May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time dedicated to encouraging conversations around mental wellbeing and reducing stigma surrounding mental health. At Bird Smiles Orthodontics, we believe wellness is an important part of caring for both our patients and our team.
This month’s blog post is written by Dr. Katie Clark, one of our orthodontists and an ADA Wellness Ambassador. Through her involvement with the ADA Wellness Ambassador Program, Dr. Clark has become passionate about supporting wellbeing within the dental profession and creating a culture of connection, balance, and support in everyday life.
Caring for Ourselves While Caring for Others
Wellness resonates with me as a way to pursue our healthiest selves mentally, physically, socially, emotionally, and spiritually. By making choices around exercise, nutrition, sleep, stress management, and relationship building, we have the potential to improve not only our health, but the overall quality of our lives.
In healthcare, these conversations are especially important. Dentistry can be an incredibly rewarding profession, but it can also come with significant stress and emotional demands. More than 82% of dentists report experiencing significant career stress, and many healthcare professionals struggle silently with burnout, anxiety and mental fatigue.
These experiences inspired me to become an ADA Wellness Ambassador in 2024. Across the nation, 29 dentists and two family members have participated in the three cohorts of ADA Wellness Ambassadors spanning from 2022 through 2025. This program focuses on destigmatizing mental health among dental professionals and increasing awareness of the resources available to support well-being.
The ADA provides a free Well-Being Index, a risk assessment tool created by the Mayo Clinic to help individuals track their wellbeing over time and connect with personalized resources. They also offer wellness resources and podcasts where fellow practitioners share real life experiences and advice, along with educational resources focused on ergonomics, stretches, and exercises to help keep us physically healthy throughout our careers. Current advocacy efforts are also working to improve the mental health questions within the dental credentialing process so practitioners feel encouraged to seek support when needed, rather than avoiding it out of fear or stigma, including fear of losing their dental license.
Through this experience, I have had the opportunity to connect with dentists throughout the country to share ideas, experiences and strategies for supporting ourselves and one another. We are continuing to bring these conversations back to our local dental community with the hope that we can learn from our shared experiences, support one another, and feel more comfortable asking for help when we need it.
At Bird Smiles Orthodontics, we also try to incorporate wellness into our daily culture in meaningful ways. We begin each morning with team meetings so everyone can start the day feeling connected and on the same page. We celebrate each other’s accomplishments, support one another through personal challenges, and encourage balance when someone needs time to rest and recharge. We also plan “courtyard meetings,” where our team comes together for Pilates and meditation sessions led by our own team members. These moments may seem small, but they help foster connection, reduce stress, and remind us to care for ourselves as intentionally as we care for others.
Mental Health Awareness Month serves as an important reminder that wellness is something we should continue to prioritize, not only for ourselves, but for the people we care for each day, including patients, staff members, and colleagues alike. By focusing on our purpose and building resilience, we can enrich our lives, increase our energy levels, and improve our mental clarity.
Wishing everyone well now and always.
Warmly,
Dr. Katie Clark
Helpful Wellness Resources
• ADA Wellness Resources
• ADA Wellness Ambassador Program
• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
