Prevalence of contact dermatitis among dental personnel in a Swedish ruralcounty

The use of acrylate-based polymers in dental care in Sweden has increased d ramatically in recent years. Acrylate monomers are sensitizers and can caus e contact dermatitis. Allergy to latex, e.g. in rubber gloves, is also an i ncreasing problem in health care and especially in dental care. The aim was to estimate the prevalences of work related allergies in dental personnel in a Swedish county with almost 700 dentists, dental nurses and dental hygi enists. A questionnaire was distributed to all dental care units in the county and 98% of the population completed it. Specific allergy was verified with stan dard patch and prick testing. Work related allergy symptoms were reported b y 189 subjects, 28%. The prevalences of acrylate eczema and latex allergy w ere 3,0% and 3,7% respectively. The prevalence of all work related skin all ergy was estimated to 8%. The estimated prevalence of acrylate allergy was close to those of a few other published reports. However, the prevalence of hypersensitivity to latex rubber was lower than those reported from other studies. It is concluded that almost one dental care worker out of ten has a risk of contact dermatitis, unless measures to reduce hazardous exposure have been taken.