ArticleSensors (Basel, Switzerland)2022
A RULA-Based Comparison of the Ergonomic Risk of Typical Working Procedures for Dentists and Dental Assistants of General Dentistry, Endodontology, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and Orthodontics.
Article in Sensors (Basel, Switzerland), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Transparency as a Means to Analyse the Impact of Inertial Sensors on Users during the Occupational Ergonomic Assessment: A Systematic Review.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Pooled it
- Article
- Ergonomic Risk Assessment of Professional Dance Using Motion Capture with Ergonomic Evaluation by the Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA).Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Work related musculoskeletal stress among residents of internal medicine on cardiological wards in their daily working practice - a kinematic and ergonomic analysis.Journal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England) · 2025Article
- 2D Pose Estimation vs. Inertial Measurement Unit-Based Motion Capture in Ergonomics: Assessing Postural Risk in Dental Assistants.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- A new approach for the implementation of ergonomics in sonography to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders (ErgoSon).Journal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England) · 2025Article
- The Role of Chair Design in Dental Ergonomics: A Kinematic Assessment of Movement and Ergonomic Risk.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Posture analysis during tooth extraction.BDJ open · 2025Article
- Effect of fence tray matching care on excess adhesive and bracket placement accuracy for orthodontic bonding: an in vitro study.BMC oral health · 2024Article
- Ergonomic Analysis of Dental Work in Different Oral Quadrants: A Motion Capture Preliminary Study among Endodontists.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Ergonomic interventions and endodontic treatment outcomes: An analysis of dentist working posture and error rates.The Saudi dental journal · 2024Article
- Wearables for Monitoring and Postural Feedback in the Work Context: A Scoping Review.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Evaluating the Dental Hygienists' Exposure to the Risk of Musculoskeletal Disorders.European journal of dentistry · 2023Article
- Testing the Level of Agreement between Two Methodological Approaches of the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) for Occupational Health Practice-An Exemplary Application in the Field of Dentistry.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Home office versus ergonomic workstation - is the ergonomic risk increased when working at the dining table? An inertial motion capture based pilot study.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn general, the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD) in dentistry is high, and dental assistants (DA) are even more affected than dentists (D). Furthermore, differentiations between the fields of dental specialization (e.g., general dentistry, endodontology, oral and maxillofacial surgery, or orthodontics) are rare. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the ergonomic risk of the aforementioned four fields of dental specialization for D and DA on the one hand, and to compare the ergonomic risk of D and DA within each individual field of dental specialization.
methodsIn total, 60 dentists (33 male/27 female) and 60 dental assistants (11 male/49 female) volunteered in this study. The sample was composed of 15 dentists and 15 dental assistants from each of the dental field, in order to represent the fields of dental specialization. In a laboratory setting, all tasks were recorded using an inertial motion capture system. The kinematic data were applied to an automated version of the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA).
resultsThe results revealed significantly reduced ergonomic risks in endodontology and orthodontics compared to oral and maxillofacial surgery and general dentistry in DAs, while orthodontics showed a significantly reduced ergonomic risk compared to general dentistry in Ds. Further differences between the fields of dental specialization were found in the right wrist, right lower arm, and left lower arm in DAs and in the neck, right wrist, right lower arm, and left wrist in Ds. The differences between Ds and DAs within a specialist discipline were rather small. DISCUSSION: Independent of whether one works as a D or DA, the percentage of time spent working in higher risk scores is reduced in endodontologists, and especially in orthodontics, compared to general dentists or oral and maxillofacial surgeons. In order to counteract the development of WMSD, early intervention should be made. Consequently, ergonomic training or strength training is recommended.
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