Young dentists - work, wealth, health and happiness

Objective To determine the relationships between working conditions for new dental graduates and their mental and physical health. Design A cross-sectional postal survey. Subjects Graduates from the years 1991 and 1994 were selected to provide co horts before and after the introduction of mandatory vocational training. A total of 232 graduates were sent questionnaires and 183 replied (77%): 90 men (49%) and 93 women (51%). Setting The cohorts came from all Scottish dental schools. When surveyed in 1996/1997, 66% were working in Scotland and 28% were in England. The rest were elsewhere in the UK or abroad. Measures Measures included a wide range of conditions at work: number of pa tients seen, pace of work, hours worked, attitudes to work, financial arran gements, alcohol consumption, sickness-absence, physical and mental health. Results There were significant differences between those working in general practice and those in hospital in terms of the hours, number of patients s een, feelings of competence and senior support. Methods of payment for trea tment in general practice also revealed differences in perception of work: most pressure at work was associated with part NHS and part private funding . Mental health and alcohol consumption were equivalent to age-matched juni or doctors, but increased psychological symptoms in female,dentists were si gnificantly associated with the number of units of alcohol consumed. Conclusion Selected working conditions are associated with reported compete nce, stress and health among young dentists.