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.