Hearing Assessment of Dental Personnel: A Cross-sectional Exploratory Study

Dental professionals are prone to have hearing impairment due to prolonged exposure of noise in dental college. The aim of the study was to assess the hearing ability of dental personnel working in Yenepoya Deemed to be University, Mangaluru, Karnataka, India.

A cross-sectional exploratory study was conducted on 60 subjects (30 male and 30 female). Audiometric analysis was carried out using pure-tone audiometry (PTA) and otoacoustic emission test (OAE).

Data were calculated and analyzed using two-way analysis of variance and Tukey's honestly significant difference test.

No statistically significant difference was observed between hearing loss and its association with age, gender, working experience, mean daily working time, and specialization. PTA results showed a statistically significant hearing loss in the left ear, showing a dip at frequency of 4000 Hz among working experience group of 11-15 years and at 6000 Hz for 21-25 years. Also, a statistically significant hearing loss was observed in the left ear at 6000 and 8000 Hz for the age-group of 51-55 years. OAE results were consistent with PTA findings.

Dentists and dental personnel are at a higher risk of noise-induced hearing loss. As the working experience increases, the threshold shift is seen to shift from 4000 to 6000 Hz, which is indicative of sensorineural hearing loss due to noise-induced dental environment.