"I am a dentist and I am not at risk of any health and physical occupational illnesses as what manual laborers and workers do". This is one of the many myths about the dental career that many new and old dentists still believe even until this very day. Many young people strive hard to finish their studies and endure having large amount of loans for dental school because they think of dentistry as a way to avoid getting any occupational illness in the future like most of the manual workers do. Of course, this is just one of the many reasons why they enroll at the dental school. The fact is, being a professional does not guarantee that you will be hundred percent free from any occupational pain.

Dental Loupe

Working long hours, striving to focus on small and intricate details of the teeth, trying to get in control of your eye-hand coordination, forcing your eyes to see clearly despite the challenging and shaded working environment (which is the oral cavity), and staying in an unnatural and unhealthy bending position for extended periods of time are never easy. Even just imagining these things can make you feel as if you are having eye and body pain. As you see, a dental career can also cause you so much musculoskeletal pain.

A couple of years back, topics related to the long-term health and physical risks of the dental practice are seldom being talked about on dental forums and even at school. This is one of the reasons why such misconception was born. Thankfully, this misconception about dental career is now being slowly resolved with the help of technological advancement and the widespread awareness of the real long-term risks associated with the dental practice.

Can these health and physical risks be minimized?

Yes. That's the quick answer to this question.

How? There are a lot of ways to minimize your risk to physical and health issues. One of these ways is to use ergonomically designed dental devices and tools like the dental loupes and dental headlights.

Ergonomically designed dental magnification loupes

Dental loupes are magnification devices that enlarge the things that you see within your field of view. They make it easier for you to see the oral cavity of your patient more closely and clearly without having to bend forward and to keep such uncomfortable position for extended periods of time. This allows you to work within a specified working distance and to maintain a healthy posture while performing dental procedures. And because you are working in a healthy and neutral posture, your muscles and skeletal system are held in a relaxed position, thus reducing the likelihood of straining them.

Dental Headlight

High-quality dental headlight

Most of the time, using just the dental loupes is not enough to get a better access to the oral cavity. To optimize the benefits that the dental optical loupes offer, you may add a high quality portable dental headlight. Unlike the overhead lamp, dental headlights offer a more stable illumination which is necessary for dental operations.

Buying these expensive dental tools may be a kind of luxury for some people. However, for those dentists and dental professionals who truly understand the benefits of using these tools, they consider both the dental loupes and headlights a must for career longevity and for better