When building your dental practice, it’s understandable how one might think it’s good to hire an associate dentist long before the big launch. While associates can alleviate a significant portion of your practice’s total production, keep in mind that hiring without a steady client pool can actually do more harm than good to your workflow.
Maximising the offer of your potential associate dentist heavily depends on hiring at the right timing. Welcoming an associate too early can reduce your income, while hiring too late into your practice can compromise your patient handling and quality of service due to overload.
While it’s hard to make out the fine line for timing your recruitment, the list below should help you know the signs that indicate hiring an associate dentist is your next best move.
Sign #1: You Have a Sufficient Number of Patients Coming In
One of the biggest tell that you’re ready for an associate dentist is whether you have enough patients to keep your practice thriving well into the future. While recall patients serve as your foothold, it’s important to attract more to keep your business moving forward.
As a general rule of thumb, your practice can need an extra pair of expert hands so long as you can entertain between 10 to 25 new patients per dentist monthly. For a larger, established dental clinic, the number should go up to 30 to 40 new patients.
Sign #2: Your Practice is Making Enough Money
Another critical factor that can reveal your financial capability to afford a new associate is your total earnings, which should be at least 21,678 pounds sterling per treatment room. All in all, total production should be within the 101,367 pounds sterling threshold to have some leeway for your cash flow, allowing you to have the budget to dedicate to a new associate.
Sign #3: High Case or Treatment Acceptance Rate
The treatment acceptance rate determines the number of patients that complete their dental cases, which should hover at around 70 to 90 percent. The higher your acceptance rate, the better your practice will make a profit from your associate dentist.
The Bottom Line: Knowing the Right Time to Hire an Associate Dentist
It can be tricky to know when to hire an associate dentist, but it’s critical to consider several factors before starting your recruitment process since your practice needs to be functioning at the optimal and profitable level to successfully afford a new hire.
Why Choose Dental Talent to Enhance Your Recruitment Strategy?
If you’re looking for dental hygienist opportunities in the UK, browse our jobs at Dental Talent today! We’re a dental recruitment advertising platform for dentists that offers unique opportunities for employers and job seekers alike in the UK dental industry. Catering to a mix of different talents in the field, from practice manager jobs to associate dentist jobs, get in touch with us today to see how we can help you land the dental job of your dreams.