Article Text
Abstract
Introduction Dental technicians are exposed to various chemicals, including silica particles and metals. The aim of this study is to explore the pneumoconiosis risk among dental technicians.
Methods This is a cross-sectional study. We reviewed medical records of patients diagnosed with pneumoconiosis who were admitted to outpatient occupational disease centre between 2013 and 2015. Pneumoconiosis was diagnosed by X-ray radiograms in accordance to ILO procedures and with High Resolution Computarized Tomography (HRCT).
Result Pneumoconiosis was diagnosed in 46 (65.7%) of the 70 dental technicians who were referred to our hospital. There were 45 (97.8%) male and 1 (2.2%) female cases. Radiologically, 16 cases were defined as 2/3 or more of profusion and 11 cases had large opacity. In 3 (6,5%) cases who had profusion 0/1, The most frequent findings are micronodules and lymphadenopathy in HRCT. Consolidation, conglomerate masses and ground glass opacities are also described alongside the reticular opacities. There was a poor correlation between pulmonary function tests and profusion, (correlation coefficient were between: −0,18 and −0,058). There was no correlation observed between profusion and age started to work and exposure duration.
Discussion The study showed that pneumoconiosis among dental technicians is a great risk. Especially sandblasting procedures is raise the risk of pneumoconiosis. This shows that there are serious limitations in control measures and employee’ health monitoring.