Levels of career satisfaction amongst dental healthcare professionals: comparison of dental therapists, dental hygienists and dental practitioners.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the levels of career satisfaction expressed by three professional groups working in dental health: dental therapists, dental hygienists and dental practitioners. BASIC RESEARCH
DESIGN: Level of career satisfaction was assessed using a ten point scale in three surveys. Postal surveys were conducted of all dental therapists and dental hygienists registered with the General Dental Council. Data for dental practitioners were collected as part of the British Dental Association Omnibus Survey 2000. PARTICIPANTS: Data are reported for 227 dental therapists, 2,251 dental hygienists and 970 dental practitioners.
RESULTS: Significant differences were found between groups in the level of career satisfaction expressed. Dental practitioners were less likely to express high levels of satisfaction in comparison with the other two professional groups. Within each group characteristics of the respondents were associated with satisfaction levels. Younger dental therapists and dental hygienists expressed lower levels of career satisfaction. The level of career satisfaction expressed by dental practitioners was associated with gender, place of work (North vs South UK), year of qualification, size of practice and system of remuneration.
CONCLUSIONS: Dental practitioners express lower levels of job satisfaction in comparison to other groups of dental health care professionals. Job dissatisfaction among dental practitioners is related to a number of socio-demographic factors.