I hear alot that dentistry is mentally exhausting and I don't understand why but I am just a predent so I'm trying to figure it out? It it the same kind of mentally exhausting as studying for 6 straight hours or just like being tired from driving 6 hours? Also when people also say it is physically exhausting what is that comparable to? Would it be like mowing the lawn on a hot day lol? Does the mentally exhausting part make you feel drained or dislike the job? Do you enjoy working and have more freedom now comparable to when you were in college? Any input would be greatly appreciated!
Dentistry Is Mentally Exhausting Please Explain??
- Thread starter monkeykey
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It is mentally and physically exhausting but for me it isn't necessarily in a terrible way. Time goes by really fast throughout the day and when you're done with the day you just want to take a seat and relax for a bit. Physically, looking down all day will cause back soreness but at the end of the day if you keep yourself active I think it isn't a huge issue.
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Depends on the patient volume, types of cases, and types of patients you deal with everyday. Dentistry is mentally exhausting for a variety of reasons...
1. You have to interact and "connect" with every patient that comes through your door. Keeping that facade of the professional doctor is mentally exhausting, especially if you are introverted with no ability to fake extroverted-ness.
2. Most of your patients are able to act professionally in your professional working environment. It's that small percentage that really piss you off.
3. Look into a small opening (the mouth) of 50-75+ patients per day with magnification and headlights. Your eyes get strained really bad at the end of the day. Eye fatigue even with loupes.
4. Repetitive muscle movements... From retracting to drilling, to cutting, to looking, etc... lots of exhausting movements, especially extractions. Think of it like that story of the sword in the stone but imagine there's a head connected to it and that head tends to move along with your extractions, makes noises, salivates, complains, etc..
Combine all the physical labor that you're performing with the mental gymnastics that you have to do everyday. I'd say stand up for 8 hours, trying to do a wood carving on a piece of stump using magnification in a dark tunnel while having to listen to kids crying, drills, and patients. That's the type of exhaustion you'll face. The key difference is that you're making a positive difference in people's lives by allowing them to continue eating and smiling even if they don't know about it. Also, you're getting people out of pain - patients will tell you that teeth pain is worse than giving birth. And that's why they'll pay you thousands to do a root canal and crown to save the tooth, get them out of pain, and eat again.
I don't hate what I do. I love getting people out of pain and making money at the same time. The exhaustion feels better once you look at your production for the day because your labor was not in vain. There's very few legal professions that could earn you 10k+/day. This is way better than being in college. I was broke AF in college and I'm glad that dentistry can give me a lifestyle of the top 5%.
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I'm fairly certain you're in the top 1% by any metrics lol
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Any job is mentally and physically tiring. It's what you do outside that matters the most.
Do you sit around and eat processed food all day?
Do you not go to the gym?
Do you sleep in?
Do you have a schedule?
Do you have your finances in order?
Do you have a social life and hobbies that keep you preoccupied?
If not- then any job will wear you down emotionally, mentally and physically.
A job is a job.
If you eat well,
Sleep right,
Keep Active
Keep Learning
Stay on schedule
Have personal goals
Have a hobby,
Then those will keep you mentally, physically, and emotionally in check.
For the 99% of us, a job is a job, the 1% that find their true passions are the lucky ones. However, it's the things that we do outside our profession that keeps us happy.
Do you sit around and eat processed food all day?
Do you not go to the gym?
Do you sleep in?
Do you have a schedule?
Do you have your finances in order?
Do you have a social life and hobbies that keep you preoccupied?
If not- then any job will wear you down emotionally, mentally and physically.
A job is a job.
If you eat well,
Sleep right,
Keep Active
Keep Learning
Stay on schedule
Have personal goals
Have a hobby,
Then those will keep you mentally, physically, and emotionally in check.
For the 99% of us, a job is a job, the 1% that find their true passions are the lucky ones. However, it's the things that we do outside our profession that keeps us happy.
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Do you think that all those are required in order to be in check? I noticed that what you mentioned is a very common formula among my colleagues - gym almost every day, bland @ss chicken breasts as "meals", waking up early and sleeping early, etc. It just seems so structured and boring... no offense. I'm not sure why sitting around and eating processed food would make you miserable, or the lack of gym or structured life. Only ones that make sense is getting enough sleep, having enough money, and doing things you enjoy, even if that means fatassing all the time. That term was introduced to me by my friend.
I gave up on dieting and exercising. I don't seem to gain or lose weight with "proper diet"/exercising. I'll probably die early since I don't gym, sleep like a college student (sleeping at 3 or 4am lately as I post this at 325am lol) and eat one massive meal at the end of the workday... but I'll contend that I'm happy. Hopefully, I'll be like that guy who smokes a pack a day for 40 years and lives to be 100+. Perhaps we are in different stages in life, but what you described just feels like something older people do.
In your checklist of happiness, I would say that quality sleep is the most important. Sleep is like the reset switch of the body and mind. If you are able to sleep and be physically and mentally refreshed regardless of the day's problems and exhaustion, then that's all you really need + money. How you achieve this kind of sleep, I wouldn't have an answer for that. I can generalize the personalities of those that are light sleepers, but it would merely be conjecture and probably offend the hell out of people.
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Good question, and I guess I will sorta deviate from the norm here.
I believe that the cure to depression, sadness, burnout whatever, is having a healthy balanced lifestyle. If you work to much, you neglect your body. If you play to much, then you neglect the finances. If you overwork-out yourself, you destroy your body. If you overdo it in any direction- it's not healthy.
It's been proven time and time again that exercise does help the overall body condition. I'm in my stage of life where I don't want to have regrets. You only one life, and I don't want to look back and think what if. I'm already at a stage where I know...I'll never run a 5:30 min mile again. If I can hold 7 min...then I'm happy. I know I'll never bike 25 mph again...If I can hold 20 mph then I'm happy. I will never bench 250...at 135 body weight again....but If I can hold 225...at 155 body weight for the rest of my life- I'll be happy. As we get older, we just deteriorate, and that's normal but I'll fight it. I don't want to be doing 15 min miles and out of breath, or barely being able to bike 10 miles without gasping, or benching the bar and fighting gravity.
The reality is that money can only get you so far. We hear about it everyday about how some rich person has depression and we think what's wrong with this dude he has everything, but the reality is that money can only go so far. After that- its just things. And do things make me happy? No.
What makes me happy is pushing myself. Pushing the boundaries. Working hard not only at work, but also physically and mentally. Life experiences, accomplishments, and earning something is better then just "buying something." I don't care how much money you have- you can never BUY a 7:00 min mile. You never BUY a good physique. You can never BUY self discipline. You can never BUY a 20 MPH bike run. You can never BUY learning a language. That's earned.
Dentistry is a hard job. What you said above about working with people, small spaces, boundaries- many people don't understand that health professionals have just a hard job. They see 32 hours a week and good money, but what they don't see is the angry patients, the complaining patients, the demanding consumer, the staff issues, the debt, the burden, the hiring and firing, the management of overhead, the non-payments of patients and insurances alike.
But at the end of the day- its a job, and if you don't think that computer science, cop, fire fighting, accountants, lawyers, medical professionals have job problems- you are wrong. They do.
What my post really means is that, if you have a balanced life, it will even out the stresses of your job. Dentistry is great in a sense that it offers a 3-4 day work week where you can have life outside work. I have ZERO excuse for not being able to bike on Fridays for 50 miles...because I have that day OFF. Alot of jobs have 5 day work week commitments and frankly don't earn as much.
So balance your life and it will balance you job. Now off my pedestal...and back to work =)
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Most of it has to do with working on awake patients. No other field in healthcare does as many procedures as we do on patients that are awake. Because of this, people hate the dentist and make it known during their appointment. For this reason, I prefer to have all my patients asleep (if possible).
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People hate/fear the dentist for many reasons; from negative childhood experience, from what other people/media/Hollywood told them, to just avoiding the possibility of getting “bad news” - which is the same reason why many people avoid their PCP as well. I personally think (like any other profession) a good junk of dentists are incompetent and contribute to the public “fear” factor problem by providing sub-standard care to their patients, specially in pain and anxiety management. The term “root canal” is now almost up there or closely synonymous with “death” in the public court of opinion. Just how many popular sitcoms in the 90’s to the present have misrepresented dentists and the dental office. It’s the same reason why we talk about other countries and people in a negative way.
I thought this was extremely insightful and enjoyed reading it. I think that all that people really want is to be happy in life but there is no way to quantify happiness so people use the next most rational thing that is also easily quantifiable is money. But more money is not always equal to more happiness.
This is why I think its so important to enjoy your job at least to some degree. I believe alot of people are constantly lying and saying they love their job to other people because everyone is so obsessed with looking like they are "Living my best life".
I am starting to question if dentistry is right for me as I could grind away at school, found the science behind dentistry interesting, and also am very business oriented, but I've always hated doing manual labor. I always hated cleaning longer jobs around my house and other hard jobs such as building fences.
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Putting patients to sleep is definitely a great way on having to deal with patients during the procedure. However, I find that patients who "require" sedation for a simple procedure such as a prophy or a filling tend to be bigger liabilities.
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I don't think people understand how hard it is to do a good job on an awake patient #15/#18 crown/mod fill, on a patient that can't open more then my handpiece head, with a big tongue, and saliva- and also doesn't like coming to the dentist. It's very frustrating and hard to do a good job in span of 1 mm....when you can't even see or get your instruments back there. You cure the composite and it looks funky, and or doesn't work, and you start over. Then 1 year recall, you see marginal leakage and you feel ****ty about it.
The job is hard. I think the job is harder then most.
But I do think that in order to cope for all this difficulty and frustration...alot of dentists are overachievers in other aspects. It's crazy the amount of triatheletes/marathon runners/physical yoga personalities that I have met in the dental industry. I think this is partially because it is a destressor and its the only way to survive in this field/coping mechanism.
If you don't have something to occupy your time- a new language- physical workouts- goals in other areas- dentistry will eat you up, spit you out, and you will be a broke and depressed dude.
That's why I have put alot of emphasis on having an outside life- because if I didn't- I know the job would be 10x harder then what it is.
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Yep, starting over is the most annoying part of it all. A week ago, I had an rctbucrown on #18. Patient's tongue was the worst, one of the first times I had to use a minnesota to retract for a crown prep. The rubber dam made it easy for the endo, but man, that prep was difficult. I think the assistant is extremely key for those types of cases. They need to have good moisture control, and you need to execute quickly like a ninja. A lot of your ability to execute is on the dental materials (bulk fill, superfast curing, minimal wait time on bonding agents). If you are able to fill a restoration in 10 seconds or less, then it's not as difficult to keep the moisture control for 10 seconds. Once that curing light goes off, your need for moisture control is gone once the material hardens, which occurs almost instantaneously.
The ironic part of these dentist superathletes is that a lot of them get injured and go from being the most athletic to disabled in no time.
If dentistry was your passion, reading about dentistry can be fun too when you get home. I like to think about how I can always improve my systems and efficiency. I don't think that your hobbies have to be exclusive outside of dentistry.
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It's mentally exhausting to me due to the following.
1) 90%, give or take, of the population doesn't like being at the dentist. You're already fighting an uphill battle as soon as the patient walks in. I lost track of how many times I've presented myself to the patients all smiley and they look at me with this face and say "I hate dentists". You get used to it.
2) You're not just a dentist, you're also a psychologist. Patient management, dealing with different personalities and trying to make everyone happy. Sounds easy until you have a patient yelling at you.
3) You're working in a mouth. Limited visibility and throw in an uncooperative patient who can't breathe through his nose (therefore, can't tolerate the water from the hand piece because he has to breathe through his mouth), making you stop every 10 seconds, taking longer than normal due to this, getting a tap on your shoulder saying the next patient is waiting while you're still dealing with mr. hard to work on, but, now he's getting tired and you need to yank that bite block in so he doesn't close. Now, walk into the next patient, who is upset because they have been waiting for 15 minutes.
Alright, i'm adding a little flavor to this but that's similar to what it's like on a stressful day. Just an example.
The career does have its nice moments, though.
1) 90%, give or take, of the population doesn't like being at the dentist. You're already fighting an uphill battle as soon as the patient walks in. I lost track of how many times I've presented myself to the patients all smiley and they look at me with this face and say "I hate dentists". You get used to it.
2) You're not just a dentist, you're also a psychologist. Patient management, dealing with different personalities and trying to make everyone happy. Sounds easy until you have a patient yelling at you.
3) You're working in a mouth. Limited visibility and throw in an uncooperative patient who can't breathe through his nose (therefore, can't tolerate the water from the hand piece because he has to breathe through his mouth), making you stop every 10 seconds, taking longer than normal due to this, getting a tap on your shoulder saying the next patient is waiting while you're still dealing with mr. hard to work on, but, now he's getting tired and you need to yank that bite block in so he doesn't close. Now, walk into the next patient, who is upset because they have been waiting for 15 minutes.
Alright, i'm adding a little flavor to this but that's similar to what it's like on a stressful day. Just an example.
The career does have its nice moments, though.
