Another dental mental health note for R U OK day

No one can deny that dentistry is a stressful profession. It is not the most physically challenging though it does have its physical hurdles but I do believe that the mental side of the job takes the biggest toll on its workers. I have heard many explanations of the high suicide rate for dentists including the fact that there are just less dentists so any suicide will obviously make a bigger statistical difference. Here are some of my thoughts on the matter than I personally have experienced or have noted in others on a day to day basis:

-Dentistry attracts a certain personality: Perfectionist, anal retentive, uptight individuals. The academic marks required to get in are fairly high and university places are competitive so the applicants it attracts have generally always aimed high and wanted the best performance out of themselves. When it comes to their work, this can leave them feeling unfullfilled and unsatisfied at the outcomes of their treatment. We forget that half the work is done by us and the other is done by the patient compliance in their maintenance of our treatments. We tend to take the treatment burden on our shoulders and take it personally if thing's don't turn out ideal.
-Many dentists have money as a primary consideration for their work. This in itself isn't wrong at all. We do live in a capitalist society where money makes the world go round so who am I to judge. The point I have made many times to people is "how many people are actually happy in their jobs?" or "How many people love their jobs?" That being said, if we are solely money driven and not driven by what is best for the patient it does take the humanity out of a job that is solely about treating humans. Even the most hard hearted, capitalist dentist should feel a moral tingle from rorting their patients.
-People just don't like dentists. Though patients usually can draw the distinction between disliking dentistry (which they do) and hating dentists (which they probably don't) Other people are a tad more unreasonable and feel the need to express their dislike to you at the moment of meeting. After about the first year in the job the phrase "by the way I hate dentists" is just background noise. I do wonder what makes people so open to saying such a thing. I couldn't thing of another profession where people would say that to their face. Despite the inevitable desensitisation to the sentiment, the phrase does dig in mentally over time especially to those practitioners who are just trying to do their job and make a difference in other people's lives.
-One fellow once quoted an article to me that dentistry is the highest stress profession in the world. It is one that demands perfection from its outcomes as opposed to our medical colleagues. As Derek Mahony says in regards to the treatment of OSA: Medical treatment success involves a 50% reduction in baseline AHI. How many dentists would be happy with a crown that half fit onto a tooth. In Australia, people do pay a lot of money for dentistry and though they may not voice it, they do want perfect, efficient, painless dentistry for that money and more often than not it is put on the shoulders of the dentist to deliver this.
-Again, dentistry is a very expensive adventure for the general public. For those who can't afford it, public dentistry is the way to go which is overbooked, underpaid and under funded. More often than not, emergency work is done, cheap dentistry which doesn't let the dentist fill their potential leading to poor job satisfaction. For those who can't afford it and who aren't eligible for public dentistry, often they are forced to see private dentistry but stick to emergency treatments and short term fixes. No wonder people get fed up when their temporary restoration fractures or when they run out of teeth to chew on and have to pay again for a prosthodontic replacement. The analogy was drawn in the past where a person who never got their car serviced comes in when it breaks down, needs and engine replacement and wonders why cars are so expensive to maintain. Of ten people will pay more for their belongings, house, car and pets than they will spend on their health. I say it on a daily basis that when it comes to dentistry and pain people are very irrational. The fact that we are often forced to make compromises in our work from what feels like the standard of care takes a toll on the morale of us anal retentive dentists and it is part of the reason I got sick of private practice for the first time.

This and more is part of the reason we can feel down sometimes. Bad feelings are by no means specific to dentists but the challenge of our work and the uniformity of our days can beat down at us over time. It is important to have a strong network of family and friends who you can look to and who can support you when times are tough and help keep joy in your life.