Sir, burnout scores for emotional exhaustion in UK doctors1 and the recent paper by Toon et al.2 indicate that many dentists suffer bad stress due to organisational and personal factors. It is surely urgent that research focuses on how stress pathways develop throughout medical careers.
Taking note of studies in dental education which look at the development of professionalism could well be a good way forward.
Strong reactive emotions in dental students such as fear, frustration and shame have been found to be associated with challenging patient encounters and taking more responsibility for care.3 In my experience, many foundation dentist peers find these sorts of strong emotions can really hinder us, yet are often hard to admit for fear of being seen as weak.
The culture in medicine is hopefully now changing towards accepting that emotional sensitivity is part of being a good dentist. Current anti-stigma campaigns also attempt to reduce barriers to admitting stress or illness in medics and denitsts.4
If research looks into our emotional reactions to provide more of an understanding of dentists' stress drivers, and if the medical culture can adapt, burnout rates may start to fall.
References
Imo U O. Burnout and psychiatric morbidity among doctors in the UK: a systematic literature review of prevalence and associated factors. BJ Psych Bulletin 2017; 41: 197−204.
Toon M, Collin V, Whitehead P, Reynolds L. An analysis of stress and burnout in UK general dental practitioners: subdimensions and causes. Br Dent J 2019; 226: 125-130.
Ranauta A, Freeth D, Davenport E. Developing understanding and enactment of professionalism: undergraduate dental students' perceptions of influential experiences in this process. Br Dent Journal 2018; 225: 662−666.
Doctor's Support Network. &me Anti Stigma Campaign. 2019. Available at https://www.dsn.org.uk/ANDME_anti_stigma_campaign (accessed April 2019).
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Bernstein, R. Emotional burnout. Br Dent J 226, 635 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-019-0321-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-019-0321-8
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