The orthodontist burnout

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess whether the Burnout Syndrome is clearly expressed in orthodontic practice and to identify its impact in both general dentistry and orthodontics. Materials and methods: A questionnaire was administered to 366 operators in the dentistry-orthodontic field, hence a multi-factorial statistical analysis based on the multi-factorial method was carried out. Demographic data, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), divided into three subsets, Emotional Exhaustion (EE), Depersonalization (DP), and Personal Accomplishment (PA), and a specific questionnaire for orthodontists were analysed. Results: The analysis of the MBI showed that EE affects only 1/5 of the sample, DP significantly affects only 1/3 of the sample, while the RPA was reported to be low in 2/3 of the sample. General dentists were more affected from burnout as compared with orthodontists. The specific questionnaire highlighted that members of both categories had work-related stress, mostly due to management and financial issues related to the workplace. Conclusions: The research suggested that Italian orthodontists were less prone to Burnout Syndrome compared to general dentists. As life-style has a major impact on the onset of the syndrome, preventive measures and solutions could be useful in order to prevent the symptoms of the Brunout Syndrome. © 2011 Società Italiana di Ortodonzia SIDO.