Ergonomics Assessment of Dentist Work Function and Suggested Improvements

Dentistry has been considered as a demanding profession. However, previous study asserted that they have a high frequency of and are prone to developing musculoskeletal disorder (MSD). This is due to the need of high concentration and precision in executing their tasks. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the working posture in dental clinic and suggest improvements based on the identified problems. A study has been done at the University Health Care (UHC) at the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). Hazards identification, risk assessment and risk control (HIRARC) analysis was used to identify and asses the hazards which was then translated into a Pareto chart. Body discomfort survey (BDS) form was also used to identify which parts of the body that affected the dentist based on an interview. Subsequently, the posture of the dentist on the job has been observed and analyzed by using a rapid upper limb assessment (RULA) analysis. The final score on the existing posture was found to be 7, thereby needing further investigation and some specific changes to be made. Engineering analysis and design was also suggested in the study after going through an evaluation matrix via morphological chart and static analysis using CATIA software. The final score of the RULA analysis was 2 which means that the proposed measures were deemed to produce an acceptable posture.Â