ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2021
Noise Disturbance and Potential Hearing Loss Due to Exposure of Dental Equipment in Flemish Dentists.
Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic review of hearing loss in dental professionals.Occupational medicine (Oxford, England) · 2023Pooled it
- Effects of dental noise on dentists' performance and stress responses: a randomized crossover trial.Journal of occupational health · 2026Trial
- Occupational noise effects on hearing thresholds, speech perception, and self-reported hearing abilities in young adult dental hospital personnel.Arhiv za higijenu rada i toksikologiju · 2026Article
- Noise Exposure in a Dental Teaching Hospital: Investigations and Recommendations for Dental Personnel.European journal of dental education : official journal of the Association for Dental Education in Europe · 2026Article
- Risks and Awareness of NIHL Among Dental Students: A Scoping Review.Health science reports · 2026Review
- Occupational diseases in dentistry: Prevention.Journal of clinical and experimental dentistry · 2026Review
- Evaluation of noise exposure and acoustic discomfort in a university dental hygiene clinic.Canadian journal of dental hygiene : CJDH = Journal canadien de l'hygiene dentaire : JCHD · 2025Article
- Occupational diseases among dental personnel: a scoping review.Journal of medicine and life · 2025Article
- Tinnitus Prevalence and Associated Factors among Dental Clinicians in the United Arab Emirates.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- The Effect of Sound in the Dental Office: Practices and Recommendations for Quality Assurance-A Narrative Review.Dentistry journal · 2022Review
- Article
- Evaluation of Noise in Paediatric Dentistry and Change in Perception of Operators with Use of Ear Protection Devices.Noise & healthArticle
- Should Dentists Mandatorily Wear Ear Protection Device to Prevent Occupational Noise-induced Hearing Loss? A Randomized Case-Control Study.Journal of International Society of Preventive & Community DentistryArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Long-term exposure to occupational noise is often associated with noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) among dentists. This study aims to investigate potential hearing loss (HL) and self-reported annoyance as a result of exposure to noise produced by contemporary dental equipment.
methodsThree cohorts participated: 53 dentists with more than 5 years of service, 47 dentists with at most 5 years of service, and 53 pharmacists as controls, age and gender-matched to the first group. After the exclusion of one person, the hearing of 304 ears was screened with the Flemish version of the digit triplet in noise test (DTT). If screening failed, otoscopy and pure tone audiometry (PTA) were performed for both ears. Furthermore, general information, knowledge, exposure, annoyance, general health, and preventive measures were assessed with a custom-made questionnaire.
resultsNIHL did not occur significantly more often with dentists than with controls. However, dentists revealed a significantly higher annoyance (related to the noise from their equipment) and reported more complaints than the pharmacists. All three groups indicated lack of knowledge on hearing care.
conclusionsWhile noise levels in contemporary dentistry are not harmful and do not induce NIHL, the sounds emitted by the devices are disturbing and affect mental health. This study calls for increased awareness of the consequences of sound exposure and stresses the need to monitor and protect the hearing of dentists regularly.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.