By Sara Jalloul, Orthodontic Therapist & Student Dental Therapist
Moving away from self-blame
Too often, clinicians experiencing burnout interpret their symptoms as a personal failing. They may feel weak, inadequate, or “not cut out” for the profession, which can delay help-seeking and deepen distress. This is a misframing. Burnout is a predictable occupational hazard when high demands are combined with insufficient resources, support, and control, exactly the conditions that UK dental professionals have been navigating for years. [1] [2]
Reframing burnout as a workplace and systems issue, rather than a purely individual problem, is essential. Just as we investigate and address root causes when a clinical error occurs, we must look upstream at workload, culture, and organisational factors when staff wellbeing is compromised.
Wellbeing as a safety-critical priority
When viewed through a risk-management lens, burnout’s relevance to patient safety becomes unmistakable. Unchecked burnout acts as a latent safety threat, quietly weakening defences and making errors more likely. Protecting clinician wellbeing is therefore as critical to patient safety as robust infection control or radiation protection measures. [6]
Every complaint avoided, every error prevented, and every experienced colleague retained saves time, money, and, most importantly, patient trust. Investment in wellbeing infrastructure is not a luxury or a “nice to have”; it is a strategic choice that underpins quality, safety, and the long-term sustainability of our services. [7]
A shared duty of care
Wellbeing should no longer be seen as a private, after-hours “self-care” matter that individuals are expected to manage alone. It is a shared professional responsibility that calls for action from regulators, indemnity providers, educators, practice owners, and every member of the dental team. [4]
Regulators can continue to develop supportive, proportionate responses to concerns about health and performance. Indemnity organisations and professional bodies have also begun to take important steps in this space, providing resources, training, and direct wellbeing support for their members. For example, some indemnity providers offer access to confidential counselling services and wellbeing resources, alongside funding research initiatives, such as those delivered through the MPS Foundation, aimed at improving clinician wellbeing and advancing safer patient care.
Educators can help students and trainees develop skills in reflection, boundary-setting, and help-seeking from the outset of their careers. Dental hygiene and therapy programmes, in particular, have a role to play given the evidence that DHTs in England report wellbeing levels below the general population and high levels of anxiety. [11] Practices can build cultures where talking openly about workload and stress is as normal as discussing a complex clinical case. [4] [7]
Looking ahead
As I embark on my journey into dental hygiene and therapy, after 15 years working across dental nursing, technology, and orthodontics, I am convinced that the future of dentistry depends not only on clinical innovation and technique, but on the resilience and health of the people delivering care. We cannot remove all pressures, but we can manage the risk.
That means:
- Recognising burnout early in ourselves and others.
- Supporting each other through honest conversations and practical adjustments.
- Embedding wellbeing into systems, policies, and leadership decisions.
- Valuing a healthy workforce as the foundation of safe, effective, and compassionate care.
Because ultimately, a healthy clinician is the bedrock of safe, high-quality patient care – and the most important asset any dental practice has.
References
[1] Collin, V., Toon, M., O’Selmo, E., Reynolds, L., & Whitehead, P. (2019). A survey of stress, burnout and well-being in UK dentists. British Dental Journal, 226(1), 40–49. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2019.6
[2] Dental Protection. (2025, February 26). Two-thirds of dental professionals burnt out and exhausted. Medical Protection Society Limited. https://www.dentalprotection.org/uk/articles/two-thirds-of-dental-professionals--burnt-out-and-exhausted
[3] Knights, J., Young, L., Humphris, G., & Newton, T. (2025). Me, we, they: identifying the key stressors affecting the dental team – findings from the MINDSET UK Survey 2023. British Dental Journal, 239, 196–202. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-025-8645-z
[4] General Dental Council. (2021). Mental health and wellbeing in dentistry: A rapid evidence assessment. GDC. https://www.gdc-uk.org/about-us/what-we-do/research/our-research-library/detail/report/mental-health-and-wellbeing-in-dentistry-a-rapid-evidence-assessment
[5] World Health Organization. (2019, May 28). Burn-out an occupational phenomenon: International Classification of Diseases. WHO. https://www.who.int/news/item/28-05-2019-burn-out-an-occupational-phenomenon-international-classification-of-diseases
[6] Hodkinson, A., Zhou, A., Johnson, J., Geraghty, K., Riley, R., Zhou, A., Panagopoulou, E., Chew-Graham, C. A., Peters, D., Esmail, A., & Panagioti, M. (2022). Associations of physician burnout with career engagement and quality of patient care: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ, 378, e070442. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2022-070442
[7] Dental Protection. (2019). Breaking the burnout cycle: keeping dentists and patients safe. Medical Protection Society Limited. https://www.dentalprotection.org/docs/dentalprotectioninternationallibraries/dpl-publications/ireland/1907310561-ire-dp-burnout-policy-paper.pdf
[8] Evans, D., Mills, I., Burns, L., Bryce, M., & Witton, R. (2023). The dental workforce recruitment and retention crisis in the UK. British Dental Journal, 234(8), 573–577. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-023-5737-5
[9] Cameron, J., Hannon, L., Keeton, R., McMullan, R., Nayee, S., O’Connor, R., Shirlaw, P., & White, S. (2021). New mental health and wellbeing resource for the dental team launched. British Dental Journal, 230(3), 120. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-021-2685-9
[10] Plessas, A., Paisi, M., Bryce, M., Burns, L., O’Brien, T., Witton, R., & Hanoch, Y. (2022). Mental health and wellbeing interventions in the dental sector: a systematic review. Evidence-Based Dentistry, 23(4), 90–98. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41432-022-0831-0
[11] Hallett, G., Witton, R., & Mills, I. (2022). A survey of mental wellbeing and stress among dental therapists and hygienists in South West England. British Dental Journal. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-022-5357-5