In response to a critical need for dental professionals across the state, the Massachusetts Dental Society (MDS) and MDS Dental Practice and Benefits Committee launched a public outreach campaign in February 2023, promoting the dental assistant role. 

Since the program launch, this multi-faceted campaign has been spreading awareness about the dental assisting field and engaging key audiences to attract new talent.

The campaign includes a dedicated website, email marketing, online Google and Facebook advertising, in-person career fairs and presentations, promotional materials, and more. The goal is to garner interest in the position and steer people to the field of dentistry. 

Currently, the demand for dental assistants far exceeds the graduation rate of assistants from training programs. It is likely that many offices will recruit individuals with no dental training and will need to undertake the task of on-the-job training (OJT). The Dental Practice and Benefits Committee has recognized the challenge of integrating OJT assistants into the dental office environment and has designed these tips to help get your new hire up to speed quickly.

This campaign will not solve the workforce shortage overnight, but it is making great strides in promoting the field to new prospective employees. The MDS started running social media ads in February 2023. As of today, the ads have been seen more than 140,000 times. Based on that, 2,250 people have clicked through to the dedicated dental assisting website, and the average cost per click is only $1.00. The ads are running in five languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian, and Mandarin)  on Facebook and Google, targeting 18-34-aged individuals. 

The Dental Assisting Campaign is an ongoing multiyear program that will continue to help to engage new people in the dental assisting field.