​Doctoral thesis about saddle chairs in dentistry published

Research developed at UNICAMP, considered the best University in Brazil, according to the ranking of the General index of courses of the Ministry of education, in partnership with the FHO|UNIARARAS proved statistically that the impact of the seat saddle Salli in dental practic is more positive, when compared to conventional seat in some of the studied variables. The integrated studies doctoral thesis of Dentist and Physical Educator Giovana Renata Gouvêa, defended by the Graduate Program in dentistry, public health concentration area in December 2017.

The thesis contains two article. The result of the systematic review and meta-analysis (article 1) indicate that the saddle seat provides lower ergonomic risk than the conventional seat. In article 2, the randomized and controlled clinical trial aimed to assess, in dental students, the impact of saddle and conventional seats regarding the variables of center of gravity of frontal and lateral planes, functional impairment associated with the condition of cervical and low back pain, and seating satisfaction. After ten months of follow-up, a statistically significant reduction was observed for the daily problems related to neck pain, as well as an improvement in the projection of the center of gravity of the lateral plane for Intervention group - Salli Saddle Chair (p < 0.05) and a significant worsening in the means of projection of the center of gravity of the lateral plane for control group - conventional seat (p ≤ 0.05). The Salli saddle chair was better evaluated regarding seating satisfaction in all aspects (p < 0.001). The Salli saddle chair presented higher satisfaction and had a positive impact on lateral body alignment and on the daily problems regarding the cervical region, while the conventional seat presented a negative impact on lateral body alignment

Antonio Carlos Pereira, professor at UNICAMP with postdoctoral degrees at the Universities of Nijmegen (Netherlands) and Indiana University, IU Bloomington (USA), guided the research. The thesis, titled "THE DENTAL CLINICAL PRACTICE: ERGONOMIC ANALYSIS OF THE SITTING POSTURE", can be viewed in full here, and access is free.

Giovana Gouvêa, author of the study, and her advisor Antonio Carlos Pereira.

“This thesis is original and contributed to the development of scientific knowledge from three main points. Primarily, it is the first systematic review in the literature to investigate the influence of the type of seat on the ergonomic risk among dentists and/or dental students. Second, it is the first randomized and controlled clinical trial to assess the influence of different types of seats on dental students over one academic year in the clinical practices with patients. Third, it provides a background for further studies related to this topic, so this work may be a reference target for research in numerous fields of study, and it helps to decrease the lack of literature on the topic of the saddle seat in the dental practice”, concludes Giovana Gouvêa.

The researcher points out that, despite the ergonomic recommendations, dentists and dental academics often adopt inappropriate or vicious positions, which could cause harm to their health. The type of seat used can avoid deleterious effects therefore be beneficial in preventing pain and spinal dysfunctions. A seat that contemplates the ergonomic requirements is therefore postulated to reduce the occurrence of musculoskeletal symptoms. Thus, this thesis expands the choices of the dentist's work positions. The saddle seat can be a choice of dynamic sitting posture and more comfortable working position.