A systematic review of dentists' psychological wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Brett Lefkowitz; Jonathan Houdmont; Alec Knight

doi:10.1038/s41415-023-6232-8

A systematic review of dentists' psychological wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Br Dent J. 2023 Sep 4. doi: 10.1038/s41415-023-6232-8. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Brett Lefkowitz¹, Jonathan Houdmont², Alec Knight³

Affiliations

¹ School of Life Course and Population Sciences, King´s College London, London, SE1 1UL, United Kingdom.
² School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, B Floor, Yang Fujia Building, Jubilee Campus, Wollaton Road, Nottingham, NG8 1BB, United Kingdom.
³ School of Life Course and Population Sciences, King´s College London, London, SE1 1UL, United Kingdom. alec.knight@kcl.ac.uk.

PMID: 37666986
DOI: 10.1038/s41415-023-6232-8

Abstract

Background The COVID-19 pandemic presented significant challenges to healthcare workers worldwide, including the effect on the psychological wellbeing of dentists.Aims To evaluate the impact of the early phases of the pandemic on the psychological health, long-term wellbeing and clinical service provision of dentists, as well as the identification of the key risk and protective factors for adverse mental health outcomes (MHOs) in this group.Methods A systematic review of cross-sectional studies (n = 53) from public and private dentistry sectors was employed to delineate the risk and protective factors for adverse MHOs.Results Self-reports from these studies (1 December 2019 to 31 December 2021), involving 45,671 dentists worldwide were analysed. Study findings were classified according to their psychological impact (as risk or protective factors), categorised as 'operational' or 'organisational' and subdivided into 'psychosocial', 'occupational', 'sociodemographic' and 'environmental' elements. A GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations) certainty of evidence score was calculated for all the identified factors.Conclusions This review confirmed the negative impact of the pandemic on the MHOs of dentists worldwide. Pivotal risk factors included fear of infection, transmission to families, lack of personal protective equipment and possible direct contact with infected patients. Enhanced infection control protocols, individual resilience and organisational support were identified as important protective factors.