Posture and Prevention: Evaluating an Exercise Program for Dental Students

NCT06933485 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: 6553TÖBAP-2024-6553
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 30
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are a major public health concern, involving inflammatory and degenerative issues in muscles, tendons, joints, and nerves. Commonly caused by repetitive strain and poor posture, these disorders are highly prevalent among dental professionals due to their physically demanding work environments. Studies show that 64% to 93% of dentists experience MSDs during their careers, often beginning during dental education. Dental students, exposed to hands-on clinical training from early on, face physical strain without sufficient ergonomic awareness. Poor working posture, prolonged procedures, and static positions increase the risk significantly. Recent findings at Akdeniz University reveal that 90.8% of fourth- and fifth-year dental interns reported MSD symptoms, especially in the neck, back, and shoulders. Alarmingly, only 21.7% engaged in regular physical activity, although 85.5% were interested in learning preventive exercises. These results underline the urgent need for early ergonomic education and physical activity. Even with proper posture, over 50% of muscles remain contracted to maintain dental working positions, leading to fatigue and pain. Incorporating structured, posture-oriented stretching and strengthening exercises can help prevent these issues. Scientific studies confirm that regular stretching improves joint lubrication, circulation, and muscular relaxation, while reducing pain and preventing trigger points. Short sessions during clinical work have been shown to reduce MSD symptoms effectively. In response, a Posture-Oriented Exercise Program is being developed for Akdeniz University dental students under physiotherapy guidance. Supported by the Özlenen Student Scientific Research Project, this initiative aims to raise awareness, promote musculoskeletal health, and build long-term professional well-being. The program includes practical, supervised exercises and will evaluate outcomes such as posture, pain levels, and ergonomic habits. This project could serve as a model for integrating physical health education into dental curriculums, improving both student welfare and the sustainability of dental practice.

Conditions

Postural Instability; Dentistry; Musculoskeletal

Keywords

postural disorders; dentistry students; pain; exercises; musculoskeletal disease

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Quality Of Life Questionnaire

  The study uses the Short-Form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire to collect information about the participant's health-related quality of life (QOL). The SF-36 assesses eight domains of health-related QOL, namely, physical functioning (PF), role limitations due to physical problems (RP), role limitations due to emotional problems (RE), energy/vitality (V), mental health (MH), social functioning (SF), bodily pain (BP), and general perception of health (GH). Each dimension is scored from 0 to 100 %, with higher scores indicating a better quality of life. In this study, both the eight subscale scores and the two summary measures including the physical component summary (PCS) (a sum of scores of functional capacity, physical aspects, pain, and general health divided into 4) and the mental component summary (MCS) (a sum of vitality, social aspects, emotional aspects, and mental health divided into 4) were evaluated.

  1 week

• Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ-7)

  The modified NORDIC questionnaire questions whether there is pain on a figure that anatomically shows nine areas of the body (neck, shoulder, back, elbow, hand/wrist, waist, hip/thigh, knee, foot/ankle) and the severity of this pain (0 points no pain, 10 points the most severe pain known) with the Visual Analog Scale (VAS).

  1 week

• Spinal Mobility

  Spinal Mouse Device: Thoracic angle and lateral inclination of the spine measures with the Spinal Mouse device (Idiag, Fehraltorf, Switzerland), which is a non-invasive, computer-aided, easy-to-use device that provides valid and reliable results when compared to radiographic analyses. The measurements are maden by a physiotherapist. The patient's demographic information (name, surname, gender, year of birth) is recorded on the computer with the Spinal Mouse device software. The patient is asked to stand in the most comfortable position with their back visible. The Spinal Mouse device is placed on the 7th cervical vertebra and the recording is started by pressing the button on it. The device moves on the skin from the 7th cervical vertebra to the 3rd sacral vertebra along the line of the spinous processes marked by its wheels. After reaching the sacral 3 level, the recording is completed by pressing the button on the device again.

  1 week

Study Arms (1)

Postural exercise group

EXPERIMENTAL

The intervention group contains a combination of the postural exercises and education. One hour of each training consists of the postural exercise practice and education

Other: Exercise

Interventions

Exercise OTHER

These sessions of the postural exercise aim to increase student's knowledge and awarenes their benefits for trunk stabilization, posture correction and diaphragmatic breathing will be explained by the expert physiotherapist. In the exercise planning; the exercise session start with warm-up exercises; A transition to the flow of exercise is ensured with warm-ups that include arm, leg and trunk movements for approximately 10 minutes, and then all extremities are worked for approximately 40 minutes in the main exercise session to ensure trunk alignment. The last 10 minutes of the exercise session is completed with approximately 10 minutes of cool-down exercises to which light stretching is added, making the exercise session a total of 60 minutes.

Postural exercise group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 25 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Being a student studying at Akdeniz University Faculty of Dentistry
• Individuals who volunteer to participate in the study
• No harm to exercise by the doctor
• Participants who experienced musculoskeletal pain during the past 3 month, at least in one of the examined body regions (i.e., the neck, shoulders, upper back and lower back)

You may not qualify if:

• History of traumatic or surgical intervention of spine
• Any orthopedic, neurological, respiratory, or circulatory disorders
• Participation in professional sports training or a structured exercise program within the previous six months
• The current use of pain medications or muscle relaxants.
• Being over 25 years

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Akdeniz University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Akdeniz University Destistry Faculty

Antalya, 07070, Turkey (Türkiye)

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Pain; Motor Activity; Musculoskeletal Diseases

Interventions

Exercise

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Neurologic Manifestations; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Behavior

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Motor Activity; Movement; Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena

Study Officials

• Alper Kustarcı, Profesor

  Akdeniz University

  STUDY CHAIR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator, PhD.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 11, 2025
• First Posted: April 18, 2025
• Study Start: January 1, 2024
• Primary Completion: June 1, 2024
• Study Completion: April 1, 2025
• Last Updated: May 14, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-04

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

TU (1)