Why we need to talk about men’s mental health in dentistry

Why we need to talk about men’s mental health in dentistry

Nilesh Parmar explains why men’s mental health is such a crucial conversation to have. Especially in the high-pressure world of dentistry. Speaking on Talk TV last week, Nilesh discussed the difficulties of loneliness within the profession. As well as why we all need to remain compassionate:

Isolated environment

Dentists have been found routinely to have some of the highest suicide rates of any healthcare professional. They are comparable to air traffic controllers for suicide rates. If you look at the reasons why, dentistry in itself can be quite a lonely profession. With dentists working in isolated environments.

If I was given £10 for every patient who came in and told me they hated dentists, I’d be a very, very rich man. It’s something that can play on our minds. Relating this back to International Men’s Day (earlier this month), we know that two thirds of all suicides in 2021 were men, especially between the ages of 40 and 49. So again, that is something that is affecting all of our healthcare professionals, especially dentists.

As a profession, we obviously look at the mouth, but we also look at other areas – we look at the face and the jaw. We spend a lot of time talking to our patients. We have long conversations with them in terms of their behaviour, in terms of their habits, and what’s happening in their lives.

Signs of stress

When it comes to noticing signs of those going through a tough time, I think you look for nuances. Don’t forget, we see patients on a regular basis – a lot of my patients I’ve been seeing for around 10 to 15 years. You get to know them.

You can tell if they’ve been grinding their teeth, for example. Or they may have been brushing their teeth really well for 10 years, and all of a sudden, they turn up and all hygiene is gone.

They may have chipped fillings; they may have marks on the side of the tongue or on the side of the cheek where they’ve been chewing their cheek. That’s a common indicator of stress, and something has happened in their lives.

Checking in

That’s when you have that conversation with your patient. A simple, ‘how are you?’ just listening to them – I find patients one up to their healthcare professionals relatively easily.