Being a dental assistant can be very challenging when it comes to posture and sitting properly. There are several musculoskeletal disorders that can affect your job in the long run. Some so severe you may have to have surgery!! I don’t think we want that.
Dental assistant mostly experience right-sided neck and shoulder pain, also hand and finger pain that is worst in the first and second fingers. If it doesn’t get taken care of immediately, this pain could lead to muscle imbalances, ischemia, nerve compression, or disc degeneration. Structures in the musculoskeletal system can be affected by long-term wear and tear.
Shoulder and neck pain are the most common musculoskeletal disorders one can get. Right sided neck and shoulder pain is one that the assistant is highly prone to developing, and is difficult to avoid. Reason being is frequent reaching across the assistant’s mid-line with the right arm. Neck pain can also be caused by leaning forward with your head bent down for a long period of time.
Dental assistants can also end up with tension neck syndrome also known as (TNS). It results in pain stiffness and tenderness in the neck. With this the symptoms may not always be in the neck. It can occur between the shoulder blades down the arms or up to the base of the skull. Headaches are one of the main symptoms with TNS. The occupation with dentistry, where forward head and shoulders postures are common, predispose workers to a muscle imbalance that contributes to TNS. The imbalances develop between the neck and shoulder muscles that stabilize, and the ones that move.
The delivery of dental care requires excellent endurance of the motor skills for prolonged periods of time. These muscles seem to get tired quickly and start to w...
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...signed job, supported by a well-designed workplace and proper tools, allows the worker to avoid unnecessary motion of the neck, shoulders and upper limbs. Meaning the actual performance of the tasks depends on individuals. Make sure to always observe the workplace. If it looks like it’s an unfit workplace and you can easily get injured. Walk away. There is nothing better than to make sure that your job and health are okay when it comes to the workplace. Great ergonomics means great Workplace.
Bibliography associations, canadian dental assistants. "pain associated with the work of dental assistants causes and solutions." (2008). communications, aegis. "inside dental assisting." fighting plaque with a healthy back (2011). valachi, bethany. "dentistry shouldnt be a pain in the neck." ergonomic and wellness strategies to prevent pain and extend your career (2009).
Jajou, I questioned the maintenance of his career. What I acquired was that dental practices all vary and this question does not have one general answer. Dr. Jajou currently owns his own practice, which means he his in charge of his office and pays his employees making his salary higher than common dentists. Professional organizations and conferences are not important in the overall outlook of dentistry. On the other hand, Dr. Jajou had plenty to say about the technology used in dentists’ offices. Digital dentistry, or the use of dental technologies, involves lasers, digital scanners, and x-ray machines. However, only dental laboratory technicians use this expert machinery. Dentists use drills, mouth mirrors, probes, forceps, brushes, and scalpels on patients. Later, I asked why he is excessively passionate about oral health from seeing how captivated he is to answer my questions. In the same manner he responds describing how oral health is a huge part of overall health because plaque can affect can cause heart problems and other major health issues beyond your
Dental hygiene is amongst many professions that come with an increased risk of injury. In fact, evidence suggests that the incidence of dental professionals acquiring musculoskeletal disorders is reaching 96%. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), these complications are a result of “repetitive motion or awkward posture for more than 2 hours at a time, unassisted frequent manual handling (eg, scaling an area using the same strokes), and unassisted forced manual handling (eg, heavy calculus removal using hand-activated instruments)”. These complications not only affect the quality of life for the
We have all had those dentist or orthodontist appointments that were a complete nightmare. Getting poked, jabbed, and pinched in the mouth. Well, I have been thinking since I have had this experience and wouldn’t want anyone else to go through that. Maybe I could become an orthodontist and ensure to my patients that these problems do not happen. I enjoy helping people that I don’t know and being as precise as I need to be, to be an orthodontist. Though I have never had any experience at all with any of this, that is what school is for. I realize that being an orthodontist is the best career choice for me.
Based on the initial pain medicine evaluation report dated 06/22/15, the patient complains of constant neck pain which radiates down to the bilateral upper extremity, fingers and hands. Pain is accompanied by intermittent tingling and numbness in the bilateral upper extremities to the level of the fingers and muscle weakness. The neck pain is associated with occipital, temporal and frontal headaches and muscle spasms in the neck area. The patient describes the pain as aching, burning, pins and needles, sharp, and stabbing. The pain is aggravated by activity, flexion/extension, prolonged sitting, pulling, pushing, repetitive head motions and standing. She also reports severe difficulty in sleep.
The duties of a dental assistant are among the most comprehensive and varied in the dental office. The dental assistant performs many tasks requiring both interpersonal and technical skills. Obviously, they assist the dentist during
Phillips, C. (2009). The Cost and Burden of Chronic Pain. British Journal of Pain, 3(1),
The NDI has shown to be reliable and valid for patients with neck pain. Because patients with cervical radiculopathy frequently presents with neck pain and as no other outcome tools has been shown to be superior to the NDI for use with patients with cervical radiculopathy, NDI has been included as one of the health outcome assessment tools.11
There are a few things that are very important for a dental assistant to know: dental terminology, instrument names, how to perform daily tasks, how to have positive int...
There is a very high prevalence of these disorders in both dental hygienists and dentists. It is not centered on dental hygienists alone. Some other musculoskeletal disorders experienced are tendonitis, neuropathy, and tension neck syndrome and trapezius myalgia. MSD pain and neuropathy in hygienists alone ranges from 60% to 96%. These disorders arise from certain issues in positioning as well as heavy workloads and exertion in awkward postures. The most affected muscle tends to be the Trapezius because that’s where most of the work load is centered when working on patients (Morse et al, 2007). When working on the maxillary arch, it is the most difficult to position one in a successful ergonomic position. It causes the hygienist to lean and stretch forward. One of the biggest causative factors for bad positioning involves the misuse of the operator chair. If the operator is sat too high it can cause falls, if it is too low it can cause slouching as well as knee or back pain. Another causative factor in these disorders is not having the patient work with the hygienist. The patient can also move their heads in any direction unless they have neck or shoulder issues or are impaired (Valachi, 2012). In the article, Local anesthetic Syringe Ergonomics and Student Preferences, the authors stated “It has been hypothesized that dentists and dental hygienists have heightened risks for wrist deviations
As we were talking you could tell that she loves her job, but I also wanted to hear about the negatives. She says that she hasn’t experienced much negatives with the job other than small signs of carpal tunnel right in the beginning because of the repetitive movements that she does throughout the day. When her jobs gets too routine my dentist allows her to work as a fill in for the dental
(To have a real insight into the daily duties of a dentist, I set aside a period of time last summer where I could acquire some work experience.) I spent 2 weeks at a local general practice offering both private and NHS treatment. I witnessed the close relationships to which the dentist had created with his patients, personally I find meeting and working with new people on a daily basis provides quite a fun stimulating aspect to this career. Whilst shadowing my dentist I witnessed a number of complex procedures such as a dislodged wisdom tooth extraction and many root canal fillings. My experience at this practice showed me that dentistry is a career that is heavily dependent on dentist-patient interactions, alongside other collaborating staff to ensure the correct treatment is given in an efficient and effective manner. I also spent a week at my orthodontist, it was here that it became apparent to me the real extent to which dentistry
Dental assistants mainly help as BLS states, “Dental assistants provide support to dentists as they work on patients.” (“Dental Assistants.”). Dental assistants help the doctor work on the patient's mouth. Sometimes the doctor tells the assistants what to do and the assistant does most of the work and the doctor will come back after the work is done to check the patient's mouth.
The duties of a dental assistant vary from what state or dental office they are employed in but most of the time, their duties are the same throughout any office. They are among the most
Working as an esthetician gave me the confidence that I wanted to work with my hands. Having the privilege of being raised in a family of doctors, my observations of family members in the health field grew into a passion of my own to help others. This desire to help others, coupled with my academic interest in the sciences and love of human interaction, led me to consider dentistry for a career. I personally felt the imperative need of dentistry through my father, who received serious inju...
AS a dentist one should be strongly determined to devote selflessly for the betterment of mankind .Patient usuall...