Raising Awareness of Occupational Risks in Dentistry

RAISING AWARENESS OF
THE OCCUPATIONAL
RISKS IN DENTISTRY TO
HELP IMPROVE HEALTH
AND SAFETY FOR THE
ORAL HEALTHCARE AT
WORK
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Report is focusing on the occupational hazards in the dentistry field and the preventive
measures are discussed in the report. Safety measures and oral health care facilities are discussed
in the report. It would improve the health of the people which are visiting the dentist.
Occupational hazards like the infectious hazards and psychological hazards as well.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
LR....................................................................................................................................................7
PROJECT PLAN...........................................................................................................................12
GANTT CHART...........................................................................................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................20
OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESEARCH..........................................................................................21
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................23
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INTRODUCTION
Oral health is basically the state of remain free from various chronic mouth as well as
facial pain, throat cancer, oral infections, periodontal disease and numerous other diseases which
eventually limits the capacity of individual in biting, speaking, chewing etc (Hashemipour,
2015). Oral healthcare has touched each and every aspect of the earth and has transformed the
lives of many individuals. The systematic diseases which affects overall body became apparent
in the beginning due to mouth lesions and other oral issues. No matter what the age is,
maintaining the oral health remains highly important for everyone. More than half of the
population of UK enjoys the outstanding oral health and thus keeps their teeth naturally alive
throughout the lives. It is extremely essential to carry put oral hygiene on the regular basis in
order to prevent wide range of dental diseases (Soares and et.al.,2015). Most common kind of
diseases related to dental are gum diseases as well as tooth decay including periodontitis,
gingivitis. Dental diseases not only affects the adults but most of the children also become prey
of these diseases and thus at very short age, they became dependent on medicines for the
treatment. Oral diseases are basically the most common and popular noncommunicable diseases
which affects people and thus causes pain, discomfort and sometimes even lead to death.
According to a report of 2016 published by Global disease burden, more than half the population
of entire world is estimated to be under the threat of oral diseases. Nearly 3.58 billion people
every year suffers from dental caries and thus this has become the most prevalent condition
across the whole world. In this century, every 7 out of 10 people are reported to be suffering
from various dental diseases whether it is minor like tooth decay or major like mouth cancer. In
various Asian countries, incidence of mouth cancer which mainly includes lip cancer along with
oral cavity is at the top among all other cancers. Severe periodontal disease results in the loss of
tooth and its incidence is estimated to be one of the most prevalent disease which has surrounded
not only adults but small kids as well (Firić and et.al.,2016). Some of the behavioral factors
which accounts for oral disorders like unhealthy diet, tobacco use, alcohol addition often results
in the high ratio of oral health diseases. The main reason behind its increasing prevalence is bad
oral hygiene together with inadequate fluoride exposure which eventually impacts oral health of
wide rage of people negatively.
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Significance
The major significance of studying the oral healthcare is to make dentists aware of the
numerous occupational risks and hazards and thus impart them knowledge about the prevention
of these risks (Adhikari and et.al., 2016). The oral health problems has been a buzz in the market
and have become one of the serious issue which has transformed entire world drastically. Having
a proper nutrition and the adequate treatment and preventive measures of thees oral diseases is
more important than treating any other disorder like cancer as mouth is the beginning of the body
where food enters thus keeping it hygienic and safe is essential and vital. It has been indicated
that teeth as well as gums are one of the main indicator of general health and thus shows the
potential problems that might occur to an individual. According to the report of WHO, more than
44% of the adults undergoes annual checkup and treatment but around 40% households avoid the
visit to dentist and or delay their visiting due to various reasons. As per Oral health and dental
care, every year large number of people suffers from dental caries including children and most of
them remain exposed to some or the other form of bacterial infections which results in tissue
inflammation (Oleksiak and et.al.,2015). Not only does the people remain exposed to various
dental caries but the dentist and oral health care professionals also becomes the prey of wide
range of occupational risks which impacts their health to a wide level. The major significance of
this study is to understand the scope as well as prevalence of various occupational risk and
problems which badly affects the health of dentist and oral professionals. Occupational hazards
basically are the disorders that are stimulated due to different conditions related to work. The
providers of oral healthcare are constantly getting predisposed to some occupational-related
disorders that when increases with the years. Another significance of this study is that it can be
certainly be used by various scholars and researchers for conducting their research. This will
provide an in-depth information to various scholars, healthcare providers, therapist, dentists
about the various occupational risks and their preventive measures. This will serve as the
secondary source of data from which information can be collected to study the prevalence of
various occupational risks. Along with this, another significance of this study is that it will show
various future constraints that might occur and thus can affect oral health care professionals if
preventive measure s are not taken on time (Gangwar and Kiran, 2016). It will help a wide range
of dental universities as well as dental clinics and hospital to become aware of measures which
they should take while performing their work or while treating the patient.
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Thus, this study carries a wide range of significance and can be used for further studies
by medical students or professionals. This report will provide a brief about numerous
occupational risks as well as preventive measure that should be taken for overcoming these risks.
Besides this, it will also cover various future outcomes and the strategies.
Justification
The diseases and disorders related to the oral have become prevalent and thus have
impacted the entire world. The various occupational risks and threats which are being faced by
dentist, therapist, oral healthcare professionals have become a hot topic across the whole world
as it has lead to degradation of wide range of workers and dentists (Petrović and et.al.,2016). The
dentists come across the wide range of risks and hazards at their workplace which eventually not
only affects their physical health but also poses great impact on their mental health. The major
rationale behind choosing this topic is to make the dentists and oral healthcare professionals
aware about the various risks and hazards which they encounter and educating the students
studying dentistry regarding various risks which they might face at their workplace. Besides this,
another main reason for studying this topic is to design various preventive measure as well as
diagnosis steps which the oral healthcare professionals should undertake while treating patients
or performing their work (Aghahi, Darabi and Hashemipour, 2018). As the various risks and
hazard which are being faced by dentists during their wok affects their health in different ways
thus it becomes highly important to know the reason behind these problems and implement
proper monitoring system to overcome these problems. The major purpose of this study is to
assess various musculoskeleton problems and how they are associated with the working pattern
of dentists and oral healthcare professionals. Dental professionals are mainly predisposed to rage
of occupational hazards which sometimes even lead to frustration, irritability and decreases their
mental ability. Hence, providing the dentist appropriate working environment which ensures
their health and safety at workplace becomes essential and is the major purpose of this study.
Increasing the knowledge and awareness level of the dental professionals regarding these hazards
and providing them the various ways through which these risks can be mitigated or removed
forms the core rationale behind this study. Dentistry is considered as one of the profession which
often leads dentist to high level of stress and sometimes results in their exposure to various
ailments thus having a proper and well-designed structure and framework where they will be free
from any risk & hazards is very important as a patient can only be treated when doctor is itself
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