Hiring Series: The Essential Role of Reference Checks in Dental Practices

Toronto’s dental industry is vibrant, competitive, and rapidly evolving. With patient expectations and operational standards on the rise, staffing your clinic with the right individuals is more important than ever. While resumes and interviews are foundational in the dental hiring process, the overlooked yet pivotal component is reference checking. For dental professionals operating in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), a structured and thorough reference check protocol isn’t just a best practice—it’s a necessity to avoid legal, financial, and reputational consequences.

The Cost of Neglecting Reference Checks

In a busy dental office, it can be tempting to expedite the hiring process to fill urgent positions. However, skipping reference checks might actually introduce more delays and issues than it solves. Hiring unqualified or misaligned candidates can lead to high employee turnover, damage to staff morale, patient dissatisfaction, and even malpractice risks. According to national hiring surveys, the cost of a bad hire can exceed $10,000 when factoring in retraining, lost productivity, and potential operational disruptions.

Particularly in regulated environments like dentistry, negligence in vetting candidates—such as failing to confirm licensing status, past performance, or behavioral consistency—can lead to damaging compliance breaches. For dental businesses committed to quality care, reference checks offer a layer of validation that strengthens both clinical standards and workplace culture.

Effective Strategies for Reference Checks in Dental Clinics

Establishing a repeatable, compliant process for reference verification can help ensure both safety and quality across your dental team. Here are several highly recommended strategies tailored specifically for the GTA dental practice context:

• Prioritize Professional References Over Personal: Always request and verify references from former employers or supervisors in a clinical setting. Avoid relying on character references from friends or family members, as these rarely reflect the candidate’s job performance accurately.
• Ask Behavioural and Open-Ended Questions: Open-ended questions allow you to explore performance contexts. Instead of "Was the candidate punctual?", ask "Can you describe how they handled busy periods or patient complaints?" These deeper inquiries give insight into problem-solving and adaptability in high-pressure dental environments.
• Confirm Licensing and Employment Tenure: Validate that the candidate held a valid license during their previous employment period and check for any gaps or inconsistencies. Confirming rehire eligibility can also reveal how well they integrated into past teams.
• Document Every Call: Always keep detailed records of reference calls, including who was contacted, what was discussed, and any red flags uncovered. This documentation can be an essential part of HR compliance in Ontario’s employment landscape.

Building a Structured Hiring and Onboarding Process

Too often, dental clinics implement hiring decisions reactively. However, proactive clinics invest in structured workflows that support screening, onboarding, and training. Standardized documentation and workflow tools ensure routines remain consistent—even when practices scale. For example, using collaborative digital platforms can help track interviews, reference checks, and compliance documents—all reducing admin errors.

EBIKO Dental offers a range of practice management tools that integrate seamlessly into your back-office systems. Whether you’re onboarding a new dental hygienist or a front desk coordinator, organized platforms allow you to manage HR documents, patient protocols, and team communication more efficiently. These workflows not only streamline processes but also cultivate accountability among new hires from day one.

Reference Checks as Risk Management

Think of reference checks not just as a procedural formality, but as a layer of risk mitigation—like PPE, they protect your practice from invisible threats. Effective checking helps filter candidates who may misrepresent their skills, overstate their responsibilities, or carry unresolved conflicts from previous roles.

Implementing reference checks as part of your full-practice accountability system ensures your entire hiring process—from job posting through to onboarding—is compliant with HR best practices in Ontario and Health Canada-aligned safety expectations. It also allows you to continually refine your workplace culture with staff who reflect your clinic’s mission and professionalism.

Integrating Tech to Improve Hiring Workflows

To make reference checks more efficient and compliant, consider integrating solutions that automate parts of the hiring journey. Platforms like those offered by EBIKO Dental support digital documentation, appointment flow enhancements, and backend data storage—all crucial for Ontario dental clinics managing both patient confidentiality and HR records.

Automated forms, cloud-based checklists, and team tracking tools can help ensure no step (such as reference checking) is skipped. More importantly, these tools are scalable for multi-location practices within the GTA, keeping your team aligned even as your practice grows.

Conclusion: Secure Your Hiring Investment

Hiring in a dental office is not just about filling a role—it’s about protecting your brand, patient experience, and long-term success. Within Ontario’s competitive and regulated dental market, every team member impacts retention rates and daily care standards. Conducting informed and well-documented reference checks is a small step that delivers huge dividends in practice stability and performance.

As hiring challenges evolve, particularly during labour shortages or rapid scaling, equipping your clinic with structured HR practices—and backed by tools from EBIKO Dental—ensures you make confident, legal, and patient-focused staffing decisions.

Upcoming Seminar: Front Desk Excellence & Operational Hiring

Don’t miss our next virtual seminar focused on enhancing front desk and support staff operations—with a dedicated module on hiring best practices, candidate verification, and onboarding for dental professionals in Ontario. Stay tuned through EBIKO Dental News for registration updates.