HPD

Aim: This paper aims to present the effect of noise on the auditory functions of dentists, recommendation for an annual hearing test and ways to combat noise at dental clinics on the basis of the findings of existing literature.
Materials and Methods: Various databases like Medline (National Center for Biotechnology information (NCBI), US National Library of Medicine (NLM)), PubMed, Google, Google Scholar were searched for the terms “Noise and Dentists”, “Instrumentation in dental places”, “Hearing thresholds for dentists”, “Hearing protection devices (HPD) for dentists” from 1960 till date. The important findings were documented in the narrative manner.
Results: Existing studies and the present review support the idea that dentists are at an increasing risk of developing hearing damage when exposed to high-levels of noise over a long duration. Dentists have been found to report elevated threshold values at high frequencies 4K, 6K indicating noise induced hearing loss (NIHL). Different dental instruments produce different amount of noise. Routine hearing examination and the use of hearing protection devices constitute the compulsory measures for the prevention of hearing loss.
Conclusion: The review and results show that hearing loss due to genetic factors or aging cannot be prevented but hearing loss caused due to noise exposure can be prevented by the use of hearing protection devices in noisy environments. Workers in noisy conditions often have low rates of hearing protection devices utilization. The reasons are many for not using hearing protection devices during noisy dental procedures including discomfort. Annual hearing tests are mandatory to diagnose the effects of noise and provide protection to those affected. The best way to protect themselves from the hazardous effects of noise for dentists is to ensure that they do not remain exposed for long hours to a noisy environment-clinics/laboratory.