Want to Stay Healthy? Take A Closer Look at Your Equipment’s Ergonomic Advantages
I recently came across a staggering statistic: 67% of dentists and 80% of dental hygienists suffer from work-related musculoskeletal pain. To compound matters, the Bureau of Labor Statistics points out that dentists and hygienists rank highest above all other occupations in cases of carpal tunnel syndrome and work-related disabilities.
Because of this, millions of dollars of professional income are lost as dentists and hygienists take time off to deal with the chronic pain in their neck, shoulders, back, arms, and wrists. I’ve been fascinated over the years observing how dental equipment manufacturers of stools, patient chairs, and delivery systems have approached this issue by attempting to make their products more ergonomic.
If there is a silver lining to be found in the coronavirus pandemic, it is the forced timeout that, while disruptive to daily routines, allows us to take a closer look at our equipment and how, if used to its best advantage, it can help us have a healthier, pain-free career.
A great way to move forward is to look back to past dental innovations and what that made them successful. One piece of equipment, manufactured by DENTALEZ, had a profound influence on working safely around the patient’s mouth—the J-Chair. The J-Chair was the first patient chair that accommodated sit-down dentistry. Before it, the dental chair was basically a barber chair that only allowed for stand-up dentistry. The dentist suffered from a host of circulatory and musculoskeletal problems as they contorted their body to get a good view into the mouth.
In the 1960’s, DENTALEZ, with the “J,” was selling an exciting new approach of sit-down dentistry. But what the manufacturer was really selling was the concept of how an ergonomically designed product could help the dentist stay healthy. It was a huge step forward because it eliminated a many of the problems caused by the dentist standing out of balance all day long.
How DENTALEZ presented its J-Chair goes a long way to explaining needs that manufacturers were trying to satisfy back then—needs that are just as relevant today.
The DENTALEZ sales rep began with instructions on how to set up and use the doctor’s stool— positioning the back support to meet the lower back, adjusting the stool height so that the thighs were almost parallel to the floor, maybe with the thighs sloped down a couple degrees toward the knees. The chair back was low, often between the knees if not resting on top of them, with the thighs parallel or sloped down a couple degrees.
Then the presentation moved to the patient chair. The rep spent a lot of time on the revolutionary headrest cushion called the “horseshoe,” and explained that if the focus was on the upper arch, the chair back was supine and the occlusal plane was moved back a few degrees from vertical by positioning the thick part of the horseshoe under the occipital bone, right above the neck. The lower arch required the chair back to be raised up about 15 degrees and the cushion rotated so the thick part was above the occipital, helping to move the chin down.
The concept of controlling the angle of the occlusal plane with the placement of the horseshoe went a long way towards helping the dentist work from a more balanced posture. More importantly, dentists easily understood this explanation and could clearly see the benefit of the J-Chair’s unique design.
Fast forward to today, where the stool, patient chair, and delivery systems have evolved, but the goal is the same: to allow the practitioner to work from a balanced, healthy posture.
Even the most groundbreaking technology of its time must evolve. Today, 6 decades since DENTALEZ’s most famous contribution to dentistry, the manufacturer has transitioned its focus over the years with evolved versions of the J-Chair, including a patient chair that better accommodates stand-up dentistry by reaching an industry leading height of 36.5 inches. Now, combined with the reliability of Forest equipment, pay attention to their next chair launch!
With your health in mind, now may be a good time to examine how you are working around the mouth. Sitting, and now standing part of the time, goes a long way towards balancing your musculature and circulatory systems. When considering treatment room equipment, it only makes sense to evaluate how it is designed with your health in mind. Then it’s up to you, to recognize and change some unhealthy postures, allowing you more years of pain-free dentistry.
Maybe you are hesitant to change the way in which you’ve been working for the past decade or more. Change is tough. When I look at a video of my golf swing, I see that it’s a long way from where it should be. And when an instructor asks me to change my approach and swing correctly, it feels awkward. The tendency is always to go back to the old way. But with persistence, this “awkward” feeling becomes a new habit and a way to lower your handicap.