Abstract
In Ecuador, hearing loss ranks third amongst the most common chronic physical condition. Dentists are health professionals who are exposed to harmful noises from equipment in their clinics and may suffer hearing loss. This research seeks to prove if the persistent high-frequency sounds produced by dental equipment could cause hearing decrement among dental students during the fifth semester of their studies. The present study was conducted on 70 students from the Faculty of Odontology belonging to the Academic Unit of Health and Welfare at the University of Cuenca in their fifth cycle during the second semester 2016–2017. In a soundproofed room, audiometry was done on ten students per day through the application “hearing test” by Marcin Malaski, 1.1.3 version. Based on studies, they revealed that 40% of the students who did not have any hearing loss started to experience some form of hearing impairment. The 10% of students that had a mild hearing loss reached a moderate hearing loss. In the case of gender, 5% of male students changed their hearing level from a mild hearing loss to a moderate after their clinic activities. Among women 1.18% it had expressed a change from a mild hearing loss to a moderate. According to the project results, the noise exposure for five or six months in university dental clinic may cause hearing impairments. Therefore, it is highly recommended the use of hearing protectors for students as well as teachers.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ahveninen, J., Jääskeläinen, L.P., Raij, T., Bonmassar, G., Devore, S., Hämäläinen, M., et al.: Task-modulated “what” and “where” pathways in human auditory cortex. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 103, 14608–14613 (2006)
Deafness and hearing loss. https://www.who.int/es/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/deafness-and-hearing-loss. Accessed 12 Apr 2019
Estadísticas de Discapacidad. https://www.consejodiscapacidades.gob.ec/estadisticas-de-discapacidad/. Accessed 12 Apr 2019
Fuentes, E., Rubio, C., Cardemil, F.: Pérdida auditiva inducida por ruido en estudiantes de la carrera de odontología. Rev. de otorrinolaringología y cirugía de cabeza y cuello 73(3), 249–256 (2013)
Lin, Y., Abdulla, W.H.: Principles of psychoacoustics. In: Audio Watermark. Springer, Cham, pp. 15–49 (2015)
Zwicker, E., Fastl, H.: Psychoacoustics: Facts and Models, 2nd edn. Springer, New York (2013)
Barrero, M.V., Vega, A.M.G., Valverde Sánchez, F.: Prevención de Riesgos Laborales en Odontoestomatología, 1st edn. Editorial Mad S.L., Madrid (2003)
Mojarad, F., Massum, T., Samavat, H.E.: Iran. Front. Dent. 6(4), 181–186 (2009)
Lozano, F.E., Díaz, A.M., Payano, J.C., Sánchez, F.I., Ambrocio, E.D., Huapaya, M.C., et al.: Nivel de ruido de los procedimientos clínicos odontológicos. Rev. Estomatológica Herediana 27(1), 13–20 (2017)
Medina, Á., Velásquez, G.I., Giraldo, L., Henao, L.M., Vásquez, E.M.: Sordera ocupacional: una revisión de su etiología y estrategias de prevención. Rev. CES Salud Pública 4(2), 116–224 (2013)
Peter, S.: Potentiation of chemical ototoxicity by noise. Semin. Hear. 30(1), 38–46 (2009)
León, N.: Conocimiento estudiantil de la salud ocupacional en la práctica odontológica I, vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 1–22. Fundación Acta Odontológica Venezolana, Universidad Central de Venezuela (2017)
Moncayo, J.P., Zumba, D.V.: Prevalencia de hipoacusia y factores de riesgo asociados en los estudiantes de quinto a décimo ciclo de la Facultad de Odontología de la Universidad de Cuenca, 2015–2016, Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca (2016)
Ferrando, K., Chirife, T., Jacquett, N.: Exposición a ruidos por el ejercicio profesional en docentes odontólogos. Rev. de Odontología Latinoamericana 2(1), 59–67 (2012)
Paredes Salcedo, G.M.: Ruido ocupacional y niveles de audición en el personal odontológico del servicio de Estomatología del Centro Médico Naval Cirujano Mayor Santiago Távara, 2013. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima (2013)
Alabdulwahhab, B.M., Alduraiby, R., Ahmed, M.A., Albatli, L., Alhumain, M.S., Softah, N.A., et al.: Hearing loss and its association with occupational noise exposure among Saudi dentists: a cross-sectional study. BDJ open 2, 16006 (2016)
Theodoroff, S.M., Folmer, R.L.: Hearing loss associated with long-term exposure to high-speed dental handpieces. Gen. Dent. 63(3), 71–86 (2015)
Myers, J., John, A.B., Kimball, S., Fruits, T.: Prevalence of tinnitus and noise-induced hearing loss in dentists. Noise Health 18(85), 347–354 (2016)
Barek, S., Adam, O., Motsch, J.F.: Large band spectral analysis and harmful risks of dental turbines. Clin. Oral Investig. 3(1), 49–54 (1999)
Masterson, E.A., Themann, C.L., Calvert, G.M.: Prevalence of hearing loss among noise-exposed workers within the health care and social assistance sector, 2003 to 2012. J. Occup. Environ. Med. 60(4), 350–356 (2018)
Gijbels, F., Jacobs, R., Princen, K., Nackaerts, O., Debruyne, F.: Potential occupational health problems for dentists in Flanders, Belgium. Clin. Oral Investig. 10(1), 8–16 (2006)
Angulo Jerez, A., Mateos Alvarez, F., Blanco, J.L.: Audioprótesis teoría y práctica. 1st ed. Masson (2004)
Limia, C.: Pérdida auditiva en Odontólogos. Escola Superior de Tecnologida Saúde de Coimbra (ESTeSC), Coimbra, Portugal (2017)
Acknowledgments
The research leading to these results has received funding from SmartUniverCity 2.0 program, funded by “Modelado y moldura nasoalvear pre-pos-quirúrgica 3D y etiquetado digital odontológico”.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Cobos-Torres, JC., Ramos, R., Ortega Castro, J.C., Ortega Lopez, M.F. (2020). Hearing Loss and Its Association with Clinical Practice at Dental University Students Through Mobile APP: A Longitudinal Study. In: Fosenca C, E., Rodríguez Morales, G., Orellana Cordero, M., Botto-Tobar, M., Crespo Martínez, E., Patiño León, A. (eds) Information and Communication Technologies of Ecuador (TIC.EC). TICEC 2019. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1099. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35740-5_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35740-5_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-35739-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-35740-5
eBook Packages: Intelligent Technologies and RoboticsIntelligent Technologies and Robotics (R0)