Stress Fatigue and Ergonomics in Dentistry

The objective of this study was to evaluate the intensity of pain suffered by Dental personnel, identify the variables related to the occurrence of musculoskeletal symptoms, and establish possible preventive measures for such disorders. A cross-sectional study was made among students and faculty members from different postgraduate courses of various dental hospitals between March and April 2009. A total of 74 dentists (54 postgraduate students and 20 faculty members) were asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire containing 19 questions. Most of the dentists (79.8%) had experienced some kind of musculoskeletal pain in the last 6 months. On comparing the different locations of pain, the neck was found to be the most commonly affected location (58%of all subjects). A higher frequency of intense pain involving cervical, lumbar, dorsal and wrist area was seen in women (p<0.05). Professionals dedicated exclusively to oral surgery had higher incidence of wrist pain (p<0.05). No statistically significant correlation was found between the workload (hours) and pain in the different anatomical locations (p>0.05). The implementation of preventive measures is necessary, in view of the high incidence of these disorders