How to tackle work stress

There is no doubt that dentistry is a high stress profession. Recent studies have reported that the dental team are subject to a variety of stress-related physical and emotional problems^1,2,3,4. These include heart disease, high blood pressure, adrenal fatigue, alcoholism, insomnia, depression and anxiety⁵. Stress can be defined as ‘an adverse reaction that people have to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed on them’. Research suggests that the top five stressors in dentistry include running behind schedule, causing pain to our patients, heavy workloads, patient management and the treatment of anxious patients². As well as these factors, we have litigation on the increase⁶ (the UK has now taken over the US with regards to litigation cases), and the GDC’s Fitness to Practise to worry about. When you take all of these factors into account, it is unsurprising that stress levels in dentistry are soaring to dangerously high levels. Yet, there is a lack of proactive measures being taken within our working environment and dental teams to address this issue of stress.