To develop a model that can predict the risk of work related musculoskeletal disorders in dentists. And develop an instrument that can record and correct neck and upper back postures among dental students.
Methods:
We have developed ‘‘the posture logger”, the system for recording neck and upper back movement ranges in dentists. The movements tobe investigated included flexion and extension, left and right lateral flexions of neck and upper back during dental operation. The system was comprised of accelerometer sensors to register neck and upper back positions and movements and the software was developed to collect and process the data. The sensor used was ADXL345 3-axis accelerometer with high resolution (13-bit) measurement. The accelerometer mounted on a circuit card was used as an inclinometer to calculate neck and upper back angles during the system evaluation. The software was developed by using visual studio to control and process the arrival of the signals obtained through a flash memory on the computer.
The two accelerometers were fixed to measure the neck and upper back movements in two axes. Maximal mobility during forward and backward were recorded while the subject was sitting in a straight upright position, with supported lumbar spine.
Participants in the experiment group received feedback on those datas during finishing scaling on the upper right teeth (Feedback), while those who were in the control group received no-feedback datas (No-feedback).
The mean 10th percentile of neck and upper back movements, was used to compare between feedback and no-feedback group.
Results: The posture logger aids the correction of neck flexion in y axis, which potentially contributes to reduce the risk of injury due to inappropriate postures, extreme range of movement during dental operations.
Conclusions:
This study provides real time estimates of posture, thereby facilitating them with correct neck and upper back positions and movements.