Safeguarding the physical well-being of dentists

Our plain-English summary of Safeguarding the physical well-being of dentists, by M. Wagner (The Journal of the American Dental Association, 1985).

The study

• Author: M. Wagner
• Journal: The Journal of the American Dental Association
• Published: 1985;110(1):16-24
• Cited by: 1 article, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This was a feature article by a senior editor of ADA News that surveyed occupational health hazards for dentists. It did not report a new study. It covered back pain, foot problems, office noise, eye problems, nitrous oxide, mercury, asbestos, beryllium and infectious diseases, drawing on published literature, the ADA's Dentist's Desk Reference and comments from experts. On asbestos, the article described concern about dentists inhaling fibers released from asbestos casting ring liners. It said these liners become brittle during heat treatment and release fibers when the mold is taken apart. It also noted that asbestos had been a component of some periodontal dressings. It stated that exposure to airborne asbestos fibers has been associated with lung cancer and with pulmonary asbestosis and fibrosis. It cited a separate Norwegian study that measured 21 and 27 fibers per cubic centimeter in the air during mold dismantling, which the article described as greater than the OSHA standards. It passed on recommendations from ADA councils and the Desk Reference, including using only asbestos-free periodontal dressings, handling asbestos wet, and substituting a kaolin-type material in casting ring liners.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Narrative feature article (journalistic overview of occupational hazards in dentistry, drawing on literature, ADA guidance and expert interviews); not an original study. It includes a separate sidebar on stress by other authors.
• Who was studied: Practicing dentists and dental personnel in general (mainly in the United States); no specific study sample for the asbestos section
• Exposure: Among many hazards discussed: asbestos fibers released into the air from casting ring liners, and asbestos in some periodontal dressings (fiber type not specified)
• Main results:
  • The article stated that asbestos casting ring liners become brittle during heat treatment and release fibers when the mold is dismantled.
  • A separate Norwegian study cited by the article (Brune and Beltesbrekke) measured asbestos concentrations of 21 and 27 fibers/cm3 in the air during a mold dismantling procedure. The article described these as significantly greater than the OSHA standards.
  • The article described the OSHA standards as a maximum of 2 fibers longer than 5 (unit garbled in the scan) per cm3 over an 8-hour period, and 10 fibers/cm3 at any time.
  • The article stated that exposure to airborne asbestos fibers has been associated with lung cancer and with pulmonary asbestosis and fibrosis. Mesothelioma was not mentioned.
  • The article reported that two ADA councils advised dentists to use only periodontal dressings that do not contain asbestos.
  • The article reported that the Dentist's Desk Reference recommended handling and storing asbestos in a wet state.
  • The article reported that the Dentist's Desk Reference recommended substituting a kaolin-type material for asbestos in casting ring liners.
• The authors' conclusion: The article framed dentists' occupational hazards as challenges that the profession and allied fields were responding to with new strategies and equipment. It drew no specific conclusion about asbestos beyond relaying recommendations.

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