Effect of dentist chair design on body posture of dentists with different working experiences
Regardless of group or dental experience, the ergonomic design of the dentist's chair had only a slight effect on upper body posture in both habitual and working seating positions. Therefore, in order to minimize MSDs, the focus of the dentist's chair should be on adopting a symmetrical sitting position rather than an ergonomic design.
Huppert, F., Betz, W., Maurer-Grubinger, C. etal . The effect of dentist chair design on body posture of dentists with different work experiences. BMC Musculoskelet Disord 22, 462 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12891-021-04334-1
Commentary
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are a common problem for dentists, which is said to be due to the fact that dentists' work is often performed in a sitting position. This study quantified the impact of various ergonomic chairs on sitting position. A total of 59 dentists were included in the study, and the group was divided into a control group and a group based on years of work experience.
The results reported that chairs in all conditions caused more pronounced kyphosis in the more experienced dentists compared to the three groups. Symmetrical seating positions were assumed for each chair in the habitual and working posture conditions. The chair comparisons showed no differences in ergonomic chair design and these differences were classified as within measurement error and clinically irrelevant. Therefore, the comparison of the chairs showed position-related changes in the sagittal plane of posture during work, but no changes in the transverse plane. However, these changes have not affected the ergonomic sitting design of each chair. Therefore, since there is no difference in the subjective evaluation of each chair between the groups, it seems that we need to focus more on the sitting position, as mentioned in the conclusion.
