Workplace indicators and well-being among oral health professionals in HRSA-funded health centres

Oral health provider well-being is critical to sustaining the HRSA Health Centre (HRSA-HC) workforce, yet limited evidence exists on the drivers of well-being outcomes specifically among dental assistants (DAs), dental hygienists (DHs), and dentists in safety-net settings.

This cross-sectional study used data from the 2022 HRSA Health Centre Workforce Well-being Survey among 2671 oral health providers (DAs = 1385; DHs = 564; dentists = 722). Well-being outcomes for job satisfaction, engagement, and burnout were calculated as mean Likert scores and categorized into tertiles; intention to stay was dichotomized. Descriptive statistics, multinomial logistic regression, and multivariable logistic regression with backward stepwise selection were used to examine associations between 16 well-being drivers and four outcomes separately by provider type.

DHs reported the most favourable well-being outcomes, with the highest levels of job satisfaction, engagement, and intention to stay, while burnout was similar across provider types. Work-life balance, meaningfulness, and professional growth were consistently associated with more favourable well-being outcomes and lower burnout, while workload and moral distress were related to higher burnout and poorer well-being across most provider types. Additional provider-specific drivers were also identified.

These findings underscore the need for both universal and provider-specific organizational strategies to strengthen oral health workforce well-being and retention at HRSA-HCs.