The Dental Assisting National Board (DANB) released information on a survey conducted in October of 2023 based on responses from over 500 dentists and over 600 dental assistants. The survey findings shed light on the pressing challenges and shared aspirations for the dental assisting profession. Dentists prefer to hire qualified dental assistants, dental assistants aspire to pursue education and credentials, and patients expect their dental assistants to be educated and credentialed. These insights were further corroborated by a public survey distributed by an independent research company in November 2023 to more than 1,000 consumers, with results analyzed and reported to DANB by its research partner, McCabe Message Partners.