An assessment of career satisfaction among a group of general dental practitioners in Staffordshire

Key Points Overall job satisfaction among this group of dentists was good. Although stress is a feature of dentistry, many factors contribute to job satisfaction. Job satisfaction may be improved by developing an area of special interest by further training. Increasing the amount of treatment provided privately, and relocating to non-rural locations, may also improve job satisfaction. This would have obvious implications for the future of dentistry in the NHS, and for patients living in rural areas. Objectives To assess the level of job satisfaction among general dental practitioners from one area of England, and to assess the association of various personal and work related factors with job satisfaction. Design Postal questionnaire survey. Setting General dental practices in South Staffordshire, Wolverhampton and Dudley, England. Method An anonymous questionnaire posted to all 396 registered dentists in the above areas. Results A 75% response rate was achieved. Data were analysed using non–parametric statistics for any significant differences in the scores for stress, respect, overall professional satisfaction, quality of life and overall job satisfaction according to the different demographic groupings of the dentists (alpha =0.05). Dentists with an area of special interest had higher scores in all categories except quality of life. Overall job satisfaction was higher among private dentists, and those in group practices and in non-rural locations. The highest bi-variate correlation occurred between overall job satisfaction and overall professional satisfaction, delivery of care, income, respect and professional time. Conclusions Job satisfaction was judged to be good among this group. Stress was the factor associated with the greatest dissatisfaction. This survey produced similar results to preceding US studies, and suggests ways of improving job satisfaction.