An Assessment of the Effect of Sound Produced in a Dental Clinic on the Hearing of Dentists

摘要

Objective: To assess the effect of sound produced in a dental clinic on the hearing of dentists in a dental school. Materials;Methods: Thirty-two dentists were evaluated for changes in their hearing thresholds at the Speech;Audi-ology Department; Manipal College of Allied Health Sciences; Manipal; India. Middle Ear Analyser (MEA); Pure Tone Audiometry (PTA);Oto-Acoustic Emission (OAE) were used to evaluate changes in the hearing thresholds. Results: There was a change in distortion product (DP) amplitude (temporary shift) in all frequencies. Statistically significant changes were found in the Hz,Hz ranges in the left ear;Hz in the right ear. There was a larger DP shift in the left ear than in the right ear. A comparison of the hearing thresholds of males;females showed a significant difference of Hz in the left ear, where males had a higher hearing loss. Conclusion: There were shifts of hearing threshold at Hz,Hz. The danger to hearing from dental clinic working environment in a dental school cannot beunderestimated.