Belasting en belastbaarheid in de tandheelkunde

Samenvatting:

From practice and literature it is known that general dentists have a considerable risk to develop problems of the musculoskeletal system as well as mental complaints. During their professional life they may become partly or fully occupationally disabled and in a number of cases they even have to leave the profession.

As a possible cause dentist report that education is insufficient in learning coping skills with respect to reducing physical or mental stress and that, as a consequence, dentists are unable to handle occupational risk factors or hazards properly.

In terms of the ICF-model, ability to cope is a personal factor. Workload is commonly classified as an external factor, but for dentists it depends highly on how one organizes tasks in the own dental praxis. Physical or mental stress may originate from a disbalance between workload and the individual capacity and ability to cope. To what extend physical and mental capacity can compensate for each other is unclear.

There is little knowledge too about risk factors for physical and mental stress in this professional group. This knowledge is needed to assess the role of risk factors in the stress process.

Apart from understanding the suitability of the theoretical capacity/load model in this specified setting of dentistry this enquiry has a clinical relevance: The forthcoming knowledge aims to contribute to the prevention and reduction of musculoskeletal disorders and of drop out of the profession. This is relevant for dentists, oral hygienists and their patients, also for universities and educational institutes, and for income insurance companies.

The thesis will start with a systematic review. A qualitative study and a case-control study are foreseen. The design of this research anticipates a follow up study in which students can be assessed in a longitudinal cohort survey. This offers the opportunity to generate information over a long period of time.