Burnout is a well-documented phenomenon in the literature of organizational behaviour and industrial psychology. Currently, it is being recognized in many other fields. As far as we know, the concept of burnout has not been applied in the context of the patient-doctor relationship. Orthodontics is a specialty in dentistry in which long-term patient cooperation is a major factor affecting treatment success. This article attempts to discuss some dominant burnout models taken from organizational behaviour and industrial psychology and apply them to orthodontic patient non-cooperation. Stressor characteristics, the burnout process and the burnout psychological syndrome are described. Means of identifying potential burnout patients, and preventing this phenomenon are discussed. This model is proposed as applicable to other fields of medicine where long-term patient-therapist interaction is required.