Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders among Dentists in Iran: A Systematic Review

INTRODUCTION: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) have become significant problems for all health care workers especially dentists. This systematic review provides prevalence of MSD in dentists of Iran. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this study all published literatures about MSD in Iranian dentists were selected without any time limits or other restrictions. However, it was found that the studies about MSD among Iranian dentist are very low. RESULTS: The results of literatures investigations show that the prevalence was between 0.5% and 70%. The prevalence of pain in different regions includes; neck pain (0.7- 0.15), back pain (0.08 - 0.55), wrist pain (0.005-0.48), shoulder pain (0.08-0.5), knee pain (0.03- 0.25) and elbow pain (0.01- 0.2). The gender has no influence on the prevalence. Compare the results with other similar studies shows that the prevalence of MSD is an important issue in other area too. CONCLUSION: Results show that the prevalence of musculoskeletal problems is high in Iran. Therefore it is necessary conduct reliable and comprehensive epidemiological studies in this field to determine the causes of the problem more consciously; and propose appropriate solutions.