'It's difficult being a dentist': stress and health in the general dental practitioner

Abstract

Objective The aim of the study was to investigate overall stress, workstress and health in general dental practitioners (GDPs). Design, setting and subjects A nationwide anonymous crosssectional survey was undertaken using stratified random sampling of 2,441 GDPs in the UK. Main outcome measures Measures included perceived stress, Work Stress Inventory for Dentists, job dissatisfaction, measures of health symptoms and health behaviour, dental and demographic information. Results The main findings were that perceived stress was significantly correlated with measures of dental stress. Work-related factors: fragility of dentist-patient relationship, time and scheduling pressures, staff and technical problems, job dissatisfaction, percentage NHS, and number of hours worked per week together explained nearly a half of GDPs overall stress in their life (linear multiple regression, adjusted r 2 = 0.48, F (2, 2404) = 509.68, P < 0.0001). Health behaviours such as alcohol use was associated with work stress (r = 0.18, P < 0.001) and over a third of GDPs were overweight or obese. Sixty per cent of GDPs reported being nervy, tense or depressed, 58.3% reported headache, 60% reported difficulty in sleeping and 48.2% reported feeling tired for no apparent reason. These were all related to work stress (one way analysis of variance, F (1,2211) = 241.53 P < 0.0001, F (1,2214) = 86.17 P < 0.0001; F (1, 2215) = 125.55 P < 0.0001; F (1,2211) = 209.67 P < 0.0001 respectively). Levels of minor psychiatric symptoms were high, with 32.0% of cases identified. The amount of backache was also high (reported by 68.3% of GDPs). Conclusion A high percentage of NHS dentistry was associated with high levels of overall stress in GDPs' lives, indicating that the nature of NHS dentistry should be carefully investigated to try to improve GDPs working conditions. A comparatively large number of dentists reported high levels of psychological stress symptoms, such as being nervy, tense and depressed, showing minor psychiatric symptoms, with alcohol use being related to stress. Other factors reported which were not related to stress but may be related to the actual practice of dentistry were that a third of dentists were overweight or obese and over 60% reported backache. Overall, these findings indicate the stressful nature of dentistry and difficulties in working conditions. The next step should be to develop interventions to help dentists to reduce stress in the dental surgery.

Humanizing clinical dentistry through a person-centred model

“…[38][39][40] A profound sense of overwhelm and exhaustion, particularly emotional exhaustion, and professional stress are also very common among dentists. [41][42][43] One explanation could be that patients learn to dislike their dentists as they come to associate them with fear. Consequently, dental work is often unwelcome and unappreciated.…”

Occupational burnout and work engagement: a national survey of dentists in the United Kingdom

“…4 A recent survey of British general dental practitioners (GDPs) reported that 60% were experiencing symptoms of stress. 5 Occupational burnout may develop in response to prolonged chronic and interpersonal stressors in the work environment 6 and is associated with high levels of exhaustion, cynicism (depersonalisation) and ineffi ciency (reduced personal accomplishment). Schaufeli and Enzmann 7 defi ne burnout as '…a persistent, negative, work related state of mind in "normal" individuals which is primarily characterised by exhaustion, which is accompanied by distress, a sense of reduced effectiveness, decreased motivation, and the development of dysfunctional attitudes and behaviours at work.…”

Is Dentistry Turning Into Weary Profession? Dimensionality of Experienced Professional Burnout among Dentists in Central India

“…Various organizational and individual stress factors at dental school, in clinical practice building up all the way through, are responsible for professional burnout [1][2][3]. Burnout is a persistent, negative work-related state of mind in "normal" individuals, primarily characterized by emotional exhaustion and accompanied by distress, a sense of reduced effectiveness, decreased motivation, and the development of dysfunctional attitudes and behaviors at work [4]. Burnout leads to negative outcome on quality of work, affecting both professional and personal interests of a dentist.…”