Becker's Dental + DSO Review

5 BECKER'S DENTAL + DSO REVIEW // VOL. 2022 NO. 1 DENTAL PROFESSIONALS Maine low-income dental clinic lays off nearly half of staff: 7 things to know By Ariana Portalatin P enobscot Community Dental Care in Bangor, Maine, laid off nearly half of its staff as part of restructuring efforts in the face of nationwide workforce shortages, Bangor Daily News reported Nov. 23. Seven things to know: 1. The clinic is the only practice in the Bangor area that ac- cepts MaineCare, the state's Medicaid program. 2. The practice laid off 31 employees, including dentists, dental assistants, hygienists and technicians. 3. Kate Carlisle, a spokesperson for the clinic, told the pub- lication the practice is restructuring its staff to "reimagine provider roles" in response to changes in demographics and dental care in the state, including an increase in Main- eCare patients after the state expanded coverage to in- clude low-income adults during the summer. 4. Ms. Carlisle told the publication that recruiting dentists and dental assistants is difficult in Maine and is expected to get more difficult. 5. Fifteen percent of the state's job losses between March 2020 and October 2021 were in the healthcare sector, ac- cording to the state's labor department. 6. The laid-off employees were invited to reapply for Penob- scot's new roles to avoid the practice having to ask its ex- isting staff to retrain and take on new duties, Ms. Carlisle told the publication. 7. The clinic paused its general dentistry service for four weeks as part of the restructuring but continued its walk- in, hygiene and orthodontic services. It will also end its dental residency program in June. n 11 stats on dental school debt By Gabrielle Masson A s of 2019, 83 percent of dental school graduates had student loan debt, according to the Education Data Ini- tiative. The Education Data Initiative works to make information on the U.S. education system more accessible. Data on dental school debt was collected from various sources, including the American Dental Education Association, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the American Dental Association. Note: Statistics are from 2019, the most recent year data was available. Eleven key statistics: 1. Eighty-three percent of dental school graduates in 2019 had student loan debt. 2. The average dental school debt owed by gradu- ates was $292,169. 3. The average private school graduate debt was $321,184. 4. The average public school graduate debt was $261,305. 5. Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, had the cheapest program for residents, totaling $115,729. 6. The University of Mississippi has the cheapest pro- gram for nonresidents, totaling $150,148 for the entire program. 7. Midwestern University in Downers Grove, Ill., had the most expensive program for residents at $411,385. 8. The University of Illinois in Chicago had the most expen- sive nonresident program at $436,435. 9. Dental school debt has risen by $207,922 since 1996, when the average debt was $84,247. 10. More than 70 percent of dental school graduates used a federal student loan to cover their dental school expenses. 11. Nearly 19 percent of dental school graduates said their level of debt would influence their careers. n

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