SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE HEALTH STATUS OF DENTISTS OF THE DENTAL PROFILE
Authors: Melnyk S.V. , Horzov L.F. , Melnyk V.S. 
Published: April 2022

Resume. Today, dental care is one of the most popular types of medical care. In terms of the number of appeals, it ranks second after the number of appeals to physicians. In the age group of the population over 35 years of age, problems related to dental and oral diseases come to the fore and the need for orthopedic treatment reaches 60-100%. The dental health of the population of Ukraine has a steady tendency to deteriorate. Dentists are considered to be specialists with a high level of morbidity, as their work requires physical strength and endurance in the face of various harmful professional factors. Dentists are one of the most numerous categories of health professionals, who rank third in terms of occupational disease.

Purpose and objectives. Conduct a health analysis among dentists.

Materials and methods of research. As part of the study, a sociological survey of 167 dentists was conducted, a questionnaire was developed and an anonymous questionnaire method was applied.

Results of the research. All doctors who took part in the survey said they were satisfied with the choice of profession, despite the fact that 70% rate the level of psycho-emotional stress as high, 30% medium, 10 low. 40% of the surveyed doctors indicated that they experience maximum psycho-emotional stress during dental reception in the presence of a large flow of patients, 20% indicated that they experience increased stress during a conversation with a patient, 20% during manipulations in the mouth. The structure of occupational pathology of dentists is dominated by diseases of the musculoskeletal system, gastrointestinal tract, respiratory system, nervous system and skin diseases. At the same time, chronic forms predominate among these diseases (73.4%), which directly indicates late treatment in medical institutions. The most harmful factor for health in the profession 52.4% of respondents believe that psycho-emotional stress, 19.6% believe that such a factor is physical activity, 26.4% consider contact with infectious patients the most dangerous factor, 1.6% find it difficult to answer this question.

Among the listed diseases in the questionnaire, dentists noted that they are most afraid of contracting HIV (41%), hepatitis (30%), tuberculosis (27%), are not afraid of infection and 1% are afraid of infection. However, 40% of respondents said that if a patient has a history of contagious diseases, the tactics of treatment and personal protection will change.

The analysis of the incidence of the upper respiratory tract and lungs among dentists of different age groups revealed an increase in incidence with age. However, there was a decrease in morbidity in the group of 51 years and older, which is probably associated with a decrease in the reactivity of the organism and a decrease in response to the influence of external pathogens in this age group.

According to the survey, 83% of dentists reported a feeling of tension during the working day, by the end of the working day 70% of dentists noted a feeling of fatigue and 87% fatigue of the visual organs.

Conclusion. The most pronounced and common for dentists of various dental specialties is the intensity of the labor process, which is expressed by high psycho-emotional stress. The leading factor in the development of musculoskeletal disorders among dentists is the length of intervals during which the doctor takes an awkward fixed posture.