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

Introduction: 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.

Purpose: 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.

Methods: 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.

Results: The results revealed females and younger dental faculty members reported statistically significantly lower levels of wellness (F  = 11.16, p < 0.001, F  = 8.53, p < 0.001), physical (F  = 11.53, p < 0.001, F  = 5.54, p = 0.001) and mental well-being (F  = 12.49, p < 0.001, F  = 8.63, p < 0.001), fulfillment (F  = 5.01, p < 0.003), and higher levels of burnout (F  = 5.53, p = 0.005, F  = 4.85, p < 0.003). Those who expressed higher levels of burnout also had statistically lower mean well-being scores (F  = 10.54, p < 0.001). Females also reported a significantly lower work-life balance score compared to male respondents (F  = 10.37, p < 0.002).

Conclusion: 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.