More than 54% of dental hygienists, dental assistants and associate dentists are affected by burnout, according to a new survey from GoTu, a dental talent marketplace.
The annual State of Work Report was developed through a partnership with the American Dental Hygienists’ Association and collected results from nearly 8,000 respondents.
Even with 82.8% of respondents saying they are planning to stay in dentistry for the next decade, there are still challenges in the workforce.
Here are seven more stats to know about dental burnout:
- More than 54% of respondents across the three roles experienced burnout.
- Dental hygienists had the highest rate of burnout, at 60.6%, followed by dental assistants at 48% and associate dentists at 45.7%.
- Among those who are experiencing burnout, about half of respondents said that it sometimes affects their day-to-day, 22.7% say it often affects them and for 8.4% of respondents, burnout is always impacting them.
- Workload, toxic office culture, physical strain, low pay and lack of growth opportunities were the top five drivers of burnout for dental providers.
- Burnout has had tangible effects on the dental workforce, with 49.3% of burned-out respondents having considered leaving dentistry entirely. Over half have changed offices, 45.2% have left a job and 43.4% have reduced their hours.
- Team support, more time per patient, flexible scheduling, leadership training for managers and mental health resources were a few of the top fixes that respondents feel would actually help with burnout.
- Despite high burnout rates, about three-quarters of respondents have never left the field and less than 1% of respondents left the dental industry and did not return.
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