Mental Health of Canadian Dentists Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Objectives: A growing body of literature highlights the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of health care professionals. This paper explores the effects of gender and work/life factors on dentists' mental health before and during the pandemic. Methods: Data were obtained from a cross-sectional, online survey of Canadian dentists, which was part of a broader study of Canadian professionals' mental health challenges conducted in 2020-2021. Using logistic regression, we compared the influence of life stress, work stress, gender and role in practice on dentists' self-rated mental health before and during the pandemic. Results: Respondents reported that their mental health had worsened during the pandemic. Among survey respondents (n = 397), women dentists (50%) reported worse mental health than men (39%). Those who had higher levels of work and life stress reported more mental health challenges both before and during the pandemic. Conclusion: Our findings point to the need for more attention to dentists' mental health and highlight the need for gender-sensitive mental health resources and supports for Canadian dentists.