Citation Information :
Madhamshetty V, Aravelli S, Nimeshika R, Penigalapati S, Veeramachineni C, Swetha K. Occupational Noise-induced Hearing Loss among Dental Professionals: An In Vivo Study. World J Dent 2024; 15 (1):64-67.
Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate sound levels generated in the Departments of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Prosthodontics, and Periodontics and to find out if the continuous high-frequency noise generated by dental armamentarium could damage the dental professionals hearing efficiency.
Materials and methods: A total of 30 randomly selected dental practitioners from different specialties and 30 individuals in a control group who had no history of noise exposure were evaluated for their hearing capacity. The sound levels generated in the various departments were evaluated by decibel (dB) meter and the participant's hearing capacity was evaluated using an otoscopic examination, pure tone audiometry, and brainstem evoked response audiometry (BERA) test. Wilcoxon test was used to assess the significant difference between the dentists and the control group.
Results: Sound levels generated in the department of periodontics were higher than in other departments. Around 20% of the study sample, or six dental practitioners, exhibited signs of hearing impairment; however, the qualitative analysis showed that the dentist's group had a greater percentage of hearing loss than their control groups in the pure tone audiometry test.
Conclusion: The study shows that when dental professionals are exposed to noise in the workplace, the suddenness and frequency of noise occurrence, produce a significant influence on dental professionals.
Clinical significance: As dental professionals are exposed to constant noise generated by the various dental equipment there might be an occupational hazard of these continuous exposure to long duration of high frequency sounds. So, the usage of protective equipment will help in preventing noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL).
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