This research focuses on the dental care provided by dental care professionals and on how their work and wellbeing is affected by governance decisions and commercial pressures.

Dental care is one of the pillars of a healthy population. Most research in dental health has primarily focused on the impact of population dietary habits and lack of knowledge of dental health. This research instead focuses on the unique demands experienced by dentists in the health care profession.

The study is timely and crucial as it interlinks a number of issues affecting the dental care profession. Dentists are professionals that have a primary responsibility of care for the dental health of their patients. Yet the commercial and managerial pressures experienced by dentists, together with issues related to stress and wellbeing in a profession with greater levels of burnout compared to similar forms of work, could present a tension that affects the quantity and quality of dental care provision.

By highlighting professionals’ wellbeing and values, businesses concerns, and care practices through systematic and robust research, appropriate policy solutions, information, and advice can be developed.