Abstract:
Noise at the dental setup has an adverse effect on the hearing ability of the dentists. This study
aimed to determine the prevalence of hearing loss among dental practitioners and to identify
the demographic and service-related factors associated with hearing loss among dental
practitioners working at dental institutions in Sri Lanka.
A descriptive cross-sectional study was designed to include 155 dental professionals working
at three dental institutions in Sri Lanka; the National Dental Hospital (teaching)- Colombo,
Dental Teaching Hospital-Peradeniya, and Institute of Oral Health- Maharagama. Data were
collected through an interviewer-administered questionnaire which obtained information on
auditory symptoms, demographic and work-related data and a standard hearing assessment;
Pure Tone Audiometry where hearing threshold >15dB is considered as having a loss.
Descriptive statistics and regression analysis were used to analyse data.
Participants were in 25- 60 age range. Majority consisted of females, working 6 days per week
and attached to restorative dentistry. Work experience ranged from 1 – 37 years. Only 39.4%
of dentists were reported to get exposed to loud sounds apart from dentistry. According to the
hearing test, 70% of the dentists in the present study were found to have a hearing loss at least
in one ear, where left ears were affected more. However, irrespective of the ears, having a
normal hearing or hearing loss at hearing thresholds of 6kHz was noted to be poorer, while
relatively better hearing in lower frequencies which is characteristic of hearing loss due to noise
exposure. The proportion of dentists who experienced tinnitus and difficulty in speech
recognition was 14%, while 21% reported difficulty in the following speech only when there
is background noise. Age, work experience, specialization in general dentistry, and perceived
speech recognition difficulty were significantly associated with hearing loss. More than 10
years of work experience and perceived speech recognition difficulty in noise were significant
indicators of existence of hearing loss in both ears.
Dentists attached to the three dental institutes are at risk of developing hearing loss. It is
recommended to conduct annual hearing check-ups and take necessary measures to reduce
exposure to noise in the dental setup.