Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37682842›Full record

SynthesisOccupational medicine (Oxford, England)2023

Systematic review of hearing loss in dental professionals.

J C Hartland, G Tejada, E J Riedel, A H-L Chen, O Mascarenhas, J Kroon

Open access · hybridAbstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Occupational medicine (Oxford, England), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
1.8field-weighted citation impact, top 16% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Article
  3. 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 · 2026
    Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. 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 · 2025
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

J C HartlandSchool of Medicine and Dentistry, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland 4222, Australia.
G TejadaSchool of Medicine and Dentistry, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland 4222, Australia.
E J RiedelSchool of Medicine and Dentistry, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland 4222, Australia.
A H-L ChenSchool of Medicine and Dentistry, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland 4222, Australia.
O MascarenhasSchool of Medicine and Dentistry, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland 4222, Australia.
J KroonSchool of Medicine and Dentistry, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland 4222, Australia.ORCID 0000-0001-7247-0894
Griffith University · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundHearing loss leads to increased irritability and disengagement in social activities and conversations, which may impact quality of life. Dental professionals are at risk of developing hearing loss through daily exposure to noise from a wide range of equipment that produces significantly high decibels and noise frequencies.

aimsThe aim of this systematic review was to investigate the risk of hearing loss in dental professionals, including dentists, dental specialists, dental hygienists and dental assistants.

methodsThis review was conducted following the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews. PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Cochrane, Science Direct, Google Scholar and ProQuest were searched up to March 2023. Seventeen of 416 studies met the inclusion criteria. Quality assessment was performed according to the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale for cohort and case-control studies, and a modified version of this tool for cross-sectional studies.

resultsThe majority of included studies (82%) found a positive association with hearing loss for dentists and dental specialists, with years of clinical experience identified as a prominent risk factor. Dental hygienists and dental assistants were less commonly reported in the literature. Difference between the left and right ears was found in 71% of studies, with the left ear more affected in both dentists and dental assistants due to proximity to the noise-inducing equipment.

conclusionsDental professionals are at risk of hearing loss in their workplace, especially linked to years of clinical experience, which highlights the need for prevention and appropriate ear-protective devices.

Indexed as

DentistsHearing LossHearing Loss, Noise-InducedNoise, OccupationalOccupational DiseasesHumansOccupational ExposureRisk Factors

Identifiers

PMID37682842
PMCPMC10588782
OpenAlexW4386564187

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.