In the long term, there are more systemic issues that the dental profession will need to address to support a robust oral health workforce. “Not only do we need to retain the people who are currently working in dental offices, we’ll need to make sure that enough people are training to be the dental assistants and dental hygienists of tomorrow,” says Papadopoulos. CDA has been working closely with the Canadian Dental Assistants’ Association for several years and partnered to submit a project to Employment and Social Development Canada as part of their sectoral workforce solutions program. “This program is designed to address the many factors impacting the attrition of dental assistants by providing mental health andwellness training for dental office staff, providing health human resources training for dentists and office managers, increasing access to certified dental assisting programs through the development of an online curriculum, as well as developing action plans to address interprovincial labour mobility and better integration of recent immigrants into the dental workforce,” says Papadopoulos. “The labour force in Canada is changing in a broad-based way, and it is affecting every sector of the economy, so we need to partner with others, especially in health care, to make sure that we can provide optimal oral health care to a growing number of Canadians.” Listen to a podcast with Costa Papadopoulos on the dental workforce on CDA Oasis: bit.ly/3pz7nEz  10% are currently unemployed due to mental health illness or issues.  31% reported there is often a lack of staff to complete work.  53% reported having too much work to complete all their assigned tasks well.  28% reported dissatisfaction with their current job.  25% reported it is likely they will seek a new job within the next 12 months.  62% felt anxious at the workplace all or most of the time.  17% felt depressed most of the time.  The average effective hourly wage of dental hygienists across all provinces and territories has risen slightly each year since 2013.  Dental hygiene baccalaureate degree holders report higher average wages.  The approximate unemployment rate for dental hygienists remained at 1%,which was below the Canadian unemployment rate of 6.7% as of October 2021.  94% of respondents work in clinical dental hygiene and 75% work for a single employer.  More than three-quarters (86%) of dental hygienists receive employee benefits.  88% of respondents have decision-making authority over implementing dental hygiene services.  Respondents working in specialty practices work most often in periodontics (44%) and orthodontics (31%).  Independently practising dental hygienists continue to report high levels of satisfaction.  14% of respondents working in clinical practice are employed by a dental corporation. 2019 Canadian Dental Assistants’Association survey on work and mental well-being: 2021 Canadian Dental Hygienists Association job market and employment survey: Not only do we need to retain the people who are currently working in dental offices, we’ll need to make sure that enough people are training to be the dental assistants and dental hygienists of tomorrow. 22 | 2023 | Issue 5 Issues and People
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