stress of practicing dentistry

[dee783]

In passing, i was introduced to an acquaintance of my aunt who is a dentist and his response to me going into dentistry is "it's stressful" and he had this concerned look on his face. So what is it about dentistry that is so stressful? Is it lose sleep at night stressful? I imagined that denistry was not very stressful because malpractice is low and diagnosis and treatment is relatiely straightforward as dental problems can be seen on xray and then corrected. what other stressors are there?

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[helpfuldoc2b]

In passing, i was introduced to an acquaintance of my aunt who is a dentist and his response to me going into dentistry is "it's stressful" and he had this concerned look on his face. So what is it about dentistry that is so stressful? Is it lose sleep at night stressful? I imagined that denistry was not very stressful because malpractice is low and diagnosis and treatment is relatiely straightforward as dental problems can be seen on xray and then corrected. what other stressors are there?

Dentistry is like running a business if you go private. How stressful it is or isnt depends on many variables, mostly business ones such as location, marketing, patient flow, paper work, paying and managing overhead, etc... It can be as stressful or as easy as you make it...

 

[jmjfb23]

I would agree that running a business would be a major part of the stress of this job (anytime when you are the employer adds a lot of stress). Also you defidently have to be able to interact with people and know how to handle your patients and staff. Plenty of dentists get stressed out just having to deal with people all day, so make sure you have very friendly assistants and hygentists that can lighten your load a little. Also diagnosis isn't always straight forward, but I don't think that would make me anymore stressed out, but maybe it affects others more than that. Overall I don't see how dentistry would be anymore stressful than running any other business. If you are really worried about stress, be an associate all your life and it would take a lot of your shoulders, but I know I wouldn't go that route.

 

[dee783]

well he works as an associate for a dentist who runs two offices so i am guessing that he doesn't really have to deal with the the running the business part.

 

[Regmata]

Maybe he is trying to start a new practice and it is stressfull, maybe the dentist he works for is not nice to work for, maybe he isn't terribly good and his loss of productivity causes friction with coworkers and a reduced pay check or maybe he is just the type of guy who is always stressed

 

[diagnodent]

Thanks for telling me I have a low stress job. You are crazy to think that dentistry is easy. Diagnosing from an X-ray...I wish it was that simple. You can lose sleep b/c you can't pay the bills and your business is going under.

 

[Regmata]

Are you referring to my post?

 

[jmjfb23]

well he works as an associate for a dentist who runs two offices so i am guessing that he doesn't really have to deal with the the running the business part.

Well, if he is just an associate, then that should be a lot less stressful than partner. He might have a contract where he gets paid a percent of his work, making him stressed to get a ton done so he can pay the bills, also if this is the case his quick work and forcing patients through may make his work subpar or maybe he slept through dental school and is just a bad dentist or maybe he never really liked dentistry and therefore it is stressful for him, of course this is all speculation and there are a million reasons why dentistry might be more stressful to specific people. Your guess is as good as mine and you might as well get this guys number and ask him yourself, while you're at it shadow a few dentists and find out if dentistry would be stressful to you to a point where it is something you couldn't or wouldn't want to handle. Good luck.

 

[diagnodent]

Everyone get over it. Dentistry is stressful. No high paying job isn't stressful (but if you do find one then please let me know). First, You are a doctor and responsible for peoples health. Are you making the right decisions for their health..isn't that stressful. But then most of us run our own businesses and that is definitely stressful. Life is stressful, get over it.

 

[jmjfb23]

I don't think anyone is trying to say it isn't stressful, just answering the opening question and explaining why it is stressful or how it can be stressful in many different ways depending on the person and situation.

 

[jmjfb23]

Everyone get over it. Dentistry is stressful. No high paying job isn't stressful (but if you do find one then please let me know). First, You are a doctor and responsible for peoples health. Are you making the right decisions for their health..isn't that stressful. But then most of us run our own businesses and that is definitely stressful. Life is stressful, get over it.

Or maybe he spents a lot of time on SDN and gets way stressed out over people's posts and takes it out on his job, ha, just kidding, but maybe .

 

[docj1]

Dentistry is very stressful. There are many things which make it that way. Patients, staff, student loans, overhead, competition, etc. In private practice you have to put out fires all the time. You have to be able to separate your feelings from your job alot of times. Do good honest ethical dentistry and run your business to the best of your ability and the stress reduces.

 

[dee783]

yes, i agree there are many factors that could be attributing to his stress. I was just curious if other practicing dentists experienced similar distress or if this is a unique case. I shadowed a dentist years ago in hs and the dentist seemed really relaxed just about all the time. she was busy, but i very calm and relaxed. i recently read somewhere maybe it was on here about some dentists being so stressed out that they went back to just doing dental hygeine. so i'm just gathering more info as to what it is in dentistry that is so stressful aside from the running your own business part. i by no means think that dentistry is easy, but it seems as though it would be pretty straightforward for a well trained and skilled dentist. you diagnose the problem w/ the help of xray and fix it with the appropriate treatment plan and the patient is set. as compared to medicine where diagnosis is more subjective and determined via following algorithms that may or may not be accurate.

 

[dinesh]

I am stressed out enough just being in the lab cutting preps..agh

 

[Lesley]

In passing, i was introduced to an acquaintance of my aunt who is a dentist and his response to me going into dentistry is "it's stressful" and he had this concerned look on his face. So what is it about dentistry that is so stressful? Is it lose sleep at night stressful? I imagined that denistry was not very stressful because malpractice is low and diagnosis and treatment is relatiely straightforward as dental problems can be seen on xray and then corrected. what other stressors are there?

I'm not sure it's the dentistry part. Yes, technically dentistry does take a lot of concentration and patience sometimes, but after you get use to the job, managing an office, patients and employees, it's not that difficult.

What makes it difficult for some, in the beginning, is the pressure to make the payments, especially for those with relative high educational debt. Been there, done that. Often for young dentists, those out 15 years or less, it's the amount of hours they need to work. There are the educational notes, business notes, payroll, taxes, personal expenses, mortgage, retirement savings and all the other expenses that make life go round for you and your family. For those dentists with children, many are already thinking of saving for their children's college expenses to ease their burden after having gone through that stress themselves. This is a personal choice, but it's clearly another tough nut to crack should they choose to tackle it. Even without running a business and not having those expenses, it takes a lot of income to meet the above needs comfortably.

Eventually when you have your finances under control and you can choose to do dentistry at a lighter pace, working for yourself or not, things feel lighter and easier. Doing dentistry is technically challenging. Doing it less hours makes it a lot less stressful. It happens. Patience. Good Luck. Got to get ready for work!

 

[OceanDMD]

I'll tell you whats stressful, that denture patient I had the other day. The denture I made for him has to be removed with a crowbar, his teeth are beautiful, and he is bitching about some mysterious roughness on his palate! I polished that thing so smooth its as smooth as the back of my a_s!!!!! Whats stressful? paying the bills and removable pros!!!

 

[DrJeff]

I'll tell you whats stressful, that denture patient I had the other day. The denture I made for him has to be removed with a crowbar, his teeth are beautiful, and he is bitching about some mysterious roughness on his palate! I polished that thing so smooth its as smooth as the back of my a_s!!!!! Whats stressful? paying the bills and removable pros!!!

Great little tip I learned at a CE course from the denture guru, Dr. Joe Massad himself about how to handle the "phantom" denture sore complaint. Step #1, and to really appreciate you need to have heard Dr. Massad speak in his deep southern drawl/twang. Seat the patient, kindly ask them how their denture is fitting, take a look at their phantom spot, and with an empathetic voice, tell them "yes, Mr. Smith, I see that spot, let me take your denture from you and fix it right now", then tell your assistant that this denture needs the "draw-er"(he says the word "drawer" as in cabinate drawer in a real drawn out thick southern accent sound). The put the patients denture in a drawer behind the chair where the patient can't see what your doing, excuse yourself from the operatory telling the patient that you'll be back in a few minutes with their denture, walk out of the operatory and go turn on your grinding wheel or whatever other loud sounding lab equipment you have. Then, leaving the lab equipment on, go into your office/breakromm and read the paper for a few minutes, or surf the net or whatever(all the while the lab equipment is still on). After about 5 minutes, turn off the lab equipment, walk back into the operatory, get the patients denture out of the drawer and give it back to them. You'd be amazed at how that spot just magically seems to have been eliminated!

Dr. Massad shows a video of him doing this in one of his lectures, and while humorous, I've used in countless numbers of times in situations where I know that there isn't anything wrong with the fit of the denture, with great success!

 

[dentalman]

Sounds like you are saying that the diagnosis in dentistry is easier, and therefore it makes being a dentist less stressful. I would agree, there is less confusion in diagnosis for dentistry, and more surgical (in this case - tooth surgery) being done. There is the occasional cancer diagnosis vs. cinammon reaction that can have major consequences, but much less common than medicine. However, there are certain things that are stressful in any job, and it depends on the situation and the person. You can be a waiter at a restaurant, and all you are really doing is taking orders and delivering food, but anyone who has been a waiter knows it is harder than it sounds. Just like in dentistry, you have different things that can be stressful, like having to redo a crown that has a margin that is open by 0.5 mm. (Keep in mind that you and your patient have spent a few hours and hundreds of dollars on it.) Of course, as you become a better clinician, this will hopefully occur less, but sometimes it is out of your hands (like when the lab screws up), but still affects you.

So, I just wanted to point out that you were focusing on one aspect of dentistry, but there are many more, just like there are many more aspects to medicine, or any job.

 

[DrYankem]

I have posed this question to the three dentists for whom I have volunteered, and they all said that the main stressor in dentistry is the nervous and terrified patient. As they said, so much energy is expended to make the patient less nervous, it actually ends up leaving the dentist stressed. Another comment that they made is that, as a dentist, people constantly make you feel like the "bad guy" by pointing out how they would rather be anywhere except at the dentist's office, and how much every procedure hurts. Little do they realize that they are criticizing the dentist's attempts to make dentistry a non-painful experience and his/her skill.

 

[dentalman]

But nervous patients are a huge part of dentistry. About 1 in 5 of the population have a fear of the dentist. Working through that is a huge part of it (and is sometimes tough on the dentist). Although, let's be real, at best, going to the dentist isn't very comfortable.