Should Your OHT or Hygienist Have a Dental Assistant?

Should Your OHT or Hygienist Have a Dental Assistant?

In today’s fast-paced dental environment, efficiency is everything. Practices are under pressure to maintain high clinical standards while also managing time, budgets, and patient expectations. One of the biggest questions we hear from practice owners and managers is:

“Do we really need a dental assistant for our OHT or hygienist?”

It’s a fair question—especially when staffing, costs, and workflow challenges are top of mind. But the answer isn’t just about wages or scheduling. Having an assistant in your hygiene or OHT department can transform your clinical flow, production capacity, and patient experience—if it’s the right fit for your practice.

Below, we break down the real pros and cons so you can make an informed decision that supports both your team and your bottom line.

The Pros of Hiring a Dental Assistant for Your OHT or Hygienist

1. Increased Efficiency and Clinical Flow

Assisted hygiene allows your OHT or hygienist to stay focused on clinical tasks instead of juggling room turnover, sterilization, stocking, and admin.

With an assistant:

1. Rooms are ready on time
2. Instruments are processed quickly
3. Appointments run smoothly
4. Practitioners stay on schedule

This alone can drastically reduce bottlenecks in your day.

2. Higher Production Without Sacrificing Care

When a hygienist or OHT spends less time on non-clinical tasks, they can:

1. See more patients per day
2. Spend more meaningful time with patients
3. Deliver a more comprehensive clinical service

Some practices report an extra 1–2 patients per day, which quickly outweighs the cost of an assistant.

3. Enhanced Patient Experience

Patients notice when a department is running efficiently and when clinicians have the time to be fully present. A dedicated assistant helps create:

1. Shorter patient wait times
2. Less rushed appointments
3. Better communication and rapport
4. A more calming and organised environment

This leads to improved patient satisfaction and retention.

4. Better Infection Control and Safety

Hygiene rooms are high-turnover spaces. An assistant helps maintain:

1. Faster but compliant sterilisation
2. dherence to infection control protocols
3. Smooth room resets
4. Reduced cross-contamination risk

For practices focused on clinical excellence, this is often the biggest benefit.

5. Reduced Practitioner Burnout

Hygienists and OHTs often shoulder heavy physical and mental loads.

With an assistant, they experience:

1. Less fatigue
2. More sustainable appointment pacing
3. A better work–life balance
4. Higher job satisfaction

This can help with long-term retention—a major challenge in today’s staffing climate.

The Cons of Hiring a Dental Assistant for Your Hygienist or OHT

1. Additional Wage Costs

The most obvious consideration is the financial cost.

However, many practices find the role pays for itself through:

1. Increased production
2. Fewer cancellations
3. Higher patient throughput
4. Improved team morale and retention

Still, it’s important to calculate whether your current demand supports the role.

2. Scheduling and Rostering Challenges

Adding another team member means:

1. More coordination
2. Ensuring consistent availability
3. Matching assistant skills to your OHT or hygienist’s workflow

For practices already stretched thin with rostering, this can feel like a hurdle.

3. Physical Space Limitations

Some practices simply don’t have:

1. Free chairs
2. Adequate sterilisation space
3. Room for an extra team member in hygiene ops

Before hiring, it’s worth mapping out your daily flow and spatial capacity.

4. Training and Onboarding Investment

Even an experienced DA will need:

1. Training in your hygiene workflows
2. Alignment with clinical preferences
3. Time to settle into the pace of preventive care

This investment pays off, but it’s still a consideration.

Is an Assisted Hygiene Model Right for Your Practice?

If your practice is busy, patient-focused, committed to high standards, interested in maximising efficiency, or looking to improve team satisfaction, then hiring a dental assistant for your hygienist or OHT can be one of the most impactful improvements you make.

If your hygiene department is slower-paced, limited in space, or operating with tight budgets, starting with part-time assistance—or trying it during high-demand days—can help you test the model before committing fully.

Final Thoughts

At Attention To Dental, we see firsthand how transformative a well-supported OHT or hygienist can be. Whether you run a large multi-chair clinic or a small boutique practice, investing in the right support can elevate clinical outcomes, patient satisfaction, and team culture.

Providing free, helpful guidance like this is part of our mission to support dental practices across Australia.

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