Key determinants of health and wellbeing of dentists within the UK: a rapid review of over two decades of research

Abstract

© 2019, British Dental Association. Aim To review the key determinants of health and wellbeing among dentists working in the UK. Methods Rapid review of the literature (1996-2018) across seven health and social science databases through OVID and the Cochrane Library, professional and health system sources. Records were screened according to agreed inclusion and exclusion criteria by title, abstract and full text. Data extraction and qualitative synthesis of the included studies were performed. Quality assessments for risk of bias were made using a mixed methods appraisal tool. Results Thirty-eight studies met the criteria for inclusion. Fourteen were assessed as high, 22 as medium and two of low quality, most involving cross-sectional research in the form of questionnaire surveys. Whereas overall, the health and wellbeing of dentists within the UK is reported as 'good', recently published evidence suggests a less positive view may be emerging. The health and wellbeing of dentists is associated with a wide range of factors: personal, professional career, relationships, job specification, workplace and system. Emerging evidence suggests additional concerns about the regulation of dentistry. Workplace characteristics were most often explored among researchers and reported as being a key issue. Conclusion Evidence highlights multiple determinants of health and wellbeing, most notably related to workplace characteristics; however, while there is a relative lack of well-founded prospective research investigating the nature and direction of the relationships and comparison across UK health systems, there is increasing evidence of health and wellbeing concerns that require further investigation.