Stress perception among dentists in Croatia

Introduction: Stress is currently ubiquitous in the modern world and dentists are very susceptible to stress. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate subjective perception of stress in dentists, confirm known correlations between stress and various factors, such as gender, age, socioeconomic level, work seniority, and specialization. Material and methods: The research was conducted through an electronic survey, which was sent via email to 800 addresses of actively working dentists in the Republic of Croatia. The survey was completed by 432 respondents. Results: 91.9% of participants considered dentistry a stressful occupation, 46.1% of respondents believed that practicing dentistry may cause problems in mental health, 93% of participants thought that practicing dentistry can endanger their general health. Regarding working experience, the participants’ group with less than 10 years of experience identified fear of unsuccessful outcomes more frequently compared to their colleagues with more experience. Specialists perceived their health risks as lesser than expected. We found that 77.1% of participants were smokers. Conclusions: Chronic stress remains one of the principal factors contributing to the decline in overall health and mental health among dental professionals. No association was found between gender and stress, or stressor perceptions. In regard to working experience, we found that younger dentists with up to 10 years of experience presented with more fear from unsuccessful outcomes. It was also found that general dentists perceived health risks as greater in contrast to specialists. Male participants reported a much greater frequency of consumption of alcoholic beverages than female counterparts. Also, specialists reported consuming strong alcoholic beverages more than expected.