Comparison of tactile discrimination associated with varying weights of explorers

The prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in dental hygienists is significantly higher than that of the general population. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of explorer weight on dental and dental hygiene students' tactile discrimination when exploring. A randomized controlled clinical trial utilizing a dual dependent statistical design was used to collect data on a convenience sample of forty-eight (n=48) dental hygiene students beginning their senior year of their curriculum. Tactile discrimination was measured by having twenty-four experimental subjects (using a lightweight 0.4 ounce explorer) and twenty-four control subjects (using a heavier 1.0 ounce explorer) delineate the coarseness of varying textures of sandpaper in an apparatus that provided a blinded environment. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Descriptive statistics, chi square tests, and independent sample t-test were computed. Results did not display statistically significant differences between groups. Descriptive statistics illustrated that students using lightweight explorers were better able to delineate between textures. One exception to this finding was with very similar textures, where heavier explorers provided superior tactile discrimination. Overall, the weight of the explorer does not affect students' tactile discrimination abilities.