified dental assisting programs through the creation of online curricula. It also includes the development of action plans to address interprovincial labour mobility and better integration of new Canadians into the dental workforce. In March, we spoke to a House of Commons committee about how human resources changes in the publicly funded health care system affect health care delivered in private settings, including in dental offices. In May, we met with staff at several federal government departments to discuss how staff shortages could make it more difficult for the oral health system to handle the increase in patients from the proposed federal investment in dental care. On a personal level, I know how much I relied on my staff. It was only by working together that we could provide a consistently high standard of care to our patients while also making it a pleasure to go to work each day. Dentists, dental assistants, dental hygienists and administrative support staff are all necessary to keep our patients happy and healthy. One of the great satisfactions of working in dental care is the knowledge that we are helping people, but we could likely do a better job at communicating this to young people entering the workforce. We also need to make new Canadians aware of the opportunities for meaningful and productive careers as dental assistants. Building a robust workforce of dental assistants will require a combination of strategies to support the people who form our dental teams. CDA is doing what it can at the federal level to achieve this by raising awareness among the legislators, ministers and bureaucrats who can effect change. The entire labour market in Canada has changed very quickly in just the last few years. How people view their work and perform it has also changed. But I believe that our motivations largely remain the same. We want to help our communities, and to provide Canadians with the finest oral health care possible. From the President 7 Issue 5 | 2022 | CDA atWork