A Personalized Pre-operative and Intra-operative Ergonomic Feedback to Improve the Dental Work Posture

Abstract

Background: This work presents a novel Ergonomic Trainer System that provides personalized pre-operative and intra-operative ergonomic feedback to improve dental work posture. Methods: The system consists of two ultrasonic sensors to measure the height of operator’s seat and dental unit; two accelerometers to measure the angles of the operator’s neck and upper arm; and software to analyze data from each operator and provide a personalized pre-operative and intra-operative ergonomic feedback. Sixteen dental students were randomly assigned into a crossover trial, scheduled for each of two sequences of working: receiving feedback or no-feedback from the system while performing tooth preparation. The parameters measured were the extensions of the neck and upper arm, before (pretest) and after (posttest) receiving feedback or no-feedback from the system. Results: The posttest angles of neck and upper arm had decreased significantly compared with pretest angles in the group that received preoperative and intra-operative ergonomic feedback from the system (p < .05). Conclusion: Performing the dental treatment with pre-operative and intra-operative feedback had effects on improving the posture of the dental students by decreasing the angles of neck and upper arm. © 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.