In today’s world, we encounter young people who are worried about so many things affecting their career in dental technology. Most of the worry stems from a lack of stability and security.
How do we engender technicians to fill the gap while showing them a path to personal growth, career fulfillment, and an environment that is secure and stable?
The economy has caused patients to focus on more pressing concerns than restoring a healthy smile. Sure, they will immediately address their oral health if it’s a painful situation, but otherwise the necessities of life take precedence. This fact in and of itself creates a lack of busyness and therefore instability. It creates situations where a full work week cannot be achieved for laboratory team members, and profits are limited for wage increases, benefits, investment in training, new technology, and business growth.
The economic environment is exacerbated by the continual growth of local practice purchasing groups and DSOs. The existence of these organizations, from my perspective, serves to drive down prices, foster the utilization of non-domestic laboratories, and outsource to the burgeoning AI marketplace. Again, these realities help profits to evaporate – leading again to issues of stability and security for technicians.
You don’t have to study the statistics about the number of CDTs, MDTs, RGs, and fully trained technicians to know the landscape of dental technology has changed over the last twenty-plus years. In order to survive and thrive, laboratories have shifted away from fostering fully trained technicians who understand all aspects of dental scientific technology in a particular discipline (or multiple disciplines), to producing technicians who understand and are proficient at particular tasks. This was a rational and practical solution in short term but has now produced the long-term effect of a void in technical expertise. Let’s not forget the impact that in the last ten years, we’ve witnessed a continuing rise in these fully trained technicians retiring without a significant group of talented technicians to replace their skill sets. Again, this creates more instability and insecurity in the dental laboratory profession.
There is no short-term solution from dental technology schools that have nearly disappeared from the educational landscape. Yes, there are indeed a few excellent programs that are equipped to enable the next generation of dental technologists to fill these positions, but not nearly enough graduates against the flood of retirees.
With the grave situation as presented thus far, how do we engender technicians to fill the gap while showing them a path to personal growth, career fulfillment, and an environment that is secure and stable enough for them to build a future for themselves and their family?
For those who want to affect a positive change to what may seem like intractable challenges, we will have to apply some old-fashioned common sense and create courageous cultures at our laboratories. Let’s be clear, there are dental laboratory leaders who have successfully addressed these challenges in this rapidly changing environment.
Common sense dictates that we maintain a profitable business, but not at the expense of providing a continuity of future operations that supports employees, dentist customers, and the patient public. With that premise in mind, let’s consider some practical, common sense approaches that are not mutually exclusive, but are offered as a starting point to reverse a trend:
- Career pathing – define goals for each technician (perhaps use a SWOT analysis to assist in this aspect), gather all necessary data/documentation, identify resources to accomplish the goals, establish a timeline with benchmarks and wage increases that accompany accomplishment.
- Educational Resources – use the Foundation for Dental Laboratory Technology Learning Library and/or subscribe to Productive Training Corporation (PTC) for its educational and testing programs.
- Foster “over the shoulder” training at the bench – tied to the development of critical thinking skills that enable technicians to understand the principles of an optimal treatment solution for each case.
- Cross-training – train technicians within their designated department and between departments – create SOPs for the technician’s ready reference.
- Skilled retirees – engage retired and semi-retired technicians for training.
- Mentoring young technicians – go beyond technical training and set an example of strong ethics, diligence, personal responsibility, determination, self-reliance, integrity, and a “whatever it takes attitude.”
- Create incentives – develop a system to bonus the team for a reduction in remakes, increased profitability, a reduction in overtime, etc.
- Formulate a succession plan for technicians on the cusp of retirement – open discussions will allow for proper planning and their assistance in training a successor.
- Lead with compassion – this is essential to win the minds and hearts of employees and to dispel fear in an environment of uncertainty.
Transparency in communicating the above plans opens the door for transformative conversations with your team. It paves the way to activate their potential and helps them grow both personally and professionally. It has been well documented that this younger technician demographic thrives on being engaged and welcomes the solicitation of their opinions. Even dissenting voices/opinions can be helpful to develop creative solutions – opposing views help foster debate and move the discussion forward (as long as the debate takes place in an environment of trust between all team members).
A great place to start is asking them to actively engage in identifying opportunities for improvement. Let them know that they can help improve their skills and laboratory operations with one small suggestion/initiative at a time. Begin the conversation by challenging the team with some simple questions to answer:
- What improvement could be made that would save someone five minutes a day?
- How can we better satisfy our customers?
- Are all critical processes documented?
- Is each bench adequately arranged and equipped for the work that happens there?
- Are technicians given constructive feedback frequently enough?
- What is the most meaningful part of your job?
- Is there a process for getting to the root cause of product defects or dissatisfied customers?
- Is there a simple way for customers to provide both positive and negative feedback?
- Do team members feel empowered to speak up when they spot an urgent problem?
- What process can be fixed or improved?
- Is there anything in your work world that’s causing frustration or delays?
- Are you crystal clear on your role and what you should be working on? If not, what aspects aren’t clear?
- Looking back on the week, is there anything that could have gone better?
- What inspires you to succeed every day?
Openly discussing the answers to these questions demonstrates that you trust and believe in your team. It provides the basis for building a solid foundation in which all technicians can flourish. It provides an opportunity to explain the ebbs and flows of the business cycle in terms of economic conditions and what steps the laboratory can take to mitigate the downside. It also opens the door to a frank discussion about why fully trained technicians are more valuable to the laboratory in every business cycle.
So, take the wheel and be a driver of change – build a laboratory environment that is a model of stability and security.
About the Author
Robert Gitman is the General Manager of NDX Thayer, CDL, a full service, Certified Dental Laboratory, specializing in cosmetic and implant restorations. He has been active in the dental business for over 40 years as a consultant, author, and lecturer. Rob has served on many non-profit boards and he is a past president of the National Association of Dental Laboratories.
This article was originally published in the May 2024 issue of the Journal of Dental Technology.
