The evaluation of occupational health status and risks of dental technicians in Denizli, Turkey

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the occupational health status and risks of dental technicians who work in Denizli.

Materials and methods: All technicians were included in the study. A questionnaire about occupational health status and risks was applied to technicians with face to face technique in their laboratories.

Findings: 189 technicians (16 female, 173 male) who has been working in Denizli were included in the study. The mean age of technicians was 29.4 years and the mean total working duration was 12.1 years. The mean weekly working duration was 55.3 hours. 18.7% of technicians don’t have a social security. Technicians are employed in different works such as ceramic chrome, smoothing etc.

When we evaluated the workplaces; it was found that 90.4% of laboratories have a ventilation system, but only 54.0% of them were using them frequently or continuously.

The use of protective materials such as mask, vacuum or eyeglasses was also found to be very low (respectively 20%, 34%, 45%). 26.2% of technicians were not vaccinated against Hepatitis B. Only 26.2% of them have had three doses Hepatitis B vaccination. 54.5% of them were smoking everyday. 19.8% of the technicians have regular health control. 

The eye problems such as foreign material (30.3%) and irrigation (16.3%) in eyes were common. However, using protective glasses and vacuum is low. It is determined that foreign material problems in eyes were significantly decreased by using protective glasses (p<0.01, OR: 0.28).

Technicians have respiratory symptoms such as sputum (17.2%), cough (13.4%) and dyspnea (6.5%). Abnormal findings were found on respiratory function tests and lung radiographies (respectively 24.7%, 57.3%). 

Conclusions: Long work durations, smoking, insufficient indoor ventilation and insufficient protective equipment use were common. The results of this study notified that respiratory systems of technicians were affected. This affection was higher in smokers.