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Occupational Medicine Advance Access originally published online on February 22, 2008
Occupational Medicine 2008 58(4):275-281; doi:10.1093/occmed/kqn014
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Job stressors of New Zealand dentists and their coping strategies

K. M. S. Ayers1, W. M. Thomson1, J. T. Newton2 and A. M. Rich1

1 Department of Oral Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
2 Department of Oral Health Services Research and Dental Public Health, King's College London School of Dentistry, King's College London, UK

Background Dentistry is understood to be a stressful profession. Although there has been recent research about stress and dentistry in the UK and the Netherlands, little is known about the job stressors and coping strategies of New Zealand dentists.

Aim To investigate job stressors and coping strategies among New Zealand dentists.

Methods A nationwide postal survey of a representative sample of 700 dentists.

Results The response rate was 65%. The most commonly reported stressors were treating difficult children (52%), constant time pressure (48%) and maintaining high levels of concentration (43%). The strategies most utilized for managing work-related stress included interactions with people (78%), sports (64%) and forgetting about work (59%). Dentists who had graduated overseas reported more sources of stress than New Zealand graduates. There were differences in the strategies used by male and female practitioners to manage stress.

Conclusions There is considerable variation in the number of stressors experienced by dentists. Overseas-qualified dentists appear to be under more stress than New Zealand-trained dentists and may need greater professional support. Dentists should be encouraged to make greater use of active coping strategies.

Keywords      dentists; burnout; occupational health; stress; stressors; stress management

Correspondence to: K. M. S. Ayers, Department of Oral Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Otago, PO Box 647, Dunedin, New Zealand. e-mail: katie.ayers{at}mac.com


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