Divorce Among Dentists and Physicians: Is More Couples Therapy Needed?

An interesting article titled “Divorce among physicians and other healthcare professionals in the United States: analysis of census survey data,” by Ly et al. appearing in BMJ (350: h706; 2015) discusses some rates of divorce among physicians and dentists compared with other professions in the United States of America. The authors were motivated to perform the work because it has been speculated that long hours and unpredictable work hours often worked by doctors leads to more divorces. In the study the authors looked at data by the US Census Bureau from 2008 to 2013. The data included age, sex, race, current marital status, occupation, annual income, and weekly hours usually worked. The authors included only those who were ages 25 or greater. Physicians, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, lawyers, and healthcare executives were identified based on a self reported occupation. The sample included … Read more

Can Bad Dental Heath be Affecting your Marriage or Love Life?

It is no secret that poor dental health is a deal breaker when it comes to dating. Even those already in relationships could be affected if their dental health goes downhill. According to a survey conducted by Delta Dental Plans Association, 27% of women and 22% of men say they will break up with someone who doesn’t brush their teeth at least twice a day. Furthermore, 40% of women and 20% of men say they will break up with someone if they found out they are using their toothbrush. Even more telling is that 67% of women and 60% of men will break up with someone who has poor oral health hygiene. The study was conducted between December 16, 2015, and January 14, 2016, and is believed to be from a representative sample of Americans with a margin of error … Read more

Will Dental School Debt Lead to Future Counseling?

Future dentists these days are being subjected to large amount of loans that are necessary as a part of dental school. This topic has been covered a bit before on this site, see for example http://blog.teethremoval.com/medical-school-student-costs-in-the-u-s-are-affecting-mental-health/ and http://blog.teethremoval.com/medical-students-are-at-risk-for-suicide/. This topic has also been recently discussed on the American Dental Association (ADA) Viewpoint and Letters to the Editor. In an April 18, 2016, letter titled “Dental student loan debt” Dr. Sparkman from Texas said If most dental students today are borrowing over $200,000 to get out of dental school then I have part of the solution in three words. Get a job. Dr. LeMert a 2009 dental school graduate from the state of Washington took issue with this position and found Dr. Sparkman’s position laughable.  He said in a May 16, 2016 letter titled “Dental school reality” Dental school itself was a 60 hour/week … Read more