Direct hire vs agency vs Dentello: Which protects your UDAs?

If you run an NHS or mixed practice, you only really care about one thing in recruitment:

"Will this dentist protect my UDAs and my income long term?"

Most clinics bounce between three options:

• hiring direct
• using a dental recruitment agency
• or working with a clinical workforce platform like Dentello

All three can fill a vacancy. Underneath, the risk to your UDAs, your money and your time is very different.

This article compares direct hire vs agency vs Dentello using three simple questions:

1. Who carries the risk if the dentist doesn't work out?
2. What do you really end up paying?
3. Who is still there when things go wrong in year three?

Direct hire, low upfront cost, high hidden risk

On paper, direct hiring looks cheapest:

• you advertise on job boards or social media
• you interview, negotiate and sign a contract
• there is no agency invoice

Pros:

• no recruitment fee
• full control of selection
• can work if you're in an easy-to-recruit area

Hidden risks:

• you often end up offering a higher UDA rate to attract someone
• no replacement guarantee if they leave or underperform
• if they go after a few months, you start from zero
• you carry 100% of the cost of:
  • under-delivery and clawback
  • locums at £500 to £600 a day
  • adverts, interviews and management time

It can work, but in harder areas or if you've been burned before, it's often the most volatile option.

Traditional dental recruitment agency, big cheque, short memory

Many practices turn to agencies once direct hiring fails.

The pitch is simple: "Pay us a fee and we'll introduce you to a dentist."

What you usually get:

• a handful of CVs
• a one-off introduction
• an invoice of around £5,000 + VAT (sometimes more)

Weaknesses:

• short rebate period (often 8 to 12 weeks). After that, if the dentist leaves or underperforms, you pay again
• no ongoing responsibility for UDAs delivered
• some agencies will place the same dentist elsewhere later and bill another clinic
• you still pay a high UDA rate on top of the agency fee
• limited or no proper support with sponsorship, visas or performers

So while it can feel safer than direct hire, the agency is usually paid up front and gone early, while you carry the performance and vacancy risk for the next 3 to 4 years.

Dentello, clinical workforce partner, not a one-off finder's fee

Dentello is designed to sit in a different category:

Not a job board,
not a CV broker,
but a clinical workforce platform that ties its success to your UDAs.

Instead of charging a big fee and walking away, Dentello:

• charges fees starting from £12.50 per UDA including our own fees
• typically keeps clinics within a £12.50 to 14.50 UDA range, depending on area and requirements
• links income to performance over time, not just day one

Full-length replacement guarantee

With Dentello:

• you have a replacement guarantee for the full length of the contract, not just the first few weeks
• if a dentist placed through Dentello doesn't work out at any point during the term, Dentello is committed to replacing them under your agreement, instead of billing you again at full fee

Vacancy risk is shared, not dumped entirely on you.

End-to-end support, not just introductions

Dentello also supports clinics with:

• Skilled Worker sponsorship
• visa applications (with the legal fee element absorbed for dentists placed through the platform)
• NHS performer onboarding
• ongoing communication and performance

So instead of juggling multiple separate providers, you have one accountable partner from recruitment through to long-term delivery.

Direct vs agency vs Dentello, side by side

So which is safest for your UDAs?

Direct hire can work if you are in a highly attractive area and comfortable carrying all the risk yourself.

Traditional agencies can get someone in the chair quickly, if you're willing to keep writing £5,000 + VAT cheques and still own all the long-term consequences.

If you want:

• predictable costs from £12.50 per UDA including our own fees
• a full-term replacement guarantee for the entire contract period
• proper support on sponsorship, visas and performers
• a partner whose income depends on UDAs actually being delivered

then Dentello is structurally safer for your UDAs than direct hire or agency.

The real question isn't:

"Who can send me a dentist quickest?"

It's:

"Who is still standing next to me three years from now, when I need that surgery full, my UDAs delivered and my risk under control?"