It is often reported that dentists have a high rate of suicide, and this is linked to the stress of working in dental practice. Research conducted by the Black Dog Institute has identified people working in the veterinary, dental, medical and legal professions at higher risk of suicide. Research in Australian dental practitioners found that around 1 in 6 reported thoughts of suicide in the previous 12 months, nearly 1 in 3 had thoughts of suicide prior to the previous 12 months and 5.6% had ever made an attempt to take their own life.

Dentistry is a stressful profession, with stressors including time and scheduling pressures, striving for perfection, fear of litigation, anxious patients, demanding and unrealistic patient expectations (particularly meeting aesthetic needs), business pressures, staffing problems, regulatory demands and negative perceptions of the dental profession. It can also be an isolating profession despite there often being a large number of staff in the workplace.

Many new graduates will be embarking on their first weeks in dental practice, with a range of emotions – excited, scared, anxious and hopeful. It’s important to remember that this is a path well-trodden – every dental practitioner who supervised you at dental school, acted as a mentor or who is now your employer – embarked on this same journey.

Whilst the holiday period is an opportunity for people to unwind and relax, for many people it can be a period of great stress and anxiety. Rather than an opportunity to release the pressure valve, some people put additional pressure on themselves to create the perfect Christmas dinner or holiday experience.

Comparison is the thief of joy. So said Theodore Roosevelt. And he’s got a point. When we compare ourselves to others, using them as a yardstick, it literally steals away the satisfaction we should feel in our own life.

If we consider resilience to be the capacity or ability to recover from difficulties, proactive resilience – or ‘prosilience’ – is the steps we can take to develop, deepen or embed our emotional and mental capacity to recover, before this resilience is needed.

Perfect is the enemy of the good. but knowing when something is good enough can be a challenge.

No-one at the end of their life ever wishes that they had spent more time at work. So don’t.