Use of surgical telescopes by senior dental students: a survey

Magnification: The game changer in dentistry

During dental examinations and treatments, many dentists are using magnification to improve their vision. The dental operating microscope serves as the most effective tool for this purpose, enhancing the quality, longevity, and outcome of clinical work. This review will explore the latest research and data on the importance of magnification devices in dentistry, including diagnostic methods, treatment options and ergonomics in specialities such as restorative dentistry, endodontics, pedodontics, periodontics, and prosthodontics. This review aims to provide insights into the optimal magnification for different clinical situations, the specific benefits of dental operating microscopes for each dental branch, and their limitations.

The advantages of the dental operative microscope in restorative dentistry

Magnification devices improve direct and indirect vision and precision being significantly higher in microscope use compared to the loupes. Dental loupes are the most commonly used devices for magnification, due to the more affordable prices and the ease of use without major changes in the working protocol and ergonomics. Loupes primary benefits reported refers to ergonomics and posture, restoration evaluation/detection and overall treatment quality. There are some disadvantages that limit the use of loupes among dentists: lack of fixed position (fine movements of the dentist’s head disturb the image of the magnified operating field); the need to change the loupes to achieve different magnification. On the contrary, the use of a dental microscope require minimum adjustment and effort so as to reduce postural deviation while working.

It has been more than 30 years since dental practitioners raised the issue of using dental operating microscopes (DOM) in restorative dentistry, identifying the benefits of magnification in diagnosis and treatment steps. The growth is evident in recent years, maybe because of the familiarity of dentists with dental microscopes which have already become implicit endowment for endodontic specialists. Fiber optic lighting is the key factor that complements the magnification offered by the microscope so that treatments can now be performed under increased safety conditions and in conditions of significantly higher quality than in the past.

Since the beginning of the 2000s the principles of minimally invasive dentistry have been widely promoted in dentistry. These principles are major impetus for the use of microscope by dentists. Working with magnification leads dentists to be more conservative with dental tissues.

Magnification in endodontics: A review of its application and acceptance among dental practitioners

The application of magnification devices in endodontics is mainly meant for visual enhancement and improved ergonomics. This is crucial especially when long hours are spent in a narrow operating space to treat obscure microanatomy. Nevertheless, application of magnification in endodontics has yet to be introduced into the mainstream practice due to various influences in behavioral patterns. By conducting an extensive literature search in the PubMed database, this narrative review paper depicts the present state of magnification devices, their applications within the endodontic practice, factors that influence their usage, the advantages, and shortcomings, as well as the significances of magnification in the field of endodontics. This review paper will encourage clinicians to employ magnification in their practice for improved outcome.

Awareness, Attitude, and Prevalence of usage of magnification devices among the dental practitioners in the state of Andhra Pradesh - A questionnaire-based study

Background:

Dentistry, dealing with teeth and supporting tissues in the oral cavity is not only an ever-evolving science but also an art combined with good eye-hand coordination. It not only encompasses clinical and theoretical skills which play a crucial role in the success of therapy but also a lot of intrinsic work is accomplished in dentistry. In a journey to fulfill the above accomplishments and for facilitating early diagnosis of pathologies which usually go unnoticed, a clearer and magnified field of vision are also essential. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the awareness, attitude, and prevalence of the usage of magnification devices among the dental practitioners in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

Materials and Methods:

A questionnaire-based study was conducted to assess the awareness, attitude, and prevalence of magnification devices among the 370 dental practitioners in Andhra Pradesh. All the participants were provided with a prestructured questionnaire comprising of 24 questions and answering was completely self-based.

Results:

Among the participants, majority were aware about magnification in dentistry (91.1%), and also of the different types of magnification devices available (90.5%). On the other hand, when the reason for not using magnification devices was taken into consideration, 32.7% attributed that they have not experienced the devices and 32.4% felt that devices were too expensive. Moreover, when regarding the usage of devices was taken into account, only 23.8% of the total participants were exposed to the usage of magnification aids.

Conclusion:

Among the selected group of participants, even though majority were aware of magnification in dentistry its application in practice was very less.

Visual Acuity and Experience with Magnification Devices in Swiss Dental Practices

Objectives

The aims of the present study in Swiss dental practices were 1) to provide an update on the prevalence of different magnification devices, 2) to examine the relationship between self-assessed and objectively measured visual acuity, and 3) to evaluate the visual performance of dentists in the individually optimized clinical situation of their respective practices.

Methods and Materials

Sixty-nine dentists from 40 randomly selected private practices (n=20, <40 years; n=49, ≥40 years) participated in the study. A questionnaire was provided to evaluate the self-assessed near visual acuity and the experience with magnification devices. The objective near visual acuity was measured under standardized conditions on a negatoscope. The clinical situation, including the use of habitual optical aids, was evaluated with visual tests on a phantom head.

Results

A total of 64% of the dentists owned a dental loupe: 45% Galilean loupes, 16% Keplerian loupes, and 3% single lens loupes. In total, 19% of the questioned dentists owned a microscope in addition to the loupes. The correlation between the self-assessed and the objective visual performance of the dentists was weak (Spearman rank correlation coefficient=0.25). In the habitual clinical situation, magnification devices (p=0.03) and the dentist's age (p=0.0012) had a significant influence on the visual performance.

Conclusions

Many dentists were not aware of their visual handicaps. Optical aids such as loupes or microscopes should be used early enough to compensate for individual or age-related visual deficiencies.

Influence of loupes and age on the near visual acuity of practicing dentists

We evaluated the near visual acuity of 40 dentists and its improvement by using different magnification devices. The acuity was tested with miniaturized E-optotype tests on a negatoscope under the following conditions: 1. natural visual acuity, 300 mm; 2. single lens loupe, 2×, 250 mm; 3. Galilean loupe, 2.5×, 380 mm; and 4. Keplerian loupe, 4.3×, 400 mm. In part 1, the influence of the magnification devices was investigated for all dentists. The Keplerian loupe obtained the highest visual acuity (4.64), followed by the Galilean loupe (2.43), the single lens loupe (1.42), and natural visual acuity (1.19). For part 2, the dentists were classified according to their age (<∕≥40 years). The younger dentists' group achieved a significantly higher visual acuity with all magnification devices (p<0.001). For part 3, the dentists were grouped according to their natural visual acuity. The group with the higher natural visual acuity achieved significantly higher visual acuity with all magnification devices than did the group of dentists with the lower natural visual acuity (p<0.01). It can be concluded that near visual acuity varies highly between individuals and decreases during the lifetime. Independent of age or natural vision, visual acuity can be significantly improved by using magnification devices.