ERGONOMIC PRACTICE IN DENTAL CLINICS AND MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS AMONG DENTISTS IN GEORGIA.

The dental profession is associated with occupational health problems. The working environment of a dentist is associated with ergonomic risk factors that can significantly reduce the dentist's working ability and even cause the termination of his/her professional activity. Numerous studies have been conducted in different countries (Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Australia, etc.) to assess the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in dentists, though no studies related to the principles of ergonomics in dentistry have been carried out in Georgia. The study aimed to assess the ergonomics of the working environment of dentists in Tbilisi (capital city of Georgia) clinics and to identify the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among them. An observational descriptive study was conducted in April-July 2023 in Tbilisi. A special questionnaire of 40 questions was designed based on international experience. The survey was conducted by random sampling in selected dental clinics. Dentists were asked to fill out the questionnaire during their free time between patient appointments. Those who agreed to participate were provided with electronic versions of the questionnaire. Five hundred dentists were invited to participate in the survey, of whom 314 (62.8%) agreed to fill out the questionnaire. A total of 291 fully completed questionnaires were used for the descriptive statistical analysis. Our study shows that in Tbilisi clinics dentists work on average for 5-6 days (48.8% - 6 days, 37.1% - 5 days) or 40-48 hours a week. A majority of respondents said their workplace met the requirements of ergonomics (it had a good lighting, the chair had a back, instruments could be easily reached), yet most of them rarely lean on the backrest, never or rarely use the hand rest method, and never or rarely do light physical exercise during breaks. The survey shows that 53.6% of dentists most frequently suffer from pain in the back, followed by pain in the neck (50.9%), shoulders (47.9%) and lower back (47.1%). Most of them said they had to work less because of the pain. Introduction of the principles of ergonomics in dental profession is vital for preventing occupational musculoskeletal disorders. It is important to provide continuing professional development programs and information booklets for dentists and thematic online webinars for the management of dental clinics in Georgia.

; ERGONOMIC PRINCIPLES IN MEDICINE AND DENTISTRY (REVIEW).

Ergonimics is the science of labor. The subject of its research is the interrelationship between human, technology and the environment in the labor process. The development of ergonomics is closely related to the level of socio-economic development of the Country. The principles of ergonomics are becoming increasingly important in managing all areas of medicine. Since dentistry is one of the fastest growing areas of medicine in terms of technology, it is important to constantly monitor the requirements of ergonomics in order to ensure technological progress with adequate labor recommendations that will help specialists adapt to innovations and thus improve the quality of service.; In dentistry the effectiveness of the labor process is determined by the qualification of the workers, the specifics of working conditions and the adaptations of the personal to this conditions. The development of the correct recommendations on this issue is one of the most important tasks of ergonomics, however, the practical implementation of such recommendations is somewhat problematic. The presented review discusses the conditions for introducing ergonomic principles and risk factors that cause the incomplete implementation of these principles. The review is based on the articles published over the past 5 years in journals indexed in the Science Direct, Scopus, and PubMed databases. The analysis of the collected information revealed the necessity of:; - studying of the patterns of interaction between human, equipment (technology) and environmental factors in order to improve the activities of service providers;; - ergonomic assessment of working conditions and dynamic detection of "occupational harmful factors" to create an ergonomic environment reflecting the changes of the socio-economic conditions in the Country;; - development of the theoretical bases of the functioning of the "human-operator", taking into account the operating conditions of technological systems and the peculiarities of environmental factors;; - development of ergonomic prognoses and hypotheses for the development and improvement of the human labor process.