Approximately six percent of dental hygienists who had been employed were not working as of March, a slight improvement over the prior few months, according to a webinar hosted by the American Dental Association and the American Dental Hygienists’ Association (ADHA) on May 4. That’s 1 in 16 dental hygienists still not working due to COVID-19. Many hygienists continue not to work due to general concerns about SARS-CoV-2 or a lack of childcare, said Rachel Morrissey, an ADA Health Policy Institute research analyst. In February, the ADHA released studies showing that COVID-19 pushed about eight percent of hygienists out of the workforce and warned that a shortage of these team members would likely exist until the pandemic was over.
