Could Your Dentist Be Suicidal?

A rumor starting way back in the 1920s speculated that dentists are the one health care profession that produces more suicides than any other. However, about fifty years later this myth came to scrutiny as due to lack of actual evidence. But, if you know the old saying about myths is the come from some little shred of truth. They just have been misinterpreted by others and snowball into a big ball of disbelieve. However, let’s take a look at some of the truths behind the dental industry and what factors may cause dentists to be more prone to suicidal thoughts than your average person.

One of the most obvious factors that comes to light when you look at a dentists average day compared to someone else in the medical field is dentists spend the majority of their daytime operating in small rooms. Most of these rooms have no windows, they are just big box like fixtures. In addition, their work space in generally confined to the oral cavity of their patients. This calls for constant meticulous operation. These conditions scream immense mental wearing.

Next, when you look at the way a dentist works, it’s usually bend over the mouth of their patient to help them get a brighter smile. These cleans and operating procedures, such as a root canal, can take up to several hours of sitting in the same forward position. Fatigue, back pain, and circulatory disorders can arise from the multiple hours spend in an uncomfortable position. At the end of the day, according to a recent study by the American Dental Association, dentists reported feeling emotionally, physically, and mentally drained. And as an added issue here, many dentists work alone or with just one assistant. This means lack of peer support while working.

Zooming out of the actual work and thinking on a more business scale level, dentists are under constant pressure from their economic state. Many people who train for dentistry spend years at a college racking up thousands of dollars of student debt. This provides pressure on anyone who has studied at a recognized and expensive school. In addition, many who proceed into being a dentist usually partner up or open their own practice.

This means they are spending a great deal of money installing their private clinics. For dentists particular starting out can be a great burden. They will give up their lunch breaks and off hours to squeeze in more dental appointments to gain more money to pay off their immense amount of debt. Also there are outside factors that cause this financial problem as at home teeth whitening kits are being sold. This means that dentists are losing out on teeth bleaching they do in their office. This leads to more stress and less relaxation. Also patient anxiety can take its toll on dentists as well. These tolls come in the form of increased heart rate, sweating, anxiety, and higher blood pressure.

When you think of the dentists office most of us tend to become stressed. We don’t like someone prying around inside our mouths and causing us pain. For this reason dentists often get a bad rap from the earliest age of their patients and that bad sense follows them throughout their adult lives. This makes dentistry not always one of the favored professions. This can take a toll on the dentist as well constantly practicing a profession that many people dislike.

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