Hearing-damage risk and communication interference in dental practice.
The use of high-speed air-turbine handpieces, operated at 300,000 to 400,000 revolutions per minute, has led to concern over the possibility of noise-induced hearing loss. Sound levels were measured in clinical settings and in a pre-clinical laboratory for estimation of hearing-damage risk among dentists, and the extent of communication interference. Octave-band sound pressure levels were obtained with use of a Fast-Fourier-Transform analyzer and associated instrumentation. The results of this study indicate that the sound energy contribution of a typical dental practice is about 8% to 12% of the dentist's average 24-hour noise exposure. However, noise levels during dental procedures result in an articulation index of 0.21 to 0.37, corresponding to understanding of about 18% to 48% of nonsense syllables and 52% to 90% of sentences. It appears that hearing-damage risk is slight among dentists using modern equipment. However, further noise control in handpieces is necessary so that error-free communication during dental procedures can be ensured.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, New Jesey Institute of Technology, Newark 07102.
C E
CE
Wilson
T K
TK
Vaidyanathan
W R
WR
Cinotti
S M
SM
Cohen
S J
SJ
Wang
D003754:Dental High-Speed Equipment / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003797:Dental Staff; D005583:Fourier Analysis; D006317:Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D009622:Noise / Q000009:adverse effects*; D009623:Noise, Occupational / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013065:Speech Intelligibility