The dental hygiene faculty shortage: causes, solutions and recruitment tactics.

PURPOSE Peer-reviewed professional publications were examined for pertinent information associated with faculty shortages in the dental professions. The review found 6 suggested causes, including inadequate compensation, lack of diversity amongst faculty, inadequate mentoring for new faculty, lack of modeling to prospective dental hygiene educators, little awareness of faculty shortages and lack of institutional support for dental hygiene faculty. The causes and solutions for faculty shortages and recruitment tactics employed by parallel professions were evaluated to determine their applicability to the dental hygiene faculty shortage. There remains a scarcity of information regarding dental hygiene faculty shortages and how dental hygiene programs and institutions should address such shortages.