Monday, September 27, 2010

Stress and the dental practice

Dentists often perceive dentistry as being stressful. The sources of stress arise from the work environment (for example, workplace, financial and practice management issues) and from the personality types of the people who choose the profession. Stress can elicit varying physiological and psychological effects on a person.

With professional burnout, people become emotionally and mentally exhausted; develop a negative, indifferent or cynical attitude toward patients, clients or co-workers; and evaluate themselves negatively. Two common anxiety disorders are panic disorder and GAD. Both disorders can be debilitating, as they elicit excessive, irrational fear and dread. The treatment options available are medications (for example, anti-anxiety medications and anti-depressants) and psychotherapy. Depression affects the body, mood and thoughts. Its onset often involves a combination of genetic, psychological and environmental factors. However, episodes of depression may be precipitated by mild stresses.

Some stress is inherent in dental practice, requiring that dentists learn coping strategies to minimize the effects of stress. Stress management should be targeted to dental students and practicing dentists. The dental educational curriculum should be modified to include business management, stress management and communication skills. Some dental associations offer stress management workshops, professional help, counseling services and support networks. In addition, dentists should assess their own attitudes and expectations to determine if they are realistic, achievable or rational. Finally, dentists must realize that help is readily available if the effects of stress become overwhelming.

Please read this article from JADA , the above material is copyrighted and is only for use of dental students and dentists and is not to be commercially used in any way

pls check the original article in http://jada.ada.org/cgi/content/full/135/6/788

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