Ergonomics, Dental Work, and You

January 31, 2022

LumaDent Marketing Team

This information applies to our TRADITIONAL Galilean and Prism Loupes. Our new ErgoPrism® Loupes take ergonomics to the next level. To learn more about ErgoPrism Loupes, head over to this page.

‍

Ergonomics is all about achieving efficiency in your working environment. It involves your body’s biomechanical design, what equipment you choose, and most importantly, your posture. Understanding and practicing good ergonomics and balanced posture is the key to preventing cumulative musculoskeletal problems and maintaining quality of life.

The prevalence of neck pain among dentists is around 70% and musculoskeletal disorder causes almost 30% of dentists to retire early. Magnification loupes that are set to your correct working length and head-mounted illumination profoundly influence good posture.

The aim of dental ergonomics is to optimize your work in two areas; firstly your clinical proficiency in access, visibility, and control within the oral cavity; and secondly your physical and psychological comfort while you work. Poor ergonomics leads to fatigue, pain, stress, and poorer quality of work. Good ergonomics has been proven to increase circulation, energy, and comfort. Good posture reduces muscular tension, pain, and clinical errors.

Ideal working posture

Balanced posture is symmetrical. Avoid deviating from the recommended balanced posture, for instance by leaning over to one side, lifting elbows or shoulders, or poor positioning of the patient in the chair. Good ergonomics also requires some body movement. Prolonged, static working stances can cause muscle ischemia and musculoskeletal problems. You should avoid positions and work practices that induce static isometric muscle contraction by moving around a little; take short breaks and do stretches between patients. Chairside stretching is an important strategy to use throughout the workday to prevent microtrauma and muscle imbalances. Other helpful ergonomic factors are a chair with arm supports, a titled seat base, or a saddle-type chair. Breaking up your day between sitting and standing posture while working may also help prevent stiffness and muscle pain.

Proper patient positioning is crucial, but only get the patient into position once you’ve settled into your ideal balanced posture. Pay attention to your own comfort and beware non-neutral postures such as flexing and twisting your torso. Leaning your head persistently to one side risks developing trigger points in the scalene muscles, which can refer pain to distant parts of the body. Poor lighting creates shadowing and can force clinicians to adopt contorted positions in order to see poorly lit areas of the working field. Positioning your illumination is therefore important for your vision and posture. While overhead chair lights are better than no illumination, light that parallels your line of sight eliminates shadowing and improves posture, i.e. a head or loupe-mounted LED light.

How LumaDent can help you

LumaDent loupes immediately set your correct working length and magnify what you’re looking at. The marked improvement in posture when wearing dental loupes is immediate. Dentists and hygienists under 40 years old can increase seeing fine detail in the operating field by bringing their head closer to the patient – this is disastrous for spine health. It’s common to see dental and hygiene students hunched over just a few inches from their patient’s face. Magnifying loupes remove the need to move in closer and bend the neck and back.

Most dentists and hygienists over 40 years old are affected by presbyopia. As the eyes age the lenses progressively become more crystalline, which decreases their ability to focus on close objects (accommodation). They can’t bring their head in closer to magnify an object. Magnifying loupes increases older practitioners’ visual acuity and solves the problem of limited close-focussing ability and the need to bend the neck and hunch the back.

With the back straight, the neck within acceptable flexion limits (<20º) and using magnification loupes, a dental LED light is also essential for ergonomics; it’s important to adequately illuminate the working field with shadowless light. A LumaDent headlight system further prevents back, neck and shoulder pain by eliminating the need to reach and adjust an overhead light.

Benefits of ergonomic posture