Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to explore how practice-owner dentists in Korea experience burnout, how it intensi fies, and how they ultimately recover from it, using a phenomenological approach. Materials and Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with twelve practice-owner dentists who had expe rienced both burnout and subsequent recovery. Interview data were analyzed using Colaizzi’s phenomenologi cal analytic method to extract meaning units, formulate themes, and identify the essential structure of the lived experience. Results: Analysis revealed a three-stage experiential trajectory: 1) a discrepancy between idealized expectations and the realities of clinic operation, 2) a deepening and collapse of burnout characterized by emotional, physical, and relational deterioration, and 3) a recovery phase involving self-care, environmental adjustments, social sup port, and identity reconstruction. Triggering events – including challenging patients, legal threats, staff conflicts, and health issues – frequently intensified distress and precipitated an existential crisis. Conclusion: Burnout recovery among practice-owner dentists emerged as a transformative process in which in dividuals reinterpreted burnout as an opportunity for self-reflection and reconstructed a sustainable professional identity. These findings underscore the need for personal coping strategies, practical training, and structural sup port systems to mitigate burnout within this professional group.(J Korean Dent Assoc 2026; 64(3): 63-76