The effect of stress management training on the mental health status of dentists in the city of Isfahan, central Iran

Dentistry is among the most stressful professions. Active dentists may probably experience higher degrees of stress than the normal population. Former studies have shown that occupational health disorders are sensibly more common among dentists. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of stress management training on the mental health status of dentists in the city of Isfahan. During the job training program, a group of 40 dentists with an average score of 221.22 on the mental health questionnaire, SCL90 were chosen. They were randomly put into two equal case and control groups. Those in the case group received a group training program for stress management in 8 separate sessions. Each session took one hour. The collected data were then analyzed using SPSS software. Stress management training could improve dentist's mental health status. It could especially reduce physical complaints alongside a variety of anxiety disorders such as obsessive compulsive, depressive and aggressive disorders (p value < 0.01). Some disorders such as panic, paranoism, interpersonal conflicts and psychosis did not show any significant changes between the case and the control groups. It seems that getting help from psychologists and psychotherapist can improve dentist's lives and lessen their physical and mental disorders.