The role of ancient Stoics in modern dental assisting

Most dental assistants are trained to manage trays, procedures, sterilization, and patient flow. Few are taught how to manage the emotional weight of modern dentistry.

Today’s dental assistants face increasing workloads from understaffing, emotional fatigue, office stress, patient behavior management, and general burnout. The modern dental office often demands constant multitasking, emotional regulation, and adaptability under pressure. Yet very little formal training addresses how to psychologically navigate these stressors.

Surprisingly, some of the most relevant guidance may come from philosophers who lived nearly 2,000 years ago.

The focus of Stoicism

Ancient Stoic philosophers such as Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius wrote extensively about stress, unpredictability, emotional reactions, difficult people, exhaustion, lack of recognition, and maintaining professionalism under pressure. Their teachings were not about suppressing emotions or becoming emotionally cold. Instead, Stoicism focused on emotional regulation, inner stability, meaning through service, and learning to respond thoughtfully rather than react impulsively.

The word “stoic” may bring to mind the image of an emotionally closed-off, grumpy old man, but that is not what the ancient Stoics taught. They were not advocating emotional numbness; they were teaching strategy. Stoicism did not encourage tolerating abuse or pretending difficult circumstances did not exist. Rather, it emphasized focusing energy on one’s own response and actions when faced with unpredictable situations.

Mastering one’s response to the environment

Dental assistants often work in environments where they cannot control schedules, staffing shortages, patient behavior, equipment failures, office tension, or the emotional states of others. Research has identified a lack of control over one’s work environment as a significant contributor to burnout.¹ Stoicism teaches that peace comes not from controlling the environment, but from mastering one’s response to it.

The philosopher Epictetus, who himself had once been enslaved, taught that much suffering comes from focusing on things outside our control.² For dental assistants, burnout can stem from the lack of control, or autonomy, and the intense pressure to keep everything functioning because the team depends so heavily on them.

It can feel overwhelming to absorb anxious patients, understaffing, coworkers avoiding difficult tasks, treatment delays, or malfunctioning equipment while still maintaining professionalism. A Stoic perspective would encourage the assistant to redirect attention toward what remains within their control: preparation, communication, professionalism, emotional response, and personal boundaries.

I cannot control the circumstances, but I can control my response to the circumstances.

Focusing on what we can control

When we focus on what we can control, we stop absorbing responsibility for uncontrollable outcomes. This creates healthier emotional boundaries and separates our self-worth from workplace chaos.

The emotional labor within dentistry is enormous and often unrecognized, particularly for dental assistants. Emotional labor, a term introduced by Arlie Russell Hochschild in the 1980s, describes the effort involved in managing emotions and presenting calmness or reassurance regardless of personal stress.³ Researchers have linked emotional labor to stress and personal resource depletion across many industries.⁴

For dental assistants, emotional labor may include:

• Creating patient trust
• Calming anxious patients
• Masking personal stress while absorbing workplace tension
• Supporting overwhelmed dentists and coworkers
• Internalizing criticism
• Overidentifying with workplace chaos

At the same time, dental assisting is cognitively demanding work. Assistants constantly shift between multitasking and spatial reasoning chairside during procedures and with lab work, maintaining infection control standards, interpreting clinical information, explaining complex treatment or after-care instructions to anxious patients, and actively observing patient behavior, body language, and medical concerns.

This combination of emotional labor and cognitive complexity can quietly drain mental and emotional reserves.

Protecting well-being without losing compassion

Stoicism offers a framework for protecting emotional well-being without losing compassion. A Stoic approach reminds us: You can care deeply without becoming emotionally consumed.

Marcus Aurelius frequently wrote about duty, contribution, and serving society well.⁵ He emphasized our ability to fulfill responsibilities to others without surrendering our inner stability to circumstances beyond our control. Rather than viewing themselves as “just support staff,” Stoic philosophy encourages dental assistants to reframe their role as health-care providers who reduce pain, calm fears, improve health, and support people during vulnerable moments.

Releasing responsibility for what is outside your control

The Stoics also taught that anger and difficult behavior often reflect distress. Fear, shame, overwhelm, pain, and loss of control frequently drive human reactions. Understanding this does not excuse poor behavior, but it can help dental professionals avoid internalizing every difficult interaction.

When dental assistants learn to release responsibility for what is outside their control, they create space for meaning, emotional boundaries, and greater peace within the workday. This mindset not only protects the individual assistant’s well-being, but also helps preserve the calm, efficiency, and stability that benefit the entire practice.

Most importantly, it allows assistants to go home with more of themselves emotionally intact for their families, relationships, and personal lives.

Before becoming consumed by the external forces of the dental environment, the Stoics might encourage us to pause and ask:

• What is truly worth my energy?
• What actually matters here?
• Are my actions aligned with my values?
• What kind of day do I want to have?

In a profession filled with unpredictability, Stoicism does not promise a stress-free workplace. It offers something more realistic: the ability to remain grounded, purposeful, and emotionally steady while working inside the chaos.

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in Clinical Insights newsletter, a publication of the Endeavor Business Media Dental Group. Read more articles and subscribe.

References

1. Maslach C, Leiter MP. Understanding the burnout experience: recent research and its implications for psychiatry. World Psychiatry. 2016;15(2):103-111. doi:10.1002/wps.20311
2. Epictetus. The Enchiridion (E. Carter, Trans.). Dover Publications; 2008. (Original work published ca. 125 CE).
3. Hochschild, A. R. The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling. University of California Press; 1983.
4. Brotheridge CM, Grandey AA. Emotional labor and burnout: comparing two perspectives of “people work.” J Vocat Behav. 2002;60(1):17-39. doi:10.1006/jvbe.2001.1815
5. Aurelius M. Meditations (G. Hays, Trans.). Modern Library; 2002. (Original work written ca. 180 CE).