About Us

1975: A Pioneer in Temporary Dental Staffing

50 years ago, if a member of the staff at a dental office called out unexpectedly or even had a planned absence, the practice was often forced to reschedule patients or operate short-staffed, compromising their standard of care. Temporary staffing agencies at that time did not have dental industry knowledge or access to dental talent to effectively help practices in need. This often led to lost revenue, frustrated practice owners, inconvenienced patients, and lost pay for staff sent home due to business interruptions.

Recognizing that the dental field was in need of a specialized staffing service, in November 1975 our founder, Meryl Samii (formerly Merle Understein), began sending postcards to dental offices around the greater Washington DC area and placing “Help Wanted” ads in The Washington Post, announcing her new staffing business Dental Power^®. Shortly afterward, she left her periodontal assistant position and took up a desk and phone in a small nook at her friend Dr. Paul Malone's dental office in Greenbelt, Maryland. She tirelessly networked with dental professionals and offices, and by early 1976 Meryl was scheduling dental hygienists and assistants to work on a temporary basis at dental practices around the DC region.

As her business grew, word spread to other cities about the services her company was providing to the DC area dental community, and the concept of temporary dental staffing blossomed across the country. During the 1980's Dental Power opened more than 40 offices across the U.S. and expanded its services to work with all dental field positions and provide permanent job placement. Dental Power quickly became recognized as the elite dental staffing and placement company for the national dental community.

Now celebrating our 50th year, Dental Power has maintained our reputation as an industry leader and enjoys working with national dental brands and local practices alike, offering a full suite of placement services to both commercial and institutional clients throughout the United States.

Staffing & Placement Services of Dental Power Today

Every week, thousands of dental office operators and working professionals place their trust in Dental Power to provide them with exceptional employment services. Our placement teams earn their confidence by staying true to these key principles: (1) Building Relationships: we cultivate trusting and long-lasting relationships with dedicated, skilled and reliable dental talent, (2) Understanding Needs: we take the time to fully understand the needs of our clients and their practices to ensure the best possible match to available dental professionals, (3) Applying Expertise: we utilize our extensive dental field experience and proven placement industry best practices to provide the highest standard of support, and (4) Leveraging Technology: we harness innovative technology to deliver efficient, precise and effective services.

Dental Power provides its services through the following placement divisions:

• Dental Power Staffing (DPS) - DPS is our network of Dental Power staffing teams and locations around the country, operated by dental field veterans who specialize in the placement of dental hygienists, dental assistants, EFDA's, front office personnel, office administrators and other dental support professionals.
• Dentist Placement Advantage (DPA) - DPA is our specialized division for dentist placement. With oversight from our multi-provider Dentist Advisory Board, made up of seasoned and accomplished dentists and specialists, and leadership from our hands-on Clinical Director, Dr. Steven Peterson, the DPA team maintains an extensive network of dentist relationships throughout the country, placing general dentists and dental specialists for locum tenens, associate and partnership positions every day.
• Government Services - This is our specialized team which identifies government based contract opportunities, and submits carefully crafted proposals that demonstrate Dental Power's extensive capabilities and past performance. They also handle all placement and post award requirements, delivering the exceptional experience and success rate our government clients have come to expect from us. Dental Power has been awarded contracts which include nearly all 50 states in scope and maintains 13% of the federal contract market share for “Office of Dentists" (NAICS code 621210).

Dental Power is the nation’s largest and most experienced placement service dedicated to the dental field. With placement professionals from Florida to California, we have built tens of thousands of relationships in our relentless pursuit to assist the employment needs of dental communities across the United States and its territories.

If you seek additional information you can reach our corporate office at 800-710-9720.