Mental health issues among dental professionals during pandemic peaks

A new U.S. study has revealed the extent of anxiety and depression among those in the dental profession when COVID transmissibility was at its height.

Published in both issues of The Journal of the American Dental Association and the Journal of Dental Hygiene and available online at JADA.ada.org, and reported on by News Medical: Life Sciences, the study showed how the pandemic weighed upon those in the dental profession when lockdowns often meant practices could not open or if they could, were severely curtailed in the treatments they could offer patients.

Evaluating the responses of 8,902 dental health workers between June 2020 and June of the following year, the study found that "17.7% of dental health care workers reported anxiety symptoms, 10.7% reported depression symptoms, and 8.3% reported symptoms of both."

While dental hygienists reported increased incidents of depression compared to dentists, their rates relative to dentists declined in 20221 with June 2021 witnessing the two groups more or less equal on 12.4% and 11.8 respectively.

Speaking about the findings, author Stacey Dershewitz, J.D., Psy.D., Adjunct Professor of Clinical Psychology and Director of the Center Clinic at the George Washington University Professional Psychology Program, observed that “dental health care workers reported lower rates of anxiety and depression symptoms than the general public, despite being on the front lines and providing oral health care during the pandemic."

"As the pandemic continues, it is critically important that dental health care workers continue to develop their ability to recognize and address signs and symptoms of mental health conditions within themselves and their colleagues, promote healthy work environments, reduce the impact of stress on the profession, and make supports accessible to those who are struggling emotionally."

Part of an ongoing collaboration between the American Dental Association (ADA) and the American Dental Hygienists' Associations (ADHA), it is hoped, says JoAnn Gurenlian, R.D.H, M.S., Ph.D, A.F.A.A.O.M., Director of Education and Research, American Dental Hygienists' Association that the study is “is just the first of many steps in monitoring mental wellness of the entire oral care team.”

For more on this story, go to “Dental health care workers report anxiety and depression symptoms during peaks of the pandemic”