Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practices towards postural management during dental practices among dental students

Abstract

Introduction: Ergonomics is an applied science concerned with designing product and procedures for max efficiency and safety and concerns itself with improving the operator’s efficiency and their working environment. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices towards postural management among dental students. Materials and Methods: A study was conducted among the interns and postgraduate students. The structured, self-administered, close-ended questionnaire was designed to collect the data which consisted of four sections and comprised of 36 questions for assessing the knowledge, attitude and practices among these students towards postural management and to determine if a short chair-side lecture on postural management could improve their knowledge and attitude on this topic. A self-assessed checklist was used for evaluation of ergonomics which was filled by observing the participants in clinical setting. Results: In this study, there were a total of 30 participants between 21-30 years of age. Before giving the knowledge, around 83.3% of the participants were aware of the importance of ergonomics in clinical dentistry and after giving knowledge, 96.7% of the participants became aware of the same. Only 43.3% of the participants followed correct dental chair position before imparting the knowledge which increased to about 63.3% after that. Conclusion: The dental students maybe more prone to musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) and maintaining proper ergonomic principle in their early years of practice will prevent them from future chronic MSD.