How to reduce stress in your practice through wellness.

A dental practice is a challenging work environment where stress and burnout are serious concerns. You can be proactive and support your team’s well-being by implementing a few simple dental practice wellness initiatives. You’ll be surprised by the impact these changes will have on team morale and productivity.

1. Encourage Regular Breaks

For your practice to succeed, you want to bring out the best in your team. However, overworking your staff can affect their performance. Watch for signs that your team is becoming stressed. If issues arise, make sure everyone is taking regular breaks.

Many states have passed laws requiring breaks and a dedicated lunch period. Even if your state hasn’t, you should know that short breaks can improve workflow. Instead of pushing your team at a rapid pace, allow for buffer time throughout the day to provide some much-needed rest.

Breaks aren’t enough on their own, however. To effectively combat dental practice stress, your team needs a relaxing and functional space to recharge. Your break area should have comfortable seating and amenities, such as a fridge and a coffee machine.

2. Offer Flexible Scheduling

Scheduling is a major challenge, no matter how large or small your practice is. Variability in patient demand, hiring challenges, and other factors can make it hard to properly manage your staff’s schedules. 

However, strive to offer flexible scheduling and accommodate your team whenever possible. This promotes a healthier work-life balance, which is critical to keeping your team happy and productive.

Many employees appreciate being scheduled on rotating shifts, for example. Working the same shifts all the time can make it difficult to find time for various errands, activities, and recreation. 

Other employees prefer flexible schedules that allow them to carry out outside responsibilities, such as childcare. Collaborate with your staff to develop a solution that works for everyone.

3. Promote Physical Wellness

Dental practice stress isn’t just about the workload. Physical wellness also plays a major factor in stress. Encouraging your team to stay physically active can help them manage overall stress, along with offering many other health benefits.

Yoga, stretching, and light exercise are great ways to stay healthy, both physically and mentally. You can encourage your team to engage in these activities briefly throughout the day to relieve tension and boost energy. Make a space available for this, and consider creating an area for outdoor breaks if it’s practical in your location.

You can also support your team outside of work hours with wellness programs and other perks. Incorporating these into benefits packages will also help improve staff retention. Offering free gym memberships is a common example. In fact, many gyms offer discounted rates for business benefits packages.

4. Provide Mental Health Support

Stress isn’t just a bad day—prolonged stress contributes to long-term mental health concerns, which can lead to a vicious cycle of increasing stress. Mental health support is sometimes required for effective stress management.

If you include mental health resources in your employee benefits packages, your team will have easier access to critical support. An employee assistance program (EAP), for example, can provide a lifeline when a team member is in crisis. If you offer an EAP, make sure every employee knows how to access it.

When you evaluate health insurance plans for your employees, review the provider’s mental health coverage. Look for a plan that covers most or all of the cost of therapy and counseling services.

Stress management workshops are another resource you can consider implementing for your team. Overall, it’s best to foster a supportive environment where your team members feel safe. You want them to discuss issues such as stress openly and honestly.

5. Organize Team-Building Activities

Team-building activities can improve morale and productivity, reduce dental practice stress, and promote teamwork. You can work with a professional team-building company for a staff outing, or organize an activity yourself. Just about any cooperative activity can become effective team building.

Taking part in a collaborative and engaging activity together builds stronger relationships and helps your team members feel more comfortable with you and with each other. Of course, these fun activities are just great for blowing off a little steam and taking a reinvigorating break from an often challenging job.

Building a Healthier and More Productive Team

A healthy, stress-free team is good for both your business and your patients. The right dental practice stress management strategies will go a long way toward supporting the long-term success of your practice. Learn how to tackle stress at work and other practical challenges of running a practice by joining the American Orthodontic Society, a network of over 1,500 like-minded dentists. Register now to start your membership.