Hi everyone. This is Lucas Voss with Becker's
Healthcare. Thanks so much for tuning in to
the Becker's Healthcare podcast series. Fantastic
to have you. Very excited to be joined
by Samantha Farrar, clinical integration specialist, dental care
alliance, and Becky Cadoux, divisional hygiene advisor, also
with the dental care alliance. We have some
great stuff to talk about today. Samantha and
Becky, thanks so much for being here today.
It's great to have you. Thank you. We're
good. Yes. I wanna start off with introductions
here. Samantha, why don't we kick it off
with you? Could you just introduce yourself, for
our audience and share a bit your what
we work in health care?
Yes. So I'm Samantha Farrar. I hold a
bachelor's degree in dental hygiene, a master's in
public health, and a doctorate in health sciences.
I've actually known that I've wanted to be
in the dental field since I was about
13.
My career has taken me from dental assistant
to hygienist to educator to researcher and board
examiner,
leading me to my current role as a
clinical integration specialist here at DCA.
Over the past twenty plus years, I've combined
my clinical expertise with my passion for mentoring
and supporting
dental hygiene teams so that I can allow
them to thrive both chairside and beyond.
So great to have you. Becky, how about
you go next?
Hi. I'm Becky Kadoo. I've been leading the
dental in in the dental hygiene world for
over fifteen years. I started chairside as a
clinician, and I'm now leading our wonderful dental
hygiene teams for Dental Care Alliance.
My career has taken me through multiple leadership
roles where I've built scalable hygiene programs that
have given the teams the tools and confidence
to really thrive in their in their roles
and throughout their careers. But, really, one of
my biggest passions is mentorship and helping hygienists
continue to grow throughout their careers.
So great to have you both. Thanks again
for taking the time.
I wanna start off with a, a pretty
impressive statistic that I thought was very, very
interesting.
A recent ADA poll showed seventy five percent
of dentists nationwide. So consider that 75%
say it's extremely challenging to recruit hygienists right
now.
Thinking about this shortage,
both of you have a great perspective on
this, right, from a hygienist perspective.
How is this impacting
their day to day roles and responsibilities
as we think about this shortage? Samantha, why
don't we start with you? I love this
question. So, actually, with my last position being
in hygiene and doctor recruitment at another, large
DSO, I actually know firsthand what the market
looks like, and it is out there.
Here at Dental Care Alliance, we see firsthand
how the hygienist
shortage impacts daily operations.
Practices are often managing obviously fuller patient schedules,
looking for creative ways to keep care consistent,
but then again without over burning our providers
of course. And hygienists are stepping into a
more collaborative role, sometimes supporting the flow of
the entire practice
and sometimes taking on expanded duties as well.
So the biggest thing here is that even
with the shortage, our priority here is making
sure our current hygienist feel seen, heard, and
supported.
The absolute worst thing we could do is
overwork the amazing hygienists that we already have
because that leads to decreased retention.
We focus on balancing patient care with team
well-being
because keeping great hygienists long term is just
as important as recruiting new ones.
Becky, I'm assuming that resonates with you very
much as well.
Absolutely. Yeah. I agree 100%
with what Sam said. It's it's a challenge.
But I you know, on top of everything
she said, while it is a challenge, I
feel like it's also a way to elevate
our profession, and it has elevated our profession
because those hygienists are being recognized as more
than just, you know, the day to day
routines. They're being recognized as the critical providers
instead of just the support staff. And this
has really opened the door for more autonomy
and influence in the patient care decisions and
what we're doing.
And as Sam mentioned, at DCA, we recognized
that shift early and started investing in our
in our hygiene teams, not just clinically, but
by bringing on more hygiene support to really
help advocate,
mentor, and support those providers as the industry
is starting to change.
Samantha, I wanna come back to something that
you mentioned earlier in your answer here on
the last question. You know, you talked very
extensively about how it's important to see the
human, right, in in the hygienist. We we
don't wanna overwork them. We wanna make sure
they have a compassionate environment
that they can work in, that they can
be effective in.
What approaches have you found most effective in
in supporting
that exact piece, in supporting hygienist professional growth,
right, both in clinical practice, in their in
their day to day, but also then exploring
leadership and and nonclinical career path where they
can really advance.
I love that. You know, here at DCA,
we definitely believe that supporting our hygienist professional
growth means more than just providing those basics.
It's about giving them the tools, the trainings,
and the opportunities to truly excel. So we
meet hygienists where they are in their careers
and create those clear pathways forward, whether that's,
like you said, refining clinical skills, pursuing certifications,
or even exploring that leadership and non clinical
roles.
And I guess, you know, one area that
we're especially committed to is advanced training where
we're helping hygienists become GBT certified,
laser certified, and providing robust
continuing education so that they stay current and
evolving in best practices.
This will not only build confidence, but also
reinforces the value that they bring as essential
health care providers.
I'm so glad that you mentioned that because,
again, I think upskilling is such a big
part of this to be able to say,
hey. This is your next step. This is
how you can explore
where you're going next. Right? And and and,
Becky, I'd love to come on this question
to you as well in terms of the
technology piece too.
How is technology helping to support iGenesis in
in that work piece and and being able
to then create stronger outcomes. Right?
Yeah. Absolutely. Technology has been a big game
changer.
At DCA, we provide tools like Overjet, intraoral
scanning,
you know, Peridot, guided biofilm therapy has been
a a big initiative as well. And the
reason being is because it allows our hygienist
to really detect disease slowly, to present clearer
findings to the patients, and to be able
to tailor those treatment plans for individual needs.
It's all about meeting that individual where they're
at. It's not a black or white. You
know, every patient is different that sits down
in your chair. The other way that it's
really helping that I'm finding with the teams
is it helps with the day to day
task. You know? It's makes schedule management easier,
chart perhaps easier for our hygienists and for
our providers,
and really helps with just the overall office
flow, helping for happier clinicians and happier patients.
So in my opinion, technology doesn't replace that
clinical skill. It only amplifies it, giving those
hygienists more time to really focus on relationships
and providing that individual care to their
patients. Yeah. Absolutely.
Samantha, we know that, change is hard, right,
for for everybody and and certainly in this
landscape, right, it's evolving so fast. We just
talked about the technology piece as well.
Really having buy in from teams and being
able to say, okay. This is how we're
doing things. Here's how we're doing things, new
protocols, etcetera. It's really important to to have
everybody on that same level, on the same
page.
What are some of the strategies or or
lessons that are that you've learned and that
are most helpful
in leading this kind of change and preparing
folks? Any advice that you have for for
other leaders that that are going through this
right now?
Yeah. I love that question. You know, in
a larger organization like DCA, we introduce new
protocols and new technologies
quite a bit. Right?
Which means we have to be intentional about
team buy in. What works best is involving
hygienists and the entire team early,
letting them help the help shape that process
rather than just announcing that change.
We make sure to explain the why and
connect that to patient benefits and provide the
right training so no one feels unprepared.
The other thing is we also learn the
importance of small wins.
Rolling out changes in manageable steps and celebrating
progress so that the momentum actually stays positive.
Change is much easier when people feel heard,
supported, and part of the success.
Yeah. Linking change with positivity. I love that
point. I think that's so important. Becky, feel
free to add on here.
Yeah. I mean, I agree with everything that
Sam said. You know, at DCA, we really
believe in in the why. Right? Change sticks
when it's framed around why it matters for
both the patients and for the team. So
like she said, I mean, we start with
a clear vision. We really like to involve
the teams early, pilot new products, really get
their feedback, and so that they can see
the benefits firsthand.
Recognition is a huge part of our culture.
Celebrating wins early and often really helps to
keep that momentum by. And then patience. Patience
is key. Not everyone adopts a change at
the same pace. So that's why we provide
our ongoing coaching and support until it really
helps to become the best practice.
And then, really, I think something that we
that we
kinda underestimate in our field is the power
of peer influence. Right? When you have that
respective hygienist or doctor that really is helping
to champion a new approach, it goes a
long way with the teams being excited about
the change.
Yeah. Absolutely.
Samantha and Becky, again, thank you so much
for being here. I I wanna turn the
floor over to you. Is there anything else
that we didn't touch on? Any final thoughts
that that you'd like to share with our
audience? Samantha, we'll start with you.
I think the biggest thing here at DCA
that, you know, as a clinical integration specialist
is, you know, we're really focusing on the
technology that's out there and elevating our hygienist.
We have such a great
hygiene leadership team
that I feel, you know, other DSOs will
look to us or other departments will look
to us,
to grow the same way.
Becky?
Yeah. I agree completely. DCA is investing heavily
in our hygiene structure
because that's really where it matters. We are
going to be the the best in class
in the industry and just really leading the
way and paving the way, not only in
technology, but just in excellent patient care.
Well, Samantha, Becky, again, thank you so much
for your time. What a fantastic conversation, great
insights, and we also want to thank our
podcast sponsor, Dental Care Alliance. You can tune
in to more podcasts from Becker's Healthcare by
visiting our podcast page at beckershospitalreview.com.