Hiring a new grad? It’s an exciting opportunity — but one that comes with some unique responsibilities. Getting the legal and practical pieces right from day one can protect your practice and set your new team member up for success. Let’s explore the distinctive considerations that come with bringing new grads into your practice.
What Makes Hiring New Graduates Unique?
Navigating Administrative Processes
While most new grads are well-prepared clinically, few have had real-world exposure to how a private dental practice operates day-to-day. They need to learn administrative workflows, including patient scheduling systems, billing software (such as OHIP and private billing processes), chart management, recall systems, and inter-office communication protocols. These aren’t just “nice-to-haves” —inefficiencies here can disrupt patient flow, reduce revenue, create compliance issues, and frustrate both staff and patients.
Mitigate these growing pains by:
- Providing clear written protocols and checklists for admin processes.
- Offering a structured onboarding plan covering front-desk, billing, and charting expectations.
- Assigning a senior team member or office manager as the new grad’s “point person” for admin questions.
- Scheduling periodic check-ins during the first months to catch and correct misunderstandings early.
Investing time upfront in administrative training helps new graduates integrate more quickly and protects the practice from costly mistakes.
Reducing Liability Risks
In Ontario, you’re legally responsible for the clinical actions of your employees. This is known as vicarious liability, which means that, as the employer, you can face civil and regulatory consequences for any patient harm or malpractice caused by a new or less experienced clinician.
Key safeguards to reduce liability include:
- Structuring early cases with clear oversight—e.g., co-signing informed consents or treatment plans
- Establishing robust protocols for peer review, mentorship, and graduated supervision
- Ensuring the new grad has access to immediate senior support and clear escalation pathways
Implementing these measures protects patients, the new graduate, and your practice from unnecessary risk.
Employment Agreements for New Dental Graduates
A clear and well-drafted associate agreement is one of the most essential tools for managing risk when hiring any new dentist. Verbal agreements or vague offer letters often fail to cover critical terms, which can lead to future disputes and complications. A written contract helps both parties understand their rights and obligations from day one. However, new grads bring specific challenges that more seasoned associates usually don’t.
When drafting your associate agreements for a new graduate, keep these things in mind:
- Realistic Workload Expectations: Many grads assume a busy patient roster on day one. Clarify in writing whether patient volume is guaranteed or dependent on demand, especially if their pay is production-based.
- Continuing Education & Mentorship: Clearly outline whether the practice covers courses, licensing fees, or mentorship time, and whether that time is paid. Clear policies in this area help prevent misunderstandings about time off for courses or training.
- Defined Supervision Arrangements: If a senior associate or employee, rather than the owner, will supervise clinical work, this role and the breadth of the supervisor’s responsibility should be clearly defined. Multiple reporting lines or unclear performance management expectations can cause unnecessary confusion and slow down a new employee’s training.
Another complication that can occur when bringing in a new grad is the additional responsibilities of supervision. If you intend for another employee to act as the new graduate’s supervisor, those additional supervisory responsibilities should also be clearly defined in the supervisor’s employment contract. Informally changing core terms without introducing a new employment agreement can invalidate the original agreement, leading to higher termination costs and other liabilities.
Employment law, particularly in Ontario, is constantly evolving and becoming increasingly complex. Many avoidable disputes occur because employers reuse generic templates that are outdated or fail to address the specific needs of a new dentist. Investing in a legally vetted, customized associate agreement — preferably drafted by an employment lawyer familiar with dental practices—pays off by preventing expensive disputes later.
Onboarding Best Practices
A smooth onboarding process helps new dental graduates build confidence, deliver quality care, and integrate quickly into your practice culture. It also reduces legal and patient care risks, making probation decisions defensible if things don’t work out.
Graduate-Specific Onboarding
Because new grads often face steep learning curves, many successful dental employers use an onboarding plan unique to their new graduate hires, outlining:
- The number of patients they’re expected to see per day, with a gradual ramp-up in patient volume.
- Shadow days with senior dentists.
- Training on proper completion of charts, billing notes, and any practice-specific administrative tasks.
- Scheduled mentorship meetings to review treatment plans and patient notes.
- Optional external CE courses to build clinical confidence.
- Details about required protocols for treatment planning, informed consent, and when to consult a senior colleague.
Many early disputes arise because the employer didn’t define what success looks like. Document these expectations in a simple onboarding checklist or welcome manual and review it together on their first day of work.
Structure Supportive Training & Feedback
A new grad can’t thrive alone. Schedule training sessions on your practice management software, billing systems, patient communication style, and office workflows to ensure seamless operations. Assign a trusted senior associate or office manager as their point of contact for questions.
Schedule regular check-ins — ideally at weeks 2, 4, and 8 — to give constructive feedback and document progress. Importantly, also check in with whoever is providing supervision and training (senior dentist, office manager, or lead assistant) to ensure the extra workload is manageable and not detracting from their own duties or patient care. Making small adjustments early can prevent burnout or friction within the team.
By treating onboarding as a structured, supportive process — not just paperwork — you protect patient care, foster new grad success, and maintain morale among your team members.
Practical Performance Monitoring
When it comes to new graduates, one of your biggest ongoing obligations will be keeping up with performance and training documentation in a way that protects your practice and doesn’t overwhelm your day-to-day operations.
Consider these practical tips for managing performance and supervision:
- Create a Simple Supervision Log: Instead of reinventing the wheel for every check-in, keep a basic digital or paper log where the supervising dentist or manager notes the date of the discussion, the topics covered and any specific strengths, concerns, or next steps. A short, consistent record is more defensible than sporadic, vague feedback.
- Use Standardized Check-in Milestones: Pre-schedule your formal check-ins and use these to review your onboarding training requirements. This sets clear expectations for both the graduate and the supervisor, avoiding last-minute scrambles and lapses in necessary training.
- Delegate Supervision Wisely: If a senior associate or manager is supervising the new grad, build short supervision slots into their weekly schedule — don’t expect them to squeeze it in between patients without adjustment.
- Encourage Self-Assessments: It can be helpful to have the new grad fill out a simple self-evaluation before each check-in. This keeps them engaged in their growth and flags minor issues early.
- Close the Loop: Don’t just gather notes — revisit them in follow-up meetings. If you raise an area for improvement (e.g. faster charting or more precise treatment explanations), check progress at the next meeting and note any improvements or ongoing gaps.
By keeping performance and supervision records practical, consistent, and integrated into your management routines, you protect your legal position and help your new graduate succeed — all without putting undue strain on yourself or your senior team.
Bottom Line
Hiring new dental graduates can be both rewarding and risky. While new grads bring fresh clinical skills and enthusiasm, they also require extra attention when it comes to compliance and performance management.
With the right systems, support, and legal groundwork in place, you can build a supportive and compliant work environment that attracts fresh talent and keeps your practice legally protected.
If you’re serious about hiring right, now is the time to review your current agreements, policies, and supervision processes to ensure they’re aligned with current law and best practices. Our Employment Law team is dedicated to helping dentists understand and minimize the risks associated with being an employer. Send DMC an email or call our employment lawyers directly at 416-443-9280 extension 206.
