A recent study from Kings College London’s Dental Institute has been published in the British Dental Journal that reveals dental student undergraduates are already experiencing neck and back problems.
This suggests that the problems dentists encounter related to posture can begin quite early on in a professional career. To what extent can the latest dental units help to alleviate them?
The Pain Threshold
Lower back pain, the Kings College study suggests, strikes early with dental students. If you think about the whole physical side of being a dentist, it’s not surprising that it comes with certain risks associated with long-term posture problems.
Chronic neck and back pain are established as problems associated with dentistry, due to prolonged periods of time fixed positions, or from poor posture habits that become ingrained in how a person works.
Dental schools are now urged to place greater emphasis on posture and on the self-help measures dentists can take in order to avoid developing chronic pain and permanent damage, which might then curtail a career in dentistry.
Alongside these educative measures are practical, technical aids, such as loupes, that can help with oral examinations with magnification and therefore help ease the burden on a dentist’s posture.
But can the actual design of dental chairs help protect dentists’ postures?
Active in the Comfort Zone
Cleary, dental units are primarily designed as tools in dental work, and what comfort they offer, for example memory foam in certain models, is often aimed at the patient’s experience.
However, there are now growing numbers of models that stress the ergonomic benefits for the dentist. Morita’s Spaceline EMCIA promotes and a healthy posture; and the whip arm delivery of the SIGNO G10 II S allows for much more flexibility of movement.
“Anything that enables and encourages dentists to be able to exploit their own space better is more likely to contribute to improved posture,” Pete Higson of RPA Dental Equipment states.
You could also argue that by assisting a dentist’s posture, dental treatment units can also contribute to the overall standard of treatment a dentist offers. More flexibility for the dentist is likely to mean a more relaxed environment for patients, and therefore a better experience all round.
Other models, like the ambidextrous Puma ELI is part of this development whereby dental chairs are increasingly adaptable to the individual dentist’s needs, thereby greatly enhancing the opportunities for dental professionals to work with less physical constraints, and ultimately, without injury to themselves.
“It’s really unfortunate if dentists have to curtail their careers due to long-term health problems associated with bad posture,” Pete Higson points out. “Improved technology is changing dentistry all the time for the better, and this extends to dental units and how they offer an improved experience for patient and dentist alike.”
