The practice of dentistry: an assessment of reasons for premature retirement

Aim: To assess reasons for premature retirement among practising dentists and to evaluate their association with occupational stress.Design: Retrospective analysis.Setting: Records from one organisation operating in the private medical sickness industry in the UK.Materials: Reasons for premature retirement of 393 dentists due to illness between 1981 and 1992.Results: The most frequent causes of premature retirement were musculoskeletal disorders (29.5%), cardiovascular disease (21.1%), and neurotic symptoms (16.5%), 82.7% of cases examined were in the > 50 years age group.Conclusions: Musculoskeletal disorders and stress related illnesses were the two most important groups which influenced premature retirement