Hearing threshold evaluation of dentists in Babol (North of Iran)

Noise in dental offices is one of the risk factors in the workplace. One of the major effects of noise is hearing loss. This study aimed to determine the effects of noise on hearing thresholds of dentists of Babol city. This descriptive analytical cross-sectional study was performed on 40 dentists in Babol City (as case group) and 40 office workers (as control group). Hearing thresholds were measured from all the subjects. The mean hearing threshold was calculated at different frequencies in each group and compared with the number 15 db. The data were analyzed by statistical software SPSS 17 and p≤0.05was considered significant. The mean and standard deviation of hearing thresholds for the right ear of dentists and the control group without considering the different frequencies were 13.6156±9.14210 db and 10.0156±5.4488 db (p=0.036), respectively and for the left ear were 12.5115±8.7609 db and 10.059±5.9254 db respectively. Hearing threshold of right and left ear of young and middle age dentists was not significant. The hearing thresholds of the dentists with work experience of 15 years or less were not significant for the right and left ear. Auditory thresholds were significant between male and female only for the left ear (p=0.02). There was a change in hearing thresholds at all frequencies. A clear difference was in the left ear of men and women and hearing loss was higher in men. Also, age and working experience were not among the contributing factors to the incidence of noise-induced hearing loss.