Increase in occupational skin diseases of dental personnel

Occupational diseases of dentists and dental nurses were compiled from the Finnish Register of Occupational Diseases. The cases were recorded during 3 3-year observation periods, namely 1982-1984, 1986-1988, and 1992-1994 (i. e., 9 observation years). The relative risk of developing occupational alle rgic contact dermatitis in different occupations was calculated from the st atistics of the years 1986-1991, and was expressed as the age-standardized rate ratio (SRR). During the 9 observation years, the majority of registere d occupational diseases of dentists and dental nurses were skin diseases (2 21/312; 70.8%), followed by occupational repetitive strain injuries (61/312 ; 19.6%) and occupational respiratory diseases (20/312; 6.4%). The incidenc e rate (IR) for allergic contact dermatoses/10,000 workers (contact urticar ia included) increased from 26 (95% confidence interval (CI) 16-40) in 1982 -1984 to 79 (95% CI 64-97) in 1992-1994. The IR/10 000 of allergic contact dermatoses increased especially for dentists, from 5.4 (95% CI 0.7-19) in 1 982 to 67 (95% CI 45-95) in 1992-1994. The increase of the IR/10 000 dental nurses was smaller: from 43 (95% CI 26-66) in 1982-1984 to 87 (95% CI 67-1 11) in 1992-1994. There was no increase in the IR/10 000 cases of irritant dermatoses. The most common causes of allergic contact dermatitis were plas tics, disinfectants and antimicrobials, rubber chemicals, and mercury/mercu ry salts. The most common causes of irritant contact dermatitis were deterg ents, wet and dirty work, plastic chemicals and antimicrobials. Currently, Finnish dentists have the highest risk and dental nurses have the 4th highe st risk of any occupation for developing occupational allergic contact derm atitis: the risk was 6.4-fold (SRR 6.4) in dentists and 6.1-fold in dental nurses, as compared to the general working population. It is evident that s afer acrylics and protective gloves, better product declarations and materi al safety data sheets, as well as more information about protective measure s, including non-touch working techniques, are needed.