study Study of magnifying loupes influence on undergraduate dental students' postures during preclinical practice on full-coverage crowns preparations.

تأثير استعمال العدسات المكبرة في وضعيات عمل طلاب طب الأسنان

Abstract

Aim: This controlled laboratory evaluation experiment aimed to assess the impact of dental loupes on dental students' working postures during a laboratory fixed prosthodontic procedure at the University of Damascus.

Materials and Methods: The research sample consisted of 40 volunteering students from a group of third-year students.

Each student prepared an acrylic first upper molar held on a gypsum model in three different ways: A using a magnifying loupe, B unaided vision, C using magnification only while finishing the preparation.

The magnification system used in this study is (Alkashto, China, 420-3.5x).

Students' working posture was recorded during all of the procedures using a digital camera integrated with a mobile phone placed on a tripod to allow for lateral and frontal views of the operator. All postures were evaluated using a modified version of Compliance Assessment of Dental Ergonomic Posture Requirements (CADEP).

Results:

Wilcoxon analytic test was used to study the difference in assessment of students' working posture between the three preparation methods. The test showed that students' working posture when using magnifying loupes was better than when working under unaided vision, whether when using magnification only while finishing the preparation or when preparing with the magnifying loupe from the beginning of the session (p < 0.001).

Conclusion:

In this study, the use of magnification spontaneously improved student's working postures during preclinical dental preparation procedure.