Conference abstract: First IIUM International Dental Conference 2017 [ABSTRACT ID: 73, Oral]
Introduction: Dental therapists are one of the main dental workforce in Malaysia and are exposed to various risk factors of MSD. However, studies on MSD among dental therapists are limited. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence, the sites affected, the symptom severity, the impact, the risk factors and the association between individual, biomechanical, physical and psychosocial risk factors with prevalence of MSD among dental therapists.
Materials and Methods: A survey was conducted using self-administered questionnaire which was distributed to all dental therapists in Perak, Terengganu and Kuala Lumpur in February 2017, from which a response rate of 89.2% was achieved.
Results: There was a high prevalence of MSD (87.5%) among the respondents. The MSD was found to be affecting mainly the back (69.7%), neck (66.7%), shoulders (58.7%) and wrists/hands (50.2%) while MSD of the elbow and lower extremities was found to more severe and often affect their daily work. Most of the respondents who reported MSD accommodated their own symptoms with analgesics or sought alternative treatment (20.1%). Majority reported that they often used vibratory instruments (76.1%), involved in biomechanical risk activities, and perceived that they have a high job demand and lack of authority to make decisions related to work. Age (OR: 3.58; 95% CI: 1.644, 7.773), number of extractions (OR: 4.69; 95% CI: 1.348, 16.327) as well as psychosocial factors (OR: 4.05; 95% CI: 1.547, 10.613) were significantly associated with prevalence of MSD.
Conclusion(s): Therefore, preventive measures should be implemented to reduce the burden of MSD.
KEYWORDS: musculoskeletal disorders, dental therapist, impact, symptom severity, risk factor
In practice, the need for orthodontic care is often determined by normative need. However, in reality, a person’s decision to seek orthodontic treatment is dependent on multiple factors. The aim of this study was to determine the association between normative and perceived need for orthodontic treatment among Malaysian adolescents. This is a cross-sectional study involving 700 schoolchildren aged 13-14 years in Jempol District, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. The Dental Health Component (DHC) and Aesthetic Component (AC) of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) were used to assess the normative need. The children’s perceived need was obtained by matching the appearance of their anterior teeth with the photographs on the AC scale. The normative need according to the DHC was 27.1% while the AC indicated 21.9%. Only 3.2% of the schoolchildren perceived that they needed treatment. There was a significantly high correlation between the DHC and AC scores of the dentist (Spearman r s = 0.89, p<0.01). However, the correlation between the AC of dentist and AC score of the children was weak (Spearman r s = 0.39, p<0.01). No significant differences were observed for need of orthodontic treatment among gender and ethnicity according to the DHC and AC of dentists as well as AC of children (p>0.05). The findings from this study support the importance of considering the use of perceived need in prioritizing orthodontic treatment especially because of the shortage of orthodontic services in the country.