Associate dentists
You are not filling a chair. You are choosing who your patients see for the next decade.
Hiring an associate is the most consequential decision most practices make, and the hardest to reverse. WORKFORCE runs permanent associate searches across British Columbia, Ontario, and Washington, drawing on professionals whose work we already know.
The hard part
What a CV does not tell you
- How they plan treatment, and what they refer rather than treat
- Whether they run to time, and what happens when they do not
- How they handle a nervous patient at four on a Friday
- Whether they build rapport that brings people back
- How they talk to your hygienists and your front desk
- Whether they want to buy in one day, or move on in two years
Why associate hiring goes wrong
01
The pool is small and everyone is fishing in it
Associates who are genuinely available, in your area, and looking for the kind of practice you run are not numerous. Posting an advert reaches whoever happens to be looking that week.
02
A CV cannot tell you about fit
Clinical competence is table stakes and the easiest thing to establish. Everything that determines whether an associate works out is invisible on paper and mostly invisible in an interview.
03
A wrong hire costs a year
Not just the search, but the patients who do not rebook, the team that has to absorb it, and the months before you admit it is not working. That cost dwarfs any fee.
Permanent placement
How a search actually runs
We learn the practice, not just the role
Your case mix, your pace, the software, the team, and what you actually want this person to take off your plate. Two practices advertising the same role often want opposite people.
We approach people who are not applying
The best associates are usually working, not browsing. A good share of our network already temps with us, so their work is known rather than described.
You meet a short list, not a stack
We would rather send three people you seriously consider than twelve you skim. You interview, you decide, and nothing moves without you.
Offer, start date, done
We handle the coordination between you and the candidate through to a signed start date, so the momentum does not die in the two weeks after the second interview.
Before you commit
Work together first, if you can
A few days alongside someone answers what two interviews cannot. Where a candidate is open to it, a short locum period before a permanent offer tells you how they plan, how they run to time, and how your team takes to them. It tells them the same about you.
We also place locums on their own, for vacation, parental leave, and illness cover. It is a smaller part of what we do for dentists, but it is there when you need it.
Plenty of permanent associates start as a locum. It is the only interview where both sides see the truth: the schedule as it really runs, the team as they really are, and the dentistry as it is really practised.
What we check, and what stays with you
These are not the same for a locum and a permanent hire, and the difference matters, so it is worth being exact about it.
Locum and temporary cover
Handled by us
On a temporary placement the professional is our employee. Registration and insurance are verified, and payroll sits with us, so covering a few days does not create an employment relationship for your practice.
Who employs the professionalPermanent hires
Yours as the employer
When you hire an associate permanently, you are the employer. Confirming registration standing, indemnity arrangements, and your own onboarding checks is your responsibility and your advisors’, not something we can carry on your behalf. We introduce the candidate and pass on what we hold.
We would rather say this plainly than let you assume a check happened that did not.
What a placement costs
A permanent placement carries a fee that varies by market, because pay and demand differ from one region to the next. It is quoted before anything is agreed, and it is priced to stay competitive with what a recruiter would charge for the same hire.
You will not find an hourly figure on this page. We publish set rates by city for hygienists, assistants, chairside and reception, and an office cannot pay under them. Dentists are not on that card, because dentist engagements are usually built around a share of production or a daily figure rather than an hour. We quote each one individually.