Dental problems: occupational diseases in dentists

Rarely does anyone think about how stressful and hard work is. dentist. When we go to an appointment with a doctor, we are worried about our diseases, we do not even know how much energy is taken by dental treatment and what risks the health of the doctor himself is exposed to.

Treatment rooms, despite the fact that they are equipped according to the sanitary-epidemiological requirements, are not ideal. Small deviations from the norm of working conditions accumulate over the years and adversely affect the physical and psychological state of the doctor.

Occupational diseases in dentists

Any profession has its pros and cons. Dentistry is a branch of medicine that has long been considered profitable, but it also has a downside - it is the professional diseases of the dentist.

Dupuytren's contracture

The disease affects people who work with hard instruments for a long time. These are builders, lumberjacks, dentists. It is not surprising, but the doctor's iron tools touch the same place of the palm, the phalanges of the fingers, day after day.

Over time, in places that are constantly in contact with the forceps, the tips form nodular seals, leading to contracture (narrowing) of the joints. Fingers, nails, constantly experiencing pressure, are deformed, cannot fully unbend / bend, lose sensitivity.

Tenosynovitis

The main instrument of the doctor is his hands. Every year they are in prolonged, sometimes forcedly unnatural positions.

Due to frequent tension, the joint capsule of the tendons is overstrained, its blood supply is disrupted, and pain syndromes appear.

Often the doctor does not pay attention to pain, continuing to work.

He associates pain with overexertion, which disappears after finishing work, but only at the first stage of the disease.

If not diagnosed and treated in time, the disease becomes chronic, and in tandem with Raynaud's disease (violation of blood supply, symmetric limited blood flow through the vessels) can lead to disability.

The upper limbs are not provided with blood, oxygen, building material, the fingers turn pale, always cold, less mobile.

Vibration effect

Drills, the mechanisms of rotational action of dentists little resemble jackhammers, but their effect on the body is no less harmful. The dentist uses the working tool constantly, which means that vibration and hum accompany him all day. If we add to this a static load, mental stress, then persistent pathological disorders develop, flowing into vibration disease.

The main reason is that with constant vibrations, changes occur in the receptor apparatus and the nervous system. Muscles, ligaments, bones, joints are injured. In parallel, the work of the vascular system is disrupted, the biotone of the capillaries changes.

Static stress

The dentist's job involves static stress. The daily change requires concentration, a certain position of the arms, head, torso. At first glance, the dentist does not make physical efforts, however, holding objects in the same position, maintaining the body at a certain angle to give a working posture requires increased muscle work. Try to raise your arms at shoulder level and you will realize that it is better to perform any action with them for ten minutes than to leave them in a fixed position.

Blood circulation in the clamped parts of the body becomes difficult, oxygen in the cells becomes less, the body automatically begins to save it, switching to anaerobic supply, in which milk is accumulated acid. After relieving tension in the static parts, blood flow increases sharply. This uneven load leads to musculoskeletal disorders.

Musculoskeletal disorders

Despite the ergonomic medical furniture, many dentists prefer to get closer to the patient. Due to the limited space around the treatment chair, they have to turn their foot outward.

In this position, the weight of the body rests on the inner part of the foot and, over time, leads to its deformation and dislocation. The main load falls on the right leg (left, if the doctor is left-handed), the leg presses on the thigh, while the knee turns inward, completely changing the position of the hip joints.

Such a daily stance shifts the pelvic muscles and leads to curvature of the spine. Add to this the bending of the body, the load on the muscles of the back, neck, where oxygen is supplied more slowly due to the redistribution of blood. There are headaches, dizziness, and the internal organs are gradually squeezed on one side and diverge on the other. In female doctors, the pelvic organs are affected. Compression and displacement of internal organs lead to enteroprosis, gastritis, dystonia.

Causes of Dentist Stress

In Russia, unfortunately, statistics on the psycho-emotional state of doctors, even if there are, are not available. In North America, a large-scale study was carried out among medical personnel and obtained the data is such that it is worth considering (Forrest W.R. Stress and self destructive behaviors of dentists // Den. Clin. Nort. Am. - 1978. 22. - P. 361—371; Powers W.G. et al. Stress in dentistry: A survey of military dentists // Dent. Surv. — 1980. — 56 (4). - P. 64—68; Waddington T.J. New stressors for GDR's in the past 10 years // British Dental Journal. — 1996. Vol. 182. — № 3. - R. 82—83).

Dentists:

• 2.5 times more often therapists suffer from psychoneuroses;
• 3 times more likely to commit suicide among people of non-working professions;
• 1.25 times more suffer from cardiovascular diseases, heart disease.

Several graphs used in the work of S.V. Melnikova. "Sociological analysis of professional stress factors of dentists at an outpatient dental appointment "(Modern medicine: topical questions: Sat. Art. by mater. XIV int. scientific-practical conf. - Novosibirsk: SibAK, 2013):

What are the reasons for such deplorable statistics?

1. Closed space. An ordinary dentist works in a small office with the lights on, which creates the illusion of a constant lack of light. At the same time, the work requires accuracy, concentration, responsibility. As a result, after a while insomnia appears, fatigue accumulates - all this leads to stress, professional burnout.
2. Competitiveness. The market always responds to demand, and as long as the population has dental problems, dentists will not be left without work, but... To provide for a family, you need to be a highly professional doctor, build a clientele, be the best among many others. Highly competitive struggle does not imply free time and sincere conversations with colleagues.
3. Financial resources. It costs money to become a good specialist, and this is not only a medical institute - it is constant refresher courses, seminars that allow you to keep up with the times. Therefore, before you earn capital, you have to invest a lot of money, then return it to the bank and only then work “for yourself”. You can quickly pay off only by working 12 hours a day, which has a deplorable effect on the physical and emotional state of the dentist.
4. Lack of demand. This is not about dentists being unemployed. Dental treatment in all countries is an expensive pleasure. Each patient, not knowing all the nuances of the work, asks for one thing - “cheaper”. As a result, in order to satisfy the patient's material needs, the doctor chooses a simple, cheap, not always effective treatment plan. Over time, interest in learning something new in their industry is lost, because the patient will appreciate only the cost of services, and not the virtuosity of the work.

Countermeasures to problems

The work of a dentist brings material and moral satisfaction when a person does his job and harmoniously fits the work into his life. To minimize physiological and psychological problems, it is necessary to adhere to simple, time-tested rules for organizing working hours:

• work only on schedule;
• do not start your working day with difficult cases;
• take a 10-minute break every 2 hours;
• leave at least 3 minutes between patients to "take a breath";
• do not forget about a 30-minute lunch, during which you need not only to eat, but also to ventilate office, do a few simple exercises (squatting, raising on toes, swinging hands, deep inhale). The exercises are aimed at restoring blood circulation and relieving muscle tension.

Despite the busy work schedule, days off and vacations are necessary for any person, but self-criticism and self-criticism will only complicate life. Do not forget about a balanced diet, the absence of bad habits. Introduce swimming, fitness into your life, and do not forget that life is not only work!