Occupational safety threats among dental personnel and related risk factors

Occupational diseases are primarily considered to be important health problems for individuals with occupations in heavy industry fields. Although dentists work in very clean and elegant offices, they are frequently exposed to various chemicals and high-intensity, sound-producing instruments, such as compressors and aerators. In our study, we aimed to investigate the risk for occupational hearing loss of dental personnel, by performing pure-tone audiometry in 40 dentists and comparing the results with those of healthy individuals. We also sampled the nasal mucosa to investigate the effects of occupational chemicals on the nasal mucosa of the dentists. The pure-tone audiometric thresholds at 5 different frequencies (1000, 2000, 4000, 6000, and 8000 Hz) and working time were evaluated as potential risk factors. The pure-tone audiometric results (as decibels) at each frequency and the median values for each side (right and left ears) were significantly higher for dentists than for the control group (P < 0.05). The pure-tone audiometric results did not significantly differ between the women and men in the study group (P > 0.05). The findings in the nasal mucosa (goblet cell hyperplasia, neutrophil/eosinophil/basophil distribution, metaplasia, dysplasia, premalignant or malignant cells) were similar in the study and control groups (P > 0.05). In conclusion, our study indicated that high-intensity, sound-producing equipment is an important occupational threat for dentists, whereas chemical agents have minimal hazardous effects.