Michelle Hurdle Is Solving Dental Staffing From the Inside Out

Michelle Hurdle is a dental hygienist, human-centered designer, and the founder of Gig Dental, a career management and connection platform built for the dental community.

With more than 17 years in dentistry, including years as a traveling temp hygienist, Michelle has lived both sides of the staffing challenge. She knows what it feels like for an office to scramble when someone calls off, and she knows what it feels like for a clinical professional to walk into an unfamiliar practice with very little context about the day ahead.

That lived experience, combined with her UX/UI training, led her to build Gig Dental. The platform helps dental offices connect directly with professionals for temporary shifts and longer-term opportunities, while giving both sides the information they need to work well together.

Michelle was a 2025 Top 9 founder in The Startup Ladies Capital Readiness Accelerator and was featured at the 2025 Invest In Women Founders Summit. Since then, Gig Dental has moved from an early-stage concept and prototype to a developed platform with a growing team, advisory network, and beta testing with dental offices.

In the first seven weeks of beta, Gig Dental onboarded its first 20 offices and 18 professionals. Now, Michelle is focused on helping dental offices and clinical professionals take the next step: posting real needs, creating strong profiles, and scheduling the first 25 appointments through the platform.

What Gig Dental Does

What is Gig Dental, in plain language?

Gig Dental is a career management and connection platform for the dental community. It helps offices connect directly with professionals for temporary shifts and longer-term opportunities.

I like to say it’s like LinkedIn meets Match.com for dentistry. We’re building connections around availability, skills, and fit.

Gig Dental is a software platform, not a staffing agency. We’re a tool built for the whole industry, and that includes agencies. Dentistry doesn’t need another staffing agency competitor in the mix. It needs something that brings everyone together to get the job done.

What problem are you solving for dental offices?

When an office loses a team member for the day, everyone feels it. The office manager scrambles, coworkers absorb the extra work, and patients may have to reschedule. I have lived through it all.

Gig Dental gives offices one place to find available professionals and communicate what they need. It also lets them share the little details that make a new person’s first day so much easier.

What problem are you solving for clinical dental professionals?

Finding a shift is only half the battle.

You also need to know what you’re walking into.

What software do they use? What are the hours? Where do I park? Who do I ask for when I get there? These are some of the very basic things that go through everyone’s head.

Gig Dental gives professionals more context and more control over the opportunities they choose. I want them to feel prepared and welcomed from the moment they arrive.

What is happening in dental staffing right now that makes Gig Dental especially needed?

Staffing is still a serious challenge. The ADA Health Policy Institute reports that only about 60% of dentists have enough hygienists on staff. Among dentists who are actively or recently recruiting a hygienist, 91% say it’s very or extremely challenging.

A platform can’t create more clinicians overnight. But we can make it easier for offices and available professionals to find each other. When everyone is already stretched thin, that matters.

Why The Platform Matters

What makes Gig Dental different from texting around, using Facebook groups, calling temp agencies, or trying to fill shifts manually?

Those methods can help, and we’re not here to replace them. But they often leave the office manager juggling information across a dozen conversations, and professionals asking the same basic questions every time.

Gig Dental brings profiles, opportunities, and communication into one place. Our agency partners can plug in too, so shifts get filled faster by whoever is the best fit. The biggest difference is context. We want both sides to understand the fit before anyone says yes.

How do you help build trust between dental offices and clinical professionals using the platform?

I have learned that trust starts with clear information and consistent follow-through. We’re building around professional qualifications, transparent practice profiles, and clear expectations. We also include private feedback and notes that support accountability and help people prepare for future visits. After years of temping, I truly believe trust is the product. People want to know who they’re working with and what to expect.

When To Use Gig Dental

Can you describe the “classic” situation where a dental office should use Gig Dental?

Imagine this, your hygienist calls off, tomorrow’s schedule is packed, and you’re trying to save an entire column of patients from being rescheduled.

That’s the classic moment. But I’d love for offices to think beyond emergencies: planned vacations, upcoming leave, and gaps while you recruit a permanent team member. Building those connections before the panic gives everyone a better starting point.

Can you describe the “classic” situation where a hygienist, assistant, or other dental professional should sign up?

You have a free day and want to pick up work. You can see the opportunity, understand the office, and decide for yourself whether it fits your schedule and skills. It’s also great if you’re curious about a different practice environment or thinking about a longer-term move. You don’t have to be a full-time temp to benefit.

What types of dental offices are the best fit for Gig Dental right now?

Our strongest early fit is Indiana practices that need temporary coverage and want a more organized way to connect with professionals. That includes offices handling the occasional call-off, planned absences, or ongoing staffing gaps. The best founding offices are willing to complete their profile, post real opportunities, and tell us honestly what would make the experience better.

What types of clinical professionals are the best fit right now?

Indiana dental hygienists with availability for temporary work are an especially strong early fit.

We also want to connect with assistants and other dental professionals as we grow the platform. Dependability, good communication, and a desire to find the right practice fit matter just as much as having an open day.

What does a successful first appointment or match look like?

The office finds someone qualified who understands the assignment. The professional knows the hours, pay, location, and expectations before they arrive.

The day runs smoothly, patients get care, and everyone feels respected. At the end of it, both sides are thinking, “I would work with them again.”

Early Traction And The Next Milestone

What traction or early feedback are you seeing so far?

Before beta, over 30 dental offices tested our clickable prototype and said they wanted to be part of the first phase. We’ve since launched beta and started testing with offices. Currently, we’ve onboarded the first 20 offices and 18 Professionals within the first 7 weeks. One early email campaign had a 51% open rate and a 10.2% click rate. Those are encouraging signs of interest. Now the goal is turning that interest into scheduled shifts, completed matches, and repeat use.

What do you need next?

We need offices to post real staffing needs and professionals to make themselves available for them. Our first 25 scheduled appointments are an early milestone because they show us whether people can go from interest to action. After that, we follow each match through to completion and learn what worked. Every match teaches us something. It also gives an office and a professional the start of a relationship that can keep going.

How To Join Gig Dental

Are you offering any special incentive, trial period, onboarding help, or support for the first dental offices that use Gig Dental?

Yes. Our founding offices receive complimentary access to all Gig Dental features for six months, early access to new feature releases, and a verified Founding Office digital badge for their permanent profile. We are dedicated to providing robust support from day one, as user feedback is vital in shaping the platform for the broader dental community.

We offer dedicated onboarding assistance to guide offices through setting up their accounts and posting their initial staffing needs, alongside personalized support to help clinical professionals complete their registration and create compelling profiles.

What is the easiest next step for a dental office that wants to try Gig Dental?

Head to Preview.GigDental.com and choose the office registration option. Start by creating your practice profile, then add a real temp staffing need.

What is the easiest next step for a clinical dental professional who wants to join Gig Dental?

Head to GigDental.com and choose the clinical professional registration option. Fill out your profile with your qualifications, experience, and availability. And remember, it’s free for clinical professionals.

Michelle’s Bigger Vision

What is your bigger vision for Gig Dental over the next few years?

I want Gig Dental to be the connected home for the dental community. Staffing is where we start, and staffing agencies are part of that picture. We’re building a portal where agencies can help fill the shifts we can’t fill fast enough, so we get the job done together. Beyond that, the vision includes career opportunities, continuing education, professional organizations, and connections with dental companies and reps through our Discovery Feed.

I want the people, information, and opportunities in dentistry to be easier to find, and the whole profession to feel more human.

Building a company while working full time is hard. What keeps you going when growth feels slower than you want it to be?

I don’t need a breakthrough every day. I just need to keep showing up. I know the stress of an office trying to protect its patient schedule. I know the uncertainty of walking into an unfamiliar practice. Those memories keep the problem very real for me. A good conversation, someone trying the platform, or a piece of honest feedback reminds me that progress happens one connection at a time. Not every day has to be a breakthrough to keep moving.

What do you want the dental community to know about you, Gig Dental, and this moment?

I’m a hygienist building something from experiences many of you have shared. I care about the office trying to keep its day together, the professional looking for a good fit, and the patient who needs that appointment. This is an early moment for Gig Dental, and your participation and feedback can help shape what it becomes. Let’s build a dental community where people feel informed, supported, and connected. Get your Gig on!

How The Startup Ladies Helped Gig Dental Grow

Looking back, how did participating in the 2025 Top 9 Capital Readiness Accelerator and the Invest In Women Founders Summit help you and Gig Dental?

The accelerator came at an important point for me. I knew the problem I wanted Gig Dental to solve because I had lived it for years as a dental professional, but building a company requires learning an entirely different language.

The Startup Ladies helped me become much more intentional about how I communicate the business. I learned to speak more clearly about our market, business model, scalability, capital needs, and the size of the opportunity rather than only explaining the problem I was passionate about solving.

The Summit then gave me an opportunity to put those skills into practice. Being one of the Top 9 founders gave Gig Dental visibility, put me in conversations with experienced founders and investors, and helped me become more comfortable occupying those spaces as a CEO.

What is especially meaningful to me is what happened afterward. Since the 2025 Summit, Gig Dental has gone from an early-stage concept and prototype to a company with a growing team and advisory network, a developed platform, and a beta being tested with dental offices. The accelerator did not build Gig Dental for me. It helped teach me how to build more strategically and how to recognize and use the resources around me.

Was there a specific moment, introduction, conversation, or piece of feedback from the accelerator or Summit that stayed with you?

One of the biggest lessons that stayed with me was learning to communicate the size of the opportunity, not just the size of the problem. As someone who spent 17 years working in dentistry, I can talk all day about the problems dental offices and professionals experience. But investors need to understand something different. They need to see what happens when solving that problem becomes a scalable company.

The one-on-one mentoring and preparation helped me make that transition in my thinking. Christi Garcia spent time helping me prepare for the Summit and challenged me to communicate Gig Dental more clearly and confidently. Even practicing my interview with Kristen Cooper while she got her hair done helped me become more comfortable telling the story as a founder rather than only as the dental hygienist who experienced the problem.

Kristen is so committed to the success of TSL founders that she fit me in to practice with her while her hair stylist was coloring her hair. It blew my mind the level of dedication she had to us all that she would use her own down time to help train me on delivering my pitch.

The introductions have been equally important. Kristen and team have continued making thoughtful, personalized introductions based on where Gig Dental is at that moment and what I need next. Those are not simply networking introductions. They have opened conversations with people I may never have had access to otherwise. That has changed the way I approach building the company. I have learned that asking for help, accepting an introduction, following up, and then finding a way to bring value back into that relationship are all part of building a strong company.

After the Summit, how did The Startup Ladies continue to support you, and what would you tell another founder who is considering applying?

The support did not end when the Summit ended. That may be one of the most valuable things about The Startup Ladies. Through my continued membership, I have had access to one-on-one mentoring, strategic introductions, founder visibility, and practical conversations about what my next step should be. Kristen has continued to connect me with people who make sense for Gig Dental as the company evolves. Those introductions have helped expand my network beyond dentistry and into entrepreneurship, technology, leadership, and investment.

The visibility through The Startup Ladies changed peoples' perceptions of my company. When you are building something new, credibility is incredibly valuable. Being recognized as a Top 9 founder gave people another reason to stop, listen, and take Gig Dental seriously.

But I have also learned that being part of a community is not passive. You have to show up. You need to take the meeting. Ask the question. Follow up on the introduction. Be willing to hear feedback. Tell people what you need. And when you have an opportunity to make an introduction, share something you have learned, or encourage another founder, do that too.

One of my favorite parts of the experience was the relationship that developed among the Top 9 founders themselves. In a very short period of time, we became genuinely supportive of one another. It reinforced something I believe strongly: another woman’s success does not diminish mine.

If another woman founder were considering applying, I would tell her not to wait until she feels completely ready. Apply and be willing to participate fully. The value is not only the accelerator or one night at the Summit. It is the people you meet, the skills you develop, the visibility you gain, and the relationships that continue long after you leave the room.

The Startup Ladies gave me access to an ecosystem. Over the last year, I have learned how to use that ecosystem thoughtfully and, increasingly, how to contribute back to it as I grow.