Is Dentistry Turning into Weary Profession? Dimensionality of Experienced Professional Burnout among Dentists in Central India

Objective: Dentistry has been considered as an inspiring and rewarding profession but it is also equally challenging because of the physical and mental adversity it produces on the dentists. Dentists experience a variety of stressful factors all through their career resulting in professional burnout. The study was conducted to measure the level of burnout and implicated risk factors among dentists working in dental colleges of Central India. Methodology: A total of 178 dentists working with at least 1 year of working experience were invited for the study, with a response rate of 87.5%, a total of 155 dentists participated. Information about demographic and professional details from the dentists was recorded and were also asked to rate the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Results: Mean MBI score was 60.38 ± 9.95. Mean scores for Emotional fatigue, Personal fulfillment, Depersonalization were 24.76 ± 3.99, 19.66 ± 4.29 and 15.94 ± 3.44 respectively. Among 22 factors of MBI Scale, four factors were extracted with eigenvalues above 2.0 by employing Factor Analysis with principal component analysis and varimax rotation. Conclusion: In conclusion, the study highlights that over all burnout among the dentists was low and it was seen that dentists maintained a good relation with their recipients creating a favourable working environment. The study emphasizes the need to appraisal of burnout in diverse professions for a better understanding of personal, social and institutional variables, leading to attenuation of burnout.