What is new at Opalesque?

What is new at Opalesque Dentistry?

It has almost been 2 years since the Covid pandemic. The recovery has been slow and it has altered our economics in many ways. Everyone as seen and felt the repercussions of the pandemic personally and professionally. As many have noticed. Opalesque Dentistry is moving through change and growth as well.

Last year Opalesque's dental hygienist of 35 years retired. Soon after, I met Dr. Melanie Jenkins. Several months ago she joined the team and is working towards a partnership with me. I and team Opalesque have been honored to have Dr. Jenkins enhance our values in promoting overall optimal health.

We are excited about the growth of Opalesque, if anything, to continue to grow our vision and values of individualized care. We are passionate about continuing to learn about the advances in healthcare and share knowledge with you as it pertains to your personal health. In light of our beliefs and the repercussions of the pandemic, finding aligned new team members has been challenging.

In the article, "Critical issues facing the dental hygiene profession, employment patterns of dental hygienists in the US during the Covid 19 pandemic", Gurenlian et al concluded that 7.9% of dental hygienists have left dentistry since Covid. This percentage translates to approximately 18,000 less hygienist in the workforce. To compound the problem, dental hygiene school had a 7% decline in enrollment in 2020, as quoted by Fosse et al in their article, "The staff shortage is limiting dentistry's recovery". The US census bureau has similar patterns for dental assistants. In the article previously cited by Gurenlian, the main reasons for leaving the oral healthcare profession is summarized in the graph below:

Consequently, it has taken months to find a dental hygienist and dental assistants with similar values as our team.

After 4 months of searching, Dr. Jenkins and I brought onto the team two wonderful dental assistants. In addition, we recently added a new dental hygienist to the team. We are grateful to have connected with these exceptional new team members in light of the employment challenges.

To all our long time patients and to those that are new, be assured that through the changes Opalesque team strives and continues to practice dentistry on an individual basis to promote not just optimal oral health, but overall mind and body health.

I, Dr. Jenkins and team Opalesque want to thank you sincerely for your continued trust in us throughout the growth of our practice.