Why is dentistry stressful?

[Miljea]

Genuine question; in no way intended to be at all goady!

I'm interested in knowing what aspects of the profession make it stressful? I'm not denying it, there are plenty of reliable studies out there, I know.

Ta.

Do you mean having dentistry done or dentistry as a career?

Apparently there is a high suicide rate amongst dentists.

As a career. Sorry, should have made that clear!

Yes, I'd heard about an abnormally high suicide rate among dentists 😢

The ridiculous targets set you as an NHS dentist. The general public are also a pain to be fair

Would you want to be a dentist?

Eric, no, not really. But I wouldn't want to be a gynaecologist or a podiatrist, either!

Not that I'd get into the first 2 examples; they're competitive, dentistry and medicine!

Most of your patients will not be cheerful at seeing you. I imagine its emotionally demanding to treat scared or anxious people all day.

The actual work is very detailed and in a small space - you would need to concentrate and be very precise and you're working on a live subject that moves unexpectedly. I imagine that's very stressful.

I think it must be very stressful. I have been getting quite a lot of teeth extracted lately, a few at a time and I think how hard it must be. I'm really grateful to her for taking me out of pain but I don't know how they can do it, drilling filling and pulling teeth out every week day, I would be so scared of getting something wrong :(

Fear of litigation. Having to explain every procedure beforehand in detail to check patients are happy to go ahead, knowing that they are not actually listing that well as they are nervous. Dealing with anxious patients every day and only having ten minutes to do so before moving on to the next. Managing people’s expectations and emotions on top of doing something very precise and mentally demanding in a short time frame whilst also meeting financial targets and budgets set by the NHS.

*listening

Hygienist here
It’s back breaking sometimes - neck shoulder back problems are rife

Running to time is hugely stressful- I see three people an hour without help and no clear up time
along with almost everyone you see being nervous - therefore having to repeat myself over and over

And being told numerous times a day by the patients that they ‘hate being here’

Or when we know they’re just not listening and then when things go wrong it’s our fault

There’s a significant amount of notes we have to write up on every patient

The fear of being sued is ever present

It’s a great job. But massively stressful

Have a read of some threads on here to see how the general public view the advice that dentists have to give them. They don't want to hear it but they will sue if you don't give it. Exhausting.

You also have to invest your own money in your practice and equipment etc.

Why do you want to know?
Litigation. Targets. Budgets. Bizarre NHS payment scale. Running a small business. Staff. Costs. Self employment. Unrealistic expectations of patients. Aggressive / violent patients. Regulations. A regulatory body who attempts to entrap with decoy patients and excessively punitive measures. Physically demanding job. Do you want me to go on? 20 years in and the only way I can bear it is by being part time.

What @Mrsmorton said. A general public who cannot accept that most of dental disease is self inflicted and they need to take responsibility. A general public who are confused between health care and beauty treatments and often think the NHS should provide both. For free. And that it’s the dentists withholding it.

Going to the dentist is one of the top things which people hate. And I'm sure that dentists are often told this information by their patients. No wonder they have a high suicide rate, knowing that they are hated.

Just popping back to say a huge thank you to any dentists on this thread for their work.
I absolutely love my dentist who has helped me overcome phobia and horrific anxiety and who does wonderful work.

You forgot to add Bonzo that we have a regulatory body that was found to be acting unlawfully but still got away with it. Otherwise I think you pretty much covered everything

Ah yes. The predatory GDC! Not helpful.

Everything above.
Ultimately it's a healthcare role and we are only trying to help people. We are vilified and mistrusted on a daily basis. We have to work at an extremely fast pace in order to break even. we have a governing body ( GDC) that historically has been very threatening. We work in a small room with only one other person, and ( despite seeing patients), can be a lonely profession.

Thanks for the replies.

Do you think the issues, then, are your professional body, and the pressures of NHS work? (And patients... 😉)

Do you think if you worked in a private capacity, only, it would be less stressful?

I echo everything said above. Fiddly, precise work in a confined space which happens to be a sensitive area of a person who does not want to be there/ has told you how much they hate coming. To top it off, the same patient might turn up late then still demand to be seen or try to get out of paying. Goodbye lunchbreak...

To say nothing of the amount of money you pay simply to be registered with the GDC which does nothing to help you. Their mission statement is to "protect the public", not to help or support dental professionals!

Oh and your poor, poor back.

Probably the boredom of repeat root canals and one way conversations. We also josh that our dentist gets tired working the machine prints £50 notes. Lovely chap. Lovely practice. Probably does a miniscule bit of nhs care.

I just had a root canal and I think my dentist (private) was stressing about how to celebrate his 60th birthday. He already had two exotic cruises booked and a party in the UK for 100 people but couldn't decide where to go with his kids on his third holiday 😂😂😂. He was laughing with the dental assistant about it and it made for a nice atmosphere but I couldn't help wondering how he could afford it 🤔🤔

It’s not necessarily less stressful in a private capacity as the more people are paying for their treatment, the more demanding they can become. It’s great to be able to earn enough to cover costs (which is not always the case with NHS, hence having to see so many patients with fast turnaround) but providing a high level of service can be tricky when patient expectations increase. Some things are predictable, ie patient can chose what type/shade of crown they want. Other things such as root canal work have inherent risks and bad luck can happen no matter how much you’re paying. Dentistry is expensive as it’s medical care. Often the general public don’t seem to understand this. Most of the fee paid for treatment is not profit. It goes toward running costs of the practice, staff costs including dental technician fees, and equipment (a lot of which is single use for each patient.)