Treatment Room

No one wants their body to force them to retire before they're ready, but the repetitive and physical nature of dentistry means practitioners are at risk of suffering debilitating, sometimes irreversible injuries. To reduce the likelihood for chronic pain, we’ve outlined a checklist of steps dental professionals can take to ensure their offices are as conducive as possible to a healthy work environment.

The average dentist will spend up to 60,000 hours during their career working in tense and distorted positions, according to a 2014 International Journal of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry article. Prolonged work in less-than-ideal positions can cause chronic injuries — many of which could throw a wrench into a thriving practice. Here are several ergonomic strategies to consider.

As any practitioner in the field can attest, dentistry is a very physically demanding career. Studies show that dentists are nearly three times more prone to low back pain than the general population. Fortunately, there are prevention strategies you can use to avoid these problems.