hygiene - the international C.E. magazine of dental hygiene

10 I I C.E. article_ ergonomics _With popularity of the television show “Mad Men,” 1960s themes such as war, racism and sexism are memorialized, as are once-common habits such as smoking. Women were marketed to in the 1960s with their own cigarette brand that had the catch phrase, “You’ve come a long way, baby.” Following release of Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the United States,1 all smoking-related advertising was banned from TV in 1970.2 Sit-down dentistry also evolved in the 1960s. “You’vecomealongway,baby”isgonefromadvertis- ing, but it remains an accurate slogan when it comes to ergonomics in dentistry. We have come a long way, but for many dental professionals, that’s still not far enough. In 1937, pilots developed the concept of the checklistafterplanesbegancrashing.Dentalprofes- sionals may not be crashing in the literal sense, but many clinicians have been forced into early retire- ment because of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) or they continue to try to work through them. By incorporatingachecklistconceptsimilartothatused by pilots, dental professionals can be more success- ful, productive — and able to practice without pain. _Pain in dentistry Pain of dentistry is a common fear that keeps pa- tients away from the dental office. Pain in dentistry is common, but has nothing to do with the patient. Theindividualshavingpainindentistryaretheprac- titioners. It is estimated that more than half of prac- titioners have some kind of painful musculoskeletal disorder that is work related.3 In 2007, the Center for Health Workforce, funded by the American Dental Hygienists’ Association (ADHA), conducted a sample survey of licensed dental hygienists about a wide variety of issues, including occupational injury or illness related to their work. It was reported that just more than one- third (33.8 percent) indicated they had experienced an occupational injury or illness. Figure 1 shows the types and percentages of occupational injury or ill- ness experienced. More than half (53 percent) used medicationtocontrolthediscomfortandnearlyhalf (49.5 percent) indicated they had shortened their work hours as a result of their injury or illness.4 Ergonomics evolved as a recognized field dur- ing World War II. It is the science of adjusting the work environment to the worker.5 The Occupational SafetyandHealthAdministration(OSHA)haslinksto ergonomic information.6 The American Dental Asso- ciation(ADA)publishedIntroductiontoErgonomics7 with suggested interventions and in 2011 published Ergonomics for Dental Students.8 The ADA website has an ergonomics section with links to fliers about specific problems.9 Even with numerous articles and C.E.courses(bothinpersonandonline)onergonom- ics in the five years since the ADHA survey, MSDs hygiene 1_2012 Checklists not just for pilots anymore Authors_Patti DiGangi, RDH, BS, and Judy Bendit, RDH, BS This article qualifies for C.E. credit.TotaketheC.E.quiz,log on to www.dtstudyclub.com. The quiz will be available on Oct. 18. _c.e. credit part I Fig. 1 Fig. 1_Type of occupational injury or illness experienced by dental hygienists with employment-related injury or illness, 2007.3 (Chart/ Provided by the Center for Health Workforce and American Dental Hygienists’ Association)