The waiting room is full. The appointment book is packed weeks in advance. But behind the reception desk, there is one empty chair too many.
If you run a dental practice in Germany, this scenario is probably familiar. The shortage of qualified dental assistants (Zahnmedizinische Fachangestellte, or ZFA) has moved from a background concern to a front-of-practice crisis — and it is getting worse each year.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
Germany’s healthcare sector is facing a structural staffing deficit that has been decades in the making. An ageing domestic workforce, declining interest in vocational training among young Germans, and high turnover in customer-facing healthcare roles have created a persistent gap between supply and demand. Dental practices — particularly in smaller towns and rural areas — feel this most acutely.
The result: practices are forced to turn away patients, reduce opening hours, or overwork existing staff. None of these outcomes are sustainable.
A Different Kind of Solution
For Alexandra Ponweera, founder of Advising Professionals, this problem is personal. With more than 30 years of professional experience as a dental hygienist, she has sat on both sides of the staffing challenge.
“I founded Advising Professionals out of this experience,” she says. “My vision is to support companies in Germany with motivated professionals from Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Thailand and other countries — and at the same time to give these people the chance of a valuable professional future in Germany.”
The solution she has built is not a quick-fix staffing agency. It is a structured, end-to-end placement process that begins in Vietnam — where candidates are selected, language-trained to B1/B2 level through the Goethe-Institut, and carefully matched to practices — and continues through Year 1 to Year 3 of the apprenticeship here in Germany.
What Practices Are Saying
The results speak for themselves. Dr. Stefan Zähringer, a dentist in Malmsheim, Baden-Württemberg, now trains multiple ZFA apprentices from Vietnam through Advising Professionals:
“Our trainees are highly motivated, willing to learn and work well in a team. Our first trainee is now close to her final exam and has consciously chosen to stay — that confirms exactly the approach of Ms. Ponweera’s work.”
Another practice owner, Carlos M. Mendez of IKC Implantologisches Kompetenz Centrum in Königsbronn, described his experience as “a real gain for our practice,” noting that his Vietnamese ZFA had quickly integrated into the team, built her own social network, and was progressing rapidly both at work and in school.
Long-Term Thinking, Not Short-Term Fix
What distinguishes Advising Professionals from conventional recruitment is the commitment to retention. Candidates are not placed and forgotten. They receive support settling in, help finding accommodation, and ongoing guidance throughout their entire training period.
This matters — because the real cost of staff turnover is not just the time spent advertising a role. It is the disruption to patients, the pressure on existing staff, and the institutional knowledge that walks out the door.
If your practice is feeling the strain of the ZFA shortage, the question is not whether international recruitment can work. The question is whether you have the right partner to make it work sustainably.
→ Contact Advising Professionals for a no-obligation consultation.
📞 +49 162 382 11 11 | ✉ info@advisingprofessionals.com
