Occupational Health Problems in Modern Dentistry: A Review

Abstract

Despite numerous technical advances in recent years, many occupational health problems still persist in modern dentistry. These include percutaneous exposure incidents (PEI); exposure to infectious diseases (including bioaerosols), radiation, dental materials, and noise; musculoskeletal disorders; dermatitis and respiratory disorders; eye injuries; and psychological problems. PEI remain a particular concern, as there is an almost constant risk of exposure to serious infectious agents. Strategies to minimise PEI and their consequences should continue to be employed, including sound infection control practices, continuing education and hepatitis B immunisation. As part of any infection control protocols, dentists should continue to utilise personal protective measures and appropriate sterilisation or other high-level disinfection techniques. Aside from biological hazards, dentists continue to suffer a high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD), especially of the back, neck and shoulders. To fully understand the nature of these problems, further studies are needed to identify causative factors and other correlates of MSD. Continuing education and investigation of appropriate interventions to help reduce the prevalence of MSD and contact dermatitis are also needed. For these reasons, it is therefore important that dentists remain constantly informed regarding up-to-date measures on how to deal with newer technologies and dental materials.

Musculoskeletal neck and back pain in undergraduate dental students at a UK dental school — a cross-sectional study

“…This inverse relationship between age and musculoskeletal pain has also been noted in a number of other studies, 11,16,25 with a suggested hypothesis being that more experienced dentists have developed techniques and adopted their work posture to minimise the impact of musculoskeletal pain. 4 An alternative explanation in this population is that more senior students may have been less keen to report pain since they felt that it may have been associated with repeated poor posture whilst treating patients. It is also interesting to note that the relative impact of pain was greater for more senior students, even though the actual reported pain scores themselves did not vary.…”

“…It is not improbable that whilst practitioners do experience problems, many either adapt or find ways to manage their problems 4 with only a few ultimately being forced to consider other career options.…”

Analysis of spine loads in dentistry—impact of an altered sitting position of the dentist

“…The deviation from neutral zero was very small in TS and higher in CS and LS. The frequently postulated assumption that dentists work in a sewer bended and twisted posture [8,11] could not be confirmed. During 90% of the non-surgical treatments the combined postures ranged between "small" and "medium" deviation from neutral zero.…”

“…Moreover, Wunderlich et al [10] could estimate that about 80% of the affected German military dentist population occupy medical help to deal with the pain. These data indicate that back pain is a major health problem for dental practitioners and methods are needed objectifying the causes and to identify appropriate intervention strategies [11]. With regard to ergonomic improvements studies indicated that a specific treatment position ("9 o'clock" vs. "12 o'clock") or a specific dentist's stool directly affects the impact on the spine and the dentist's health [8,12].…”

Posturedontics in dentistry: A review

“…When the body is repeatedly subjected to such prolonged static postures (PSP), it results in pain, injury, or career ending MSD. MSD has an impact not only on the physical but also on the psychological and social aspects of the practitioners (Leggat et al, 2007;Alexopoulos et al, 2004). Work-related MSD in severe cases results in frequent absences and finally to early retirement.…”