Enhancing Ergonomics in Paediatric Dentistry: A Longitudinal Study on the Role of Photography in Undergraduate Student Training.

Purpose: Dental surgeons are particularly exposed to musculoskeletal disorders. Ergonomics can help prevent them. Third-party ergonomic assessment is beneficial in the short term. However, self-assessment of one's working posture is even more valuable, as it fosters lifelong awareness.

Methods: Fifth year odontology students were randomly assigned to one of two groups (control and training) to evaluate whether a protocol for ergonomic self-assessment by paediatric odontology students, using photography, led to an improvement in their working position. The Modified-Dental Operator Posture Assessment Instrument was used.

Results: The study included 82 fifth-year odontology students who performed paediatric care between September 2022 and June 2023. A statistically significant difference was found between the control and training groups for both self-assessments (p < 0.001) and evaluator analyses (p < 0.001).

Conclusions: The longitudinal follow-up approach appears to be unique in the field of ergonomics education in dentistry. The results demonstrated a significant reduction in ergonomics scores for the group that received ergonomic advice and visual feedback compared to the control group. This improvement was confirmed both by evaluator-assigned scores and by students' self-assessments.