Conference abstract: First IIUM International Dental Conference 2017 [ABSTRACT ID: 73, Oral]
Introduction: Dental therapists are one of the main dental workforce in Malaysia and are exposed to various risk factors of MSD. However, studies on MSD among dental therapists are limited. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence, the sites affected, the symptom severity, the impact, the risk factors and the association between individual, biomechanical, physical and psychosocial risk factors with prevalence of MSD among dental therapists.
Materials and Methods: A survey was conducted using self-administered questionnaire which was distributed to all dental therapists in Perak, Terengganu and Kuala Lumpur in February 2017, from which a response rate of 89.2% was achieved.
Results: There was a high prevalence of MSD (87.5%) among the respondents. The MSD was found to be affecting mainly the back (69.7%), neck (66.7%), shoulders (58.7%) and wrists/hands (50.2%) while MSD of the elbow and lower extremities was found to more severe and often affect their daily work. Most of the respondents who reported MSD accommodated their own symptoms with analgesics or sought alternative treatment (20.1%). Majority reported that they often used vibratory instruments (76.1%), involved in biomechanical risk activities, and perceived that they have a high job demand and lack of authority to make decisions related to work. Age (OR: 3.58; 95% CI: 1.644, 7.773), number of extractions (OR: 4.69; 95% CI: 1.348, 16.327) as well as psychosocial factors (OR: 4.05; 95% CI: 1.547, 10.613) were significantly associated with prevalence of MSD.
Conclusion(s): Therefore, preventive measures should be implemented to reduce the burden of MSD.
KEYWORDS: musculoskeletal disorders, dental therapist, impact, symptom severity, risk factor
Information regarding water fluoridation (WF) in Malaysia has been substantially documented, but is scattered in various government publications and may be lost to the stakeholders. This paper is a review of water fluoridation in Malaysia and its effect on oral health: a history of WF in Malaysia, the current policy, the evidence of its effectiveness, the challenges and the future directions. A search for relevant physical and electronic documents of WF in Malaysia resulted in the identification of 70 documents for review. WF was gazetted as national policy with an optimal fluoride level of 0.7 parts-per-million (ppm) in 1972, with a reduction of the level to 0.5 ppm in 2005. Evidence showed that WF effectively reduced population dental caries while fluorosis was not a prevalent public health concern. Strong collaboration between stakeholders and the extensive network of piped water supplies resulted in 80% of the population receiving WF in 2013. However, the coverage was reduced to 74.1% in 2018, largely due to the cessation of WF in Pahang. The key challenges in WF included a lack of funding, weak legislation, use of reverse osmosis water filtration system, difficulty to maintaining an optimal level of fluoride in the water, and lack of local data on the impact of WF cessation on oral health, and its cost-effectiveness. This review will provide dental health professionals with scientific evidence on WF and oral health in Malaysia and assist them in answering relevant questions about WF raised by the public.