Atopic dermatitis, conjunctivitis, and hand dermatitis among Swedish dental personnel, including use of personal protective devices.

A previous study on dental personnel in northern Sweden show that dentists had a significantly higher prevalence of self-reported and physician-diagnosed atopic dermatitis and conjunctivitis, compared to chair assistants and referents (Lönnroth & Shahnavaz 1998). Further, significantly more male dentists reported experience of hand dermatitis compared to male referents. To compare the prevalence among dental personnel working in other geographical areas of Sweden, and survey the use of personal protective equipment, a questionnaire study was conducted during 1997, which included all dentists and his/her chair assistants, working in general private and public dental care in Sweden. A total of 7384 dental personnel were included in the study, 4293 dentists (54.7% male and 45.3% female), and 3090 chair assistants. Logistic regression was used for analysing data. Results show that significantly more dentists reported symptoms of atopic dermatitis, conjunctivitis, and hand dermatitis, and had been diagnosed by a physician, compared to chair assistants. However, they did not report more sick-leave due to symptoms, compared to chair assistants. More female used protective devices, than male, and more chair assistants than dentists. Significantly more dental personnel in public dental care used protective devices, than in private dental care. Use of gloves, and face mask, decreased with increasing age but, use of eye protection, mainly in form of prescription spectacles, increased. The prevalence of hand dermatitis decreased significantly with increasing age but, more for female (p < 0.0001), than for male (p = 0.01).