The effects of periodontal curette handle weight and diameter on arm pain: a four-month randomized controlled trial

Details

• Personal Author:
  Dawson K ; Lee DL ; Loomer P ; Rempel D
• Description:
  Background: The design of periodontal curette handles may cause or aggravate arm pain in dental practitioners. The authors conducted a four-month randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effects of curette handle diameter and weight on arm pain among dental hygienists and dentists. Methods: One hundred ten dental hygienists and dentists who performed scaling, root planing or dental prophylaxis procedures participated in this study. The authors assessed right wrist/hand, elbow/forearm and shoulder pain levels weekly. They randomized participants to receive either a set of light (14 grams) periodontal curettes with a large diameter (11 millimeters) or a set of heavy (34 g) periodontal curettes with a narrow diameter (8 mm). The authors compared changes in mean pain scores across the study period between intervention groups by using general linear models and controlling for covariates. Results: The improvement in pain scores across the three body regions was greater for participants who used the lighter, wider-diameter curettes. In the final adjusted model, the differences were statistically significant only for the shoulder region (P = .02). Conclusions: The study results show that dental instrument design has an effect on upper-extremity pain in dental practitioners. Using a lighter instrument with a wider diameter may be an easy and cost-effective intervention to reduce or prevent upper-extremity pain associated with dental hygiene procedures. Clinical implications: To prevent or reduce arm pain, practitioners should consider using lightweight instruments with large diameters when performing scaling and root planing procedures. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Dental Offices Ergonomics Men Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety Women
• Keywords:
  Arm-injuries Author Keywords: Musculoskeletal Disorders Dental Instrument Design Dentistry Dentists Equipment-design Extremities Humans Intervention Models Musculoskeletal-system Musculoskeletal-system-disorders Occupational Pain Periodontitis Shoulder Tools

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• ISSN:
  0002-8177
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  143
• Issue:
  10
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20043350
• Citation:
  J Am Dent Assoc 2012 Oct; 143(10):1105-1113
• Contact Point Address:
  David Rempel, MD, MPH, Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, 1301 S. 46th St., Building 163, Richmond, Calif. 94804
• Email:
  david.rempel@ucsf.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• Performing Organization:
  University of California, San Francisco
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20080801
• Source Full Name:
  The Journal of the American Dental Association
• End Date:
  20120731
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:41a037dd5452c3aa96739f0b9bc3650def0828e209e71dceb511f4e0dcd6b9e14f8cabc03ccb2c8f5c70b1547953fc9c321b0a02a4ebdb19b22695360b8cf1fc
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/195268/cdc_195268_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 299.46 KB ]