Abstract

Objectives: The effect of art painting in reducing stress, anxiety and depression in dentists was sought in this study. Method: Initially the list of artists who were also dentists was obtained from art societies; the names of those with artistic activity were found. We examined 80 dentists (two groups: case and controls, 40 each) from the viewpoint of stress, depression and anxiety. We visited these dentists, collected data relevant to their artistic activity and some demographic data including: age, gender, marital status, engagement in a field of specialty, existence of a stressed and depressed person in the family or history of a tragic event (divorce, death of a family member) in life. Then, a sample was taken from the non-artist group. These two groups were examined using a DASS-42 questionnaire and then the data was statistically assessed by the Mann-Whitney U -test and Chi-Square test. Results: There was a significant difference between the two groups of dentists. Among dentists who had artistic activity (painting), 32 persons (80) had no stress, 40 (100) had no depression and 40 (100) had no anxiety. However, among dentists who did not have artistic activity (painting), 7 (17.5) had no stress, 10 (25) had no depression and 17 (42.5) had no anxiety. Conclusions: Disregarding confounding variables, in this study dentist who did not have artistic activity, had more stress, anxiety and depression than dentists who engage in artistic activity (painting). © 2015, Chevron Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.