Dong Hui, Loomer Peter, Villanueva Alfredo, Rempel David
School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94804, USA.
J Periodontol. 2007 Jan;78(1):97-103. doi: 10.1902/jop.2007.060171.
The prevalence of upper-extremity musculoskeletal disorders, such as tendinitis, is elevated among dental practitioners. An important risk factor for these disorders is forceful pinching; however, the pinch forces and instrument forces during scaling are unknown.
Six dentists and six senior-year dental students were recruited to use an instrumented periodontal scaler to perform their usual dental scaling work on patients. Thumb pinch force was measured by a pressure sensor, whereas the forces developed at the instrument tip were measured by a six-axis load cell.
Dental students applied greater mean peak pinch force (35.7 +/- 3.8 N) compared to dentists (24.5 +/- 4.1 N) (P = 0.001). On the other hand, the peak forces generated at the instrument tip, which were directly related to the productivity of the dental scaling task, were higher among the dentists. The application of pinch force by dentists was related to the required scaling forces, whereas students applied excessive pinch force to the tools.
Increased experience in periodontal scaling leads to the application of less pinch force to accomplish scaling. Nonetheless, the applied peak pinch forces in both groups are high and may pose a risk for the development of musculoskeletal disorders of the distal upper extremity.
上肢肌肉骨骼疾病，如肌腱炎，在牙科从业者中的患病率较高。这些疾病的一个重要风险因素是用力捏；然而，在洁治过程中的捏力和器械力尚不清楚。
招募了6名牙医和6名牙科高年级学生，使用装有传感器的牙周洁治器对患者进行常规的牙科洁治工作。拇指捏力通过压力传感器测量，而器械尖端产生的力通过六轴测力传感器测量。
牙科学生施加的平均峰值捏力（35.7±3.8 N）高于牙医（24.5±4.1 N）（P = 0.001）。另一方面，器械尖端产生的峰值力与牙科洁治任务的效率直接相关，在牙医中更高。牙医施加的捏力与所需的洁治力相关，而学生对工具施加了过大的捏力。
牙周洁治经验的增加导致在完成洁治时施加的捏力减少。尽管如此，两组施加的峰值捏力都很高，可能会增加上肢远端肌肉骨骼疾病的发病风险。
