Abstract
Background and Objectives: Work - related musculoskeletal disorders, particularly on the neck and upper limbs, are common among dentists. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in dentists who practice in Tabriz and risk factors associated with these symptoms.
Materials and Methods: A total of 97 dentists were participated in this cross-sectional study. All the participants were interviewed using a self- administered questionnaire containing data on occupational, life-style and presence site and characteristics of pain. Then the data were gathered and the prevalence of the mentioned parameters and the relationship between the qualitative variables in the questionnaire were analyzed statistically.
Results: The results of this study revealed that 63.2% out of men and 85.7% out of women had musculoskeletal disorders and there was a significant difference between male and female dentists in this regard (p=0.05). However 32% out of the participants had no pain. On the whole, the most common symptoms were neck pain (66.6% in women and 60.4% in men), followed by back pain (22.9%) in male and wrist pain (50%) in female dentists. In this study musculoskeletal disorders did not show any statistically significant association with employment time and weekly working hours and dominant hand. In 11.3% out of participant, these symptoms led to work off.
Conclusion: Within the limits of this study it can be concluded that the musculoskeletal troubles have a high frequency among the dentists. Dentists usually remain on a prolonged uncomfortable postures and high static muscle load in the neck and back and extremities such as neck flexion and arm abduction etc. which may imply a risk for development of the troubles. Thus we presume that the avoidance of prolonged unsuitable positions and postures will decrease static muscle activity and the risks of occupational musculoskeletal disorders for dentists.
MJTUMS, NO. 64, 34-39, 2005