Assessment of occupational noise‐related hearing impairment among dental health personnel

Background Dental professionals are exposed to either high level of noise which often becomes annoying over a time, and it is largely related to turbines and suctions used during the procedure. We performed this study with an aim to examine the occupational noise related hearing impairment among dentists and to know the need for efforts to reduce its impact on young dentists. Methods The study group comprised of 102 dentists (53 males and 49 females) final year dental students, interns and board students of family dentistry, endodontics, prosthodontics was enrolled between the age of 22 years to 33 years having a mean age of 25.60 years. The sound level meter is switched on to know the base noise level in the clinics and to know hearing ability of the dentist through a pre – recorded verbal communication. When the dentist starts the procedure, the same verbal communication is re-introduced and based on his reaction the decibel level is increased to a point where he can understand it. The same is followed after the procedure. Results Using T – test the age and gender mean was assessed, while ANNOVA test was used to know the hearing impairment and its mean before, during and after procedure. We have found that before the procedure has started the mean general sound level in the clinics is 61.70 dB while during the procedure this mean sound level rises to 73.38dB suggesting there is an imminent increase of sound during the procedure and thereby associated impairment as males had a hearing mean of 58.37dB before the start of procedure which increased to 63.36dB during the procedure and after the procedure the mean is 61.91dB; while for the females it was 58.60dB before the start of procedure while during the procedure the mean increased to 64.51dB and after the procedure the mean is 61.03dB suggesting an eminent impairment in the hearing ability even though the procedure is completed. Discussion and Conclusion We have highlighted few guidelines from various studies which range from reducing multiple turbine usage at a given point of treatment wherever possible to a recommendation to use ear plugs for those procedures related to high noise levels. Although there are few noise cancellation devices in the market, dental professionals need something that is specific to their requirements, because commercially available products are built and developed for other purposes. Our study was not able to highlight which procedures have a greater noise impact to suggest specific recommendations.