Locum Tenens Dentist Recruiters
Healthcare Headhunters recruits healthcare professionals for employers. No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
This is what we do all day: recruit healthcare professionals.
A locum tenens dentist must cover your scheduled care without accepting procedures beyond their verified skills or leaving unfinished treatment unclear.
No postings. No stacks of resumes. No chasing. You interview a short list.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
Need someone now? Call 305-306-4829.
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What happens next
- We review your role, responsibilities and location.
- Ivan or a senior team member will reach out soon.
- You meet a focused shortlist when qualified candidates fit the agreed search.
- Fees.
- No upfront fee. Pay only if you hire, under the signed agreement.
- Exclusivity.
- Set out in the signed client agreement.
- Confidentiality.
- We agree the brief before outreach. This is not a promise of absolute anonymity.
- No hire.
- No hire means no fee on standard searches.
What does an open seat cost you every week?
An open role costs you more than the recruiting fee. Someone covers the work, waits for care, or stops a service. We ask what is falling behind and who is carrying it. Use your own figures to compare the cost of waiting with the cost of hiring.
The seat is costing you every week.
Overtime, diverted patients, a stretched team and a schedule held together by favors.
The posting brought the wrong people.
Applicants arrive, but the person who has done this exact work is employed and not looking.
You are the one chasing.
Screening calls, no-shows and follow-ups land on the desk of someone with a facility to run.
What does this hire really come down to?
We help you define dental coverage before approaching candidates. That means naming the procedures, patient ages, appointment lengths, and support available on each shift. A dentist covering examinations and restorative care may not fit a schedule that also includes surgical extractions, pediatric care, or sedation.
Start with the appointment book, not a broad request for a general dentist. If your regular dentist is absent, identify which treatments can proceed and which need another provider. Ask who handles urgent findings, referral decisions, laboratory cases, and questions from patients whose treatment began before the assignment.
Then examine how the dentist works with your assistants and hygienists. Ask how they review radiographs, explain a changed treatment plan, and document care before leaving. An answer should connect the clinical decision to the patient discussion and handoff. We screen credentials, procedure experience, and assignment fit. Your credentialing and clinical assessment should confirm which booked treatments the dentist can cover with your staff and equipment.
We arrange locum tenens, travel and contract coverage on request. Credentialing, licensing and malpractice coverage are confirmed per engagement before anyone starts.
What do we check before you see anyone?
License and practice scope: Ask, “Which current dental license covers this assignment, and are there restrictions?” Review license status against the proposed duties. Confirm any additional authorizations needed for the services you expect, rather than treating a training certificate as permission to perform them.
- Procedure match: Ask, “Which scheduled procedures have you performed recently, and which would you refer?” Useful answers distinguish routine restorative work from extractions, endodontic treatment, implants, or pediatric procedures. Ask about recent practice, not just training completed years ago.
- First-shift review: Ask, “What would you review before treating a patient whose plan another dentist created?” Look for discussion of records, radiographs, medical history, consent, and whether the planned treatment remains appropriate.
- Urgent visits: Ask, “How would you handle an urgent dental complaint added to a full schedule?” Listen for assessment, communication with staff, clear treatment limits, and a workable referral or follow-up plan.
- Documentation and handoff: Ask, “What information would you leave after starting treatment that needs another visit?” Useful answers cover findings, completed work, unresolved concerns, patient instructions, and who receives the handoff.
- Support and equipment: Ask, “Which assistant support, instruments, imaging access, and materials do you need for these procedures?” Compare the answer with your actual setup before presenting the assignment as a match.
Where do we find them, and why would they move?
We can approach dentists with backgrounds in private practices, group dental practices, community health centers, and established temporary assignments. The source matters less than recent procedure mix and familiarity with your setting. A dentist accustomed to referral access may need a different plan where specialist appointments are harder to obtain.
A dentist might seek temporary work between permanent positions, after reducing ownership responsibilities, or to maintain a limited clinical schedule. We ask about dates, recurring commitments, and reasons for choosing the assignment rather than assuming flexibility.
Which mistakes stall the search?
A common mistake is advertising general dentistry without listing procedures can hide a mismatch until patients arrive. Separate expected services from work that can be deferred or referred. Another is assuming every dentist uses your charting system can slow documentation. Describe templates, prescribing access, imaging software, and available orientation before agreeing on a start.
Leaving follow-up ownership unnamed can create confusion after departure. Assign responsibility for laboratory deliveries, unfinished treatment, patient messages, and records needing clarification.
How would we run the search for this opening?
Tell us the dates, location, patient mix, expected procedures, and available support. We discuss relevant clinical work, license status, schedule commitments, and assignment boundaries with candidates. Compare shortlisted dentists against your appointment book. Include any existing treatment plans the dentist will inherit.
Define the coverage
We clarify whether you need temporary coverage or a permanent dentist, since each search involves different availability and decision points.
Review the match
You review the evidence and conduct your clinical assessment. If a procedure falls outside the agreed scope, decide whether to remove it from the schedule or arrange another provider.
Confirm before starting
Review their recent procedure experience, availability for the full assignment, and proposed handoffs for unfinished cases. Use the clinical interview to assess how each candidate would review inherited treatment plans and discuss changes with patients. We arrange locum tenens, travel and contract coverage on request. Credentialing, licensing and malpractice coverage are confirmed per engagement before anyone starts. Also settle chart access, orientation, staff contacts, referral routes, and responsibility for care continuing after the assignment.
National median annual wage. SOC 29-1021, Dentists, General.
BLS reports Dentists, General as one occupation. It does not publish a separate estimate for Locum Tenens Dentist, its setting or its engagement terms.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, 2025-05, released 2026-05-15. View source. See the full guide.
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What if temporary coverage becomes a permanent opening?
Tell us when your hiring plan changes so we can discuss a permanent search. No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire. We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
Can one locum dentist cover every appointment already booked?
Not necessarily: compare each procedure category with the dentist’s recent experience and your clinical assessment before keeping those appointments on the schedule.
How should we handle treatment plans created by our absent dentist?
Give the covering dentist access to the supporting records and time to review them. Agree on how changed findings or proposed treatment will be discussed with patients and documented.
What should we ask if the assignment includes sedation?
Name the sedation services you expect rather than describing them broadly. Verify the relevant authorizations, training, staff support, equipment, and arrangements applicable to your practice before including those appointments.
Who handles cases that extend beyond the assignment?
You should name the receiving dentist or referral route before coverage begins. Ask the locum dentist how they will document unfinished care, laboratory work, and follow-up needs.
What should you send us about this role?
Send us the role, where the person will work and what needs to change with this hire. We will ask about the work, not just the title. Share any license or schedule limits that could rule someone out before we begin the search.
Share your coverage dates and procedure list with Healthcare Headhunters. We can discuss which dentist backgrounds fit the work you need covered.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire. We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
What happens next
- We review your role, responsibilities and location.
- Ivan or a senior team member will reach out soon.
- You meet a focused shortlist when qualified candidates fit the agreed search.
- Fees.
- No upfront fee. Pay only if you hire, under the signed agreement.
- Exclusivity.
- Set out in the signed client agreement.
- Confidentiality.
- We agree the brief before outreach. This is not a promise of absolute anonymity.
- No hire.
- No hire means no fee on standard searches.
Which other positions in this family should you consider?
What do you get at each step of the search?
Our process for every search: calibrate the seat with you, map the market, research the real people, reach out to each one personally, qualify them in live conversation, then hand you a short list with a written brief on each person and support through the offer.
Search Calibration
You get an agreed brief: the work, reporting line, credentials, schedule, and offer you can make.
Market Mapping
You get a search aimed at relevant backgrounds, including people working now who have not applied.
Professional Contact Intelligence
We check appropriate ways to reach the people identified for your search. You do not have to chase them yourself.
Persistent Personalized Outreach
We explain your actual job and follow up with people who may consider a conversation.
Live Candidate Qualification
You see people we have spoken with about the work, interest, and practical fit, not an unread resume pile.
Candidate Intelligence and Process Support
You get a written brief and support through interviews and offer discussions. You make the hiring decision.
How long will it take to see a short list?
That depends on the job, schedule, available people, and what your employer can offer. We discuss those constraints before outreach and update you as candidates respond. We do not promise a fixed shortlist date. We check the job brief before arranging interviews. Tell us which parts of the role you can change.
What if a candidate receives a counteroffer?
We ask why the person wants to move and discuss competing decisions before an offer. A counteroffer can still change their choice. Keep the duties and offer clear rather than assuming more money settles every concern. Tell us early if parts of your offer cannot change, so the candidate hears it from us first.
What are the replacement terms?
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement. Ask us to walk through those terms before you sign, so you know how a replacement would work for your opening and who would start it.
What do we not do in a standard permanent search?
We do not bill standard contingency search by the hour or simply repost your job. Temporary coverage is a separate arrangement. Any retainer or different engagement must be agreed, not assumed. Tell us early if you need coverage while the permanent search runs.