Dentistry & Oral Health

Objective: Dentists are exposed to musculoskeletal disorders, which are related to the work environments. Th e objective of this survey is to determine the prevalence of MSD among dentists in Lebanon. Materials & Methods: A questionnaire was distributed by the authors to the participants during the congress of the Lebanese Dental Association in September 2013. Th e recorded data was analyzed with SPSS 20. P-value<0.05 was considered to be statistically signifi cant.

Results: 219 dental practitioners participated in the study of which 92.7% suff ered from MSD and 40% had a prevalence of at least one MSD symptom over the past 12 months. Most common areas aff ected by MSD in order of magnitude were low back (61.8%), neck (51.5%), shoulders (39.5), fi ngers (14.1%), wrist (11.8%), and elbow (8.6%). Neck pain was related to the working hours per day. Females had a higher frequency than males in the most area. Permanent pain is inversely proportional to the physical activity. Conclusions: High prevalence of MSD exists among our dental practitioners aff ecting the daily practice. Further studies are needed to identify the specifi c risk factors for MSD so as to introduce eff ective remedial measures.