title: A study on job postures and musculoskeletal illnesses in dentists.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) compose a large part of occupational diseases in dental professionals, prevention of which is dependent on assessment and improvement of job postures by means of ergonomic interventions. This study was aimed at evaluation of ergonomic conditions of the profession of dentists and also at assessing the relationship between MSDs and conditions of work.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study was performed among 65 dentists using the method of Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA). The prevalence of MSDs was obtained by the use of the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ).
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this investigation, the prevalence of MSDs for different body parts was: 75.9% for the neck, 58.6% for the shoulders, 56.9% for the upper back, 48.3% for the lower back and 44.8% for the wrist. Job analysis by the use of REBA showed that 89.6% of limbs in group A and 79.3% of limbs in group B had a score > 4. Only neck and lower back pain have significant relationship with the risk levels obtained using the REBA method.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It can be concluded that work postures of dentists need to be improved. In addition to education, work station design, rest period during work and regular physical activities should be taken into account.
authors.affiliation: Occupational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran, rafeemaneshe@mums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Ehsan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rafeemanesh
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jafari
authors.forename: Farzad Omidi
authors.initials: FO
authors.lastname: Kashani
authors.forename: Farzaneh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rahimpour
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003813:Dentistry; D006804:Ergonomics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D059352:Musculoskeletal Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011187:Posture; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment