Potential health hazards in dentistry (back, shoulder, wrists)? - worries from a pre-dent

[TheMission]

Hello! I am a prospective dental student. I pretty much have my heart set on dentistry. However, there is one thing that may be holding me back. And that is back problems. I've had them for a while now, and I just finished about 20 total hours of shadowing thus far at a local dental clinic. By the end of the day (which was only 4 hours of shadowing), my feet were really tired, and my back was really achey. I'm receiving some physical therapy right now to help stabilize my back more and such.

For those who have been through or are still in dental school, how were the ergonomics? Did you all feel like the school was able to accommodate for the potential occupational hazards? My dentist that I'm shadowing graduated from Tufts about 10 years ago and has been practicing since then. I noticed he would always massage his traps after a procedure in which he was sorta hunched over. I asked him about it and he said that the mirror gets splashed on by debris during fillings, so he just directly hunched over and looks at the tooth. During cleanings, he tends to stop and stretch his wrist before continuing too. These are signs that are already happening 10 years into his career. Is this something that dentists just end up going through? Granted, there are ergonomic techniques...but someone fill me in here? If I have a bad back, will dentistry just suck a whole lot? I was thinking of probably specializing in radiology if I had the choice (my general plan is to be a GP though), in order to not have to sit in a chair all day or physically strain myself in the long run. I also think radiology is cool and I like anatomy, so there's that too. Thanks for the insights.

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[flurocore]

He can simple blow some air and water on the mirror, no need to hunch over patients to look at a tooth with proper magnification/loupes. Occasionally you may have to get in there to see something and an occasional "hunch" may be warranted. Dentistry aint easy though, and it can take a toll on your back and wrists if you aren't careful. Learn early to sit up straight and good ergonomics and you'll be alright. Work out, take care of yourself, do some back exercises - it can be easily managed. If your back is in bad shape now, it may be wise to consider something else.

 

[Zagaza]

Depending on your technique, you may run into back,wrist,leg issues.Standing during strenous extractions, legs falling asleep, even noise from the handpiece.Some of these things affect people, but i cant say for the majority of dentists.Plan on good techniques and invest in good massage therapy whatever it is.

 

[tooth knockn]

Don't forget catching HERPES, and or HEPATITIS , and or HIV, and or TB. Plus colds!

BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN PUTTING THE CAP ON THE NEEDLE after injecting. Cover your mouth and nose with new pt. especially!

 

[yappy]

Learn how to hold instruments using proven ergo techniques. Adjust your patient, light, and chair to your ergo position. Buy loupes. Eat healthy & exercise [in a healthy-lower-risk manner]. If you do those thing you'll greatly reduce your risk of developing problems. If stuff gets on the mirror an assistant, or yourself, should blow stuff off of it with water - problem solved. Essentially, you should be able to do everything in dentistry without reaching, hunching or stretching; you should be sitting in one position with your weight distributed to your feet & butt while sitting upright.

Edit: Learn indirect vision
Edit Edit: Purchase a good industry specific disability policy to make you whole in case something does goes wrong.

 

[DrJeff]

Step #1 , and this is a GOOD idea regardless of the profession that one chooses. Develop and maintain on a regular basis a fitness program that utilizes a bunch of core workouts, stretching and some cardiovascular work (the lower the impact the better). This makes a HUGE difference not just in the practice of dentistry long term, but also overall health in general

Step #2 - be aware of your posture, and when practicing on patients, MOVE THE PATIENT not yourself to where you need them to allow you to practice with proper posture

I'm heading on 20 years of working on patients in the dental chair now and unless I haven't been paying attention to my posture for a while during the day, the muscles and joints of my arms, neck, back, etc feel good at the end of my work day

As for the communicable diseases thing, just follow proper infection control and sharps procedures in a careful, diligent manor and its not an issue. When you get careless is when problems happen