What's new in ADAA demographics.

What Do You Do for a Living?

The news of what's new is ... first and foremost ... how our membership is shifting toward a more even balance of clinical and administrative duties (Chart 1). Forty-one percent are primarily involved in clinical or chairside duties while 38% are primarily involved in administrative or practice management duties. A surprising 11% are involved with lab tech responsibilities with the balance concentrating on a variety of career paths including 8% who teach full or part time.

Twenty-six percent of those who work chairside are in specialty offices (Chart 2) and of those, 25% assist in orthodontic offices with the balance split fairly evenly (at about 11% each) in endodontics, periodontics, pediatrics, prosthodontics, oral and maxillofacial surgery and others. So general dentistry clinical assisting is still the backbone of the ADAA with the administrative personnel factor starting to show its numbers.

Counseling the Patients

Seventy-four percent of those polled respond that they counsel patients on dental hygiene and almost all, 94%, provide counseling on post-treatment home care.

Where Do You Work?

This is amazingly well balanced: 33% in metro areas, 35% in suburbs, 29% in rural areas and 2% on military bases or federal reservations.

Tell Us About Your Office

Most offices include two to three full-time clinical dental assistants, one part-timer and one full-time administrative assistant (Chart 3). Not many offices required part-time administrative assistance in addition to the full-time staff person. These offices included one to two full-time hygienists and one part-timer. The average number of dentists in our respondent's office was one to two and our assistants worked with both of them. Forty percent of our members responding supervised other assistants.

Seventy-six percent of our responding members work in offices that offer financial arrangements for patients, and of those, 58% use an outside service for financing. Sixty-five percent transmit claims electronically (Chart 9) and of those who do, about one-third use an outside service for this function.

In the administrative area (Chart 4), two-thirds of our respondents work with patient scheduling and telephone duties, one-half pitch in at reception and help with filing and one-third work with bookkeeping chores. One-fourth have responsibilities in the area of insurance processing, bill collection and financial arrangement assistance.

Let's Go Shopping

... and a lot of our members do! (Charts 5 & 6) Sixty-four percent of our members purchase the supplies and products for their practice. And of that number, 61% select the supplier! Of those who do not select the supplier, 61% recommend the selection of the supplier.

Those who do not order supplies report that in 32% of these practices it is another dental assistant who is in charge of this function. This means that in about 75% of all practices, it is a dental assistant who is doing the buying.

Now Let's Talk About You

Professionally speaking: Eighteen percent of ADAA members responding have worked in the dental assisting profession for fewer than five years, but 14% report 6 to 10 years. Now here's where it starts getting impressive. Twenty-five percent report 11 to 20 years and 43% clock in at over 21 years.

And talk about stable! Twenty percent have been with their current employer for 6 to 10 years while 41% have been with their current employer 11 years or more. The American Dental Association reported during 2006 that dental assistants nationwide had worked in their current practice for 8.2 years. ADAA members are doing way better than that, and both their figures and ours indicate that dental assisting is no longer the "transient" career that it was once thought to be.

Getting Personal: Seventy-nine percent are graduates of accredited dental assisting programs; half are graduates of community colleges and 10% have a four-year college degree. Fifty-eight percent have completed radiology courses, 48% expanded function courses and 20% have completed specialty practice courses. Fewer than 1% are male, 73% are married and the median age is 45. Forty percent have minor children, 98% own cars and 82% own their own home.

When it comes to relating to the electronic age, 92% have access to computers for personal Internet use and 51% use the internet frequently ... 29% "sometimes." Forty-eight percent utilize Email frequently and 28% only "sometimes."

You and the ADAA

One-third of our respondents have belonged to the ADAA fewer than five years and 17% have been members for 6 to 10 years. One-fourth have been members for 11 to 20 years and the remainder for more than 20 years.

Eighty-one percent agree or strongly agree with the statement that "ADAA membership has enhanced my career."

Over half have the enthusiastic support of their employer. Forty-two percent of all employers pay all of their ADAA dues. Forty-nine percent of all employers provide no dues support and 9% pay some of the ADAA member's dues.

One-third of the employers support their staff by paying for all continuing education and one-third pay for at least some. The remainder pay for specific lectures or home study courses with 15% refusing to pay for any CE at all! Incidentally, half of our responding members use ADAA home study courses and over two-thirds agree that they are competitively priced.

Grassroots Involvement: Eighty-five percent of our respondents said that their state ADAA component held meetings and 44% report that they attend these meetings. Locally, respondents say that 65% of the local components held meetings and 46% attended those meetings. Eighty-nine percent report that their state ADAA component offered continuing education, and 67% attended while 71% of their local components offered CE and 65% attended.

Optional Benefits

The association offers its members several in-dues and optional programs and apparently does a good job of exposing them to the rank and file. Recognition of the programs including the Journal, professional liability insurance, accidental death and dismemberment insurance, continuing education discounts, credit card programs, travel and rental car offerings were in the upper 80% and low 90% range. Group Insurance and Internet resume service log in at 65%.

Website potential

Although 92% report that they have use of the Internet for personal surfing, only 68% said that they would be likely to update their member records themselves on the Net, only 45% would pay their dues on the Internet and only 50% would take our courses on the web (although 35% more said they weren't sure, but we don't know why they weren't sure).

In Conclusion

Our members in general have a long history with their current practice and have been in the profession for over 10 years. They buy or influence the purchase of supplies and products where they work and they are concerned with continuing education. They feel that ADAA membership has enhanced their career and half of their employers agree to the extent that they support the involvement and pay for some or all of the ADAA dues.

ADAA members are computer-connected and own their own cars and homes. They are mostly female and three out of four are married. Their median age is 45. They mostly work in clinical duties but more and more members are administratively involved. With their years in the profession and their more than 11 years with their current practice, they are obviously forces to be reckoned with where they work.

NOTE: Responses were tabulated by an independent contractor, and analysis and narrative were prepared by ADAA Communications Director, Douglas McDonough. This survey was made possible by funding from the American Dental Assistants Association Foundation.

ADAA 2006 Demographics Survey

PURCHASING POWER ADDENDA

Of the 402 members who indicated that they purchase supplies and select the supplier, 260 completed the addenda asking for more information on their purchases.

Types of supplies you purchase for your practice:

A. 75% Specialty supplies (including ortho supplies, surgical supplies, etc.)

B. 100% All practice dental supplies: gloves, sutures, cements, masks amalgams, chairside instruments, x-ray supplies, clothing

C. 44% Office Supplies

D. 87% OSHA Compliance Infection Control products (including disposables)

E. 87% Lab products

F. 73% Oral Hygiene products

G. 40% Equipment

Note: On "G. Equipment" most members reported the purchase of "small equipment" such as amalgamators, curing lights, autoclaves, vibrators, burs handpieces, etc.; many listed "X-Ray Machines, computers, dental chairs," and other larger, more expensive items.

1: Primary Responsibilities of
ADAA Dental Assistants

41%   Chairside
19%   Administrative
11%   Lab Technician
 9%   Practice Management
 8%   Other
 6%   Educator Full-Time
 3%   Dental Materials Salesperson
 2%   Educator Part-Time
 1%   Insurance Company Employee

Note: Table made from bar graph.

2: Of Those in Specialty Practices,
These Are the Types

Oral & Maxillofacial   14%
Other                  11%
Prosthodontics         11%
Pediatrics             12%
Periodontics           11%
Endodontics            11%
Orthodontics           25%

Note: Table made from bar graph.

4: Administrative Duties Performed

1. Patient scheduling                 66%
2. Bookkeeping transactions           30%
3. Insurance processing               26%
4. Bill collection                    23%
5. Reception                          53%
6. Telephone                          66%
7. Record filing                      54%
8. Financial arrangement assistance   23%

Note: Table made from bar graph.

5: Dental Assistants
Purchasing for the Practice

Do Not Purchase   36%
for the Practice
Purchase          64%
for the Practice

Note: Table made from pie chart.

6: Who Selects the Supplier?

Dental Assistant Selects Supplier   61%
Report Another Dental Assistant     26%
Selects Supplier
*                                   13%

Note: Table made from pie chart.

* Dental Assistant Does Not Select Supplier

9: Offices Transmitting
Insurance Claims Electronically

No    35%
Yes   65%

Note: Table made from pie chart.

10: Personal Access to Internet

No     8%
Yes   92%

Note: Table made from pie chart.

11 : Personal Email Account

No    11%
Yes   89%

Note: Table made from pie chart.

7: Years in the Dental Assisting Profession

<5 Years      18%
6-10 Years    14%
11-20 Years   25%
21-30 Years   30%
31-40 Years   13%

Note: Table made from bar graph.

8: Years of Employment at Current Practice

<5 Years      38%
6-10 Years    20%
11-20 Years   24%
21-30 Years   14%
31-40 Years    4%

Note: The average here is 11 years. (42% = 11 years or more.)
In August 2006 the American Dental Association survey reported
the average stay was 8.2 years.

Note: Table made from bar graph.

3: Number of Dental Assistants
Per Practice (average)

Clinical Full-Time         2.5
Clinical Part-Time         .67
Administrative Full-Time   1.1
Administrative Part-Time   .29

Note: Table made from bar graph.