Are we well? A post-pandemic snapshot of dental educator wellness, well-being, and fulfillment.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented changes to oral care and dental education delivery. To date, the vast majority of studies focus on the impact COVID-19 had on the well-being and wellness of patients, practitioners, and students; however, limited literature addresses the pandemic's impact on dental educators. The aim of this study was to investigate the wellness, well-being, and fulfillment of dental educators in the years following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Following Institutional Review Board approval, an anonymous electronic Qualtrics survey was emailed to full-time and adjunct faculty across five (5) dental education institutions in the US. Faculty self-reported on their wellness, general well-being, physical well-being, mental well-being, fulfillment, and work-life balance. Group differences were examined using analysis of variance and the Tukey-Kramer test for multiple comparisons at the p<0.05 level. The results revealed females and younger dental faculty members reported statistically significantly lower levels of wellness (F2, 123 =11.16, p<0.001, F3, 121 =8.53, p<0.001), physical (F2, 123 =11.53, p<0.001, F3, 121 =5.54, p=0.001) and mental well-being (F2, 123 =12.49, p<0.001, F3, 121 =8.63, p<0.001), fulfillment (F3, 121 =5.01, p<0.003), and higher levels of burnout (F2, 123 =5.53, p=0.005, F3, 121 =4.85, p<0.003). Those who expressed higher levels of burnout also had statistically lower mean well-being scores (F4, 119 =10.54, p<0.001). Females also reported a significantly lower work-life balance score compared to male respondents (F2, 121 =10.37, p<0.002). Despite the social and environmental challenges faced over the last couple of years post-pandemic, dental educators demonstrate a quick ability to adapt, however, disproportional differences in gender and age groups were identified as being significantly correlated to dental educators' self-reports on wellness, well-being, and fulfillment. Insight into these variables can help inform strategies in the academic setting to help support and strengthen the academic workforce.