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Why are dentists so unhappy?

BDJ In Practice volume 36, pages 12–13 (2023)Cite this article

In the first in a series of six articles, David Ward takes a deep dive into the root of unhappiness in the profession

Two gifted, handsome and dedicated dentists who qualified alongside me in 1986 have been lost to suicide. There has always been anecdotal evidence that dentistry was a career with high stress and subsequent high suicide rates. This usually involves dentists who get into financial difficulties or relationship problems and end up with no apparent way out. Research carried out by the British Dental Association in 2019 shows dentistry is linked to high stress levels and burnout, with one in six dentists admitting seriously considering suicide and a total of 77 dentists taking their own lives between 1995 and 2011.1

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Reference

  1. Toon M, Collin V, Whitehead P. et al. An analysis of stress and burnout in UK general dental practitioners: subdimensions and causes. Br Dent J 2019; 226: 125-130.

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  1. 543 Dental Centre, Hull, United Kingdom

    David Ward

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  1. David Ward
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Correspondence to David Ward.

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Ward, D. Why are dentists so unhappy?. BDJ In Pract 36, 12–13 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41404-023-1934-9

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