Interventions for stress, burnout, and resilience in dental and oral health students: a systematic review

Abstract

Background Dental and oral health students experience substantial stress, yet the intervention evidence published over the past decade has not been comprehensively synthesized. Methods We searched MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, CENTRAL, ERIC, and PsycINFO for reports published from January 2015 through June 2026. Randomized, non-randomized controlled, crossover, and uncontrolled pre–post studies were eligible if they evaluated an intervention and reported a validated perceived-stress, psychological-distress, burnout, or resilience outcome. Risk of bias was assessed with RoB 2, ROBINS-I, and design-specific criteria for uncontrolled studies. Synthesis followed SWiM and prioritized direction and magnitude, design, sample size, and precision rather than statistical significance alone; certainty was rated with GRADE. Results Fourteen studies from 11 countries reported study sample sizes totaling 750 participants (median 47.5; range 5–120), including 102 participants from one mixed health-professions trial in which dentistry-specific outcomes were not separable; outcome-specific denominators were often smaller. Three were explicitly randomized controlled trials, one quasi-experimental study reported random group allocation, four used other controlled or crossover designs, and six were uncontrolled. Interventions comprised mindfulness or meditation (four studies), coaching/counseling/cognitive-behavioral or psychoeducational approaches (five), movement or sensory/relaxation approaches (three), and resilience training (two). Within-group improvements were common, but comparative findings were mixed: several apparent benefits arose from very small, self-selected, or high-attrition samples. One uncontrolled study (n = 69) directly measured burnout and found immediate reductions in personal and study-related domains, whereas colleague- and teacher-related domains did not change. Long-term follow was uncommon. Certainty was very low for perceived stress/psychological distress, burnout, and resilience. Conclusions Student-facing programs may improve selected short-term perceived-stress, psychological-distress, coping, or burnout outcomes, but durable effectiveness is unestablished. Confidential counseling/referral and brief, supported skills modules appear feasible as evaluated adjuncts; stand-alone digital or sensory interventions and claims of burnout prevention should remain experimental. These programs should not substitute for organization-level prevention. Systematic Review Registration https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD420261449695.