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Hearing Loss and Its Association with Clinical Practice at Dental University Students Through Mobile APP: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract:

In Ecuador, hearing loss ranks third amongst the most common chronic physical condition. Dentists are health professionals who are exposed to harmful noises from equipment in their clinics and may suffer hearing loss. This research seeks to prove if the persistent high-frequency sounds produced by dental equipment could cause hearing decrement among dental students during the fifth semester of their studies. The present study was conducted on 70 students from the Faculty of Odontology belonging to the Academic Unit of Health and Welfare at the University of Cuenca in their fifth cycle during the second semester 2016–2017. In a soundproofed room, audiometry was done on ten students per day through the application “hearing test” by Marcin Malaski, 1.1.3 version. Based on studies, they revealed that 40% of the students who did not have any hearing loss started to experience some form of hearing impairment. The 10% of students that had a mild hearing loss reached a moderate hearing loss. In the case of gender, 5% of male students changed their hearing level from a mild hearing loss to a moderate after their clinic activities. Among women 1.18% it had expressed a change from a mild hearing loss to a moderate. According to the project results, the noise exposure for five or six months in university dental clinic may cause hearing impairments. Therefore, it is highly recommended the use of hearing protectors for students as well as teachers.