How To Recognize When Your Dental Practice Team Is Struggling

A dental practice is a high-pressure environment, even when everything is going well. So if your team faces additional challenges without the right resources at their disposal, they can quickly become frustrated. This leads to work dissatisfaction, and patient care can suffer as a result.

Fortunately, you can take action by watching for these 4 key signs that your team is stressed and overworked.

1. Behavioral Signs

Running your practice successfully means not only being a good dentist but also being an effective team leader. You should always watch for behavioral signs that could indicate something is wrong.

Irritability and short tempers are among the most prominent signs of stress. Seemingly minor inconveniences can turn into major hurdles, lowering morale and hindering productivity.

First look to address any inefficiencies and shortcomings in your practice operations. Then, supporting your team with training on stress reduction, mindfulness, and other techniques can help tremendously.

Not everyone reacts to stress the same way. You could find that some team members withdraw when stressed, isolating themselves and not participating as much in team activities. This disconnect can impact patient care, which is a highly collaborative effort. So focusing on team-building activities and communication-skills training is a good way to protect your team against this issue in the future.

2. Physical Signs

Stress can manifest itself physically, leading to a variety of symptoms. If you’ve noticed a spike in sick days among your team, it could be stress related. When stressed, the immune system becomes less effective, making the body more susceptible to all kinds of illnesses.

Physical exhaustion is a common side effect of stress and overwork. You may notice persistent tiredness, heavy eyelids, or a sudden decrease in energy and enthusiasm. This is a serious problem in a dental practice setting. Supporting your team with effective wellness programs goes a long way in remedying this. Offer your team information on work-life balance and self-care strategies. When you provide your team with sufficient benefits and additional wellness perks, you can support their overall health and help them avoid stress over medical concerns.

3. Performance-Related Signs

Stress impacts the quality of work your team provides, which eventually leads to lower-quality care for patients. Always watch your team carefully to ensure that stress isn’t impacting their ability to fulfill their roles properly.

You can reduce the impact of the challenging dental practice environment by focusing on targeted training for time management and task prioritization. These methods help avoid overwork, ensuring that your team is always ready to deliver their best.

Missed deadlines and poor time management can seriously impact scheduling and administrative efficiency. Providing your team with the tools they need to tackle these challenges as productively as possible is vital. Ensure that they have the skills they need, along with current software, to streamline workflows related to scheduling and administrative tasks.

4. Emotional Signs

Stress affects every aspect of a person’s well-being, including their emotional health. You may notice team members showing signs of anxiety or depression, such as persistent worrying or disinterest in work and other matters. These can affect both their work and personal lives.

Mental health awareness is important in any work environment, and dental practices are no exception. Make sure that your team has access to appropriate resources to face these challenges and that you take steps to create a supportive environment.

If your team often complains about their workload or work-life balance, it can indicate a misalignment between team capacity and expectations. Periodically review your workload and staffing needs to ensure that they match, and offer the necessary training for your team to succeed within their roles.

Take steps to support your dental practice team.

Taking proactive measures whenever you notice signs of stress will boost morale and empower your team to provide better care for your patients. One of the best ways you can prevent an overworked team is to invest in continuing education.

Better prepare your team to face the challenges of a growing practice by helping them develop the right skills and experience through orthodontic CE courses for general dentists and assistants. Through these courses, you can give your team the foundation they need to tackle challenges of all kinds, along with a sense of meaning and progression in their careers.

Regular training for your team will enhance skills, reduce stress, and improve overall job satisfaction. The American Orthodontic Society provides a variety of continuing education opportunities for dentists and their teams. Browse our course catalog to find courses and orthodontic seminars for general dentists and assistants today.