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CC BY 4.0 · Eur J Dent 2023; 17(02): 439-449
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1745769
Original Article

Occupational Physical Hazards and Safety Practices at Dental Clinics

Abdulaziz Alamri 
1   Department of Preventive Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University, Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
,
Mahmoud Fathy ElSharkawy 
2   Department of Environmental Health, College of Public Health, Imam Abdul Rahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
,
Dalal Alafandi
3   Department of Dental Clinics, the Armed Forces Hospitals, Dharan, Saudi Arabia
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Abstract

Objective Worldwide, dentistry is known as a high-level occupational hazard profession. Dental staff is usually exposed to several types of hazards which include chemical agents, physical, psychological stress, and workplace violence, biological and ergonomics. The objectives of this paper were to assess levels of occupational hazards and evaluate safety practices at dental clinics.

Materials and Methods At several dental clinics, levels of noise, lighting, and radiation were measured by recommended instruments and the safety practice was evaluated using a validated and reliable questionnaire (during 3 months of 2020).

Results The mean levels of noise ranged between 46.3 and 67.2 dB, while the noise dose percent (noise exposure level) ranged between 60.7 and 77.6 dB. The mean levels of lighting ranged from 236.3 lux in the X-ray room to 1,080.3 lux in the dental laboratory. The mean levels of radiation ranged from 7.8 to 12.1 µrem. The mean levels of the three physical hazards were lower than their permissible levels at all locations.

Conclusion Levels of noise in dental clinic were affected by the change in the work activities, while this factor has no effect on the levels of lighting and radiation except for certain processes. The demographic variables such as gender, specialization, and the average number of patients showed a significant association with physical hazards, safety practices, while there was no significant association with radiation protection.

Keywords

noise - radiation - lighting - dental clinic - safety practice - maximum permissible value

Ethical Approval

The approval for this study was taken from Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University and armed force hospital eastern region institutional review board. Each participant was provided with information about the study and the purpose of the study before filling the questionnaire. Besides, consent was taken from each participant in the armed force hospital. All the aspects of the subjects were kept confidential and used only for the study purpose.




Publikationsverlauf

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
21. Juni 2022

© 2022. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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