Wellness Corner: Chained to the Desk—4 Ergonomic Solutions for the Dental Business Team
From greeting patients to nonstop phone calls, insurance claim coverage battles, and treatment plan presentations, sitting at the dental office front desk for long periods of time can take a toll on the body. Katrina Klein, RDH, CEAS, CPT, has some solutions you can use right away.
Despite the sophisticated business attire, the dental front office is not a glamorous job. The unyielding demand for attention starts with the first greetings and goes to nonstop phone calls, insurance claim/coverage battles, and treatment plan presentations that flow into the lunch break and well past the end of operating hours. Yes, this author may be a hygienist and ergonomics expert now, but the four-plus years working the front desk of dental offices left quite an unforgettable mark—not the least of which was an ergonomic struggle all its own.
What seems like a physically “simple” job of sitting at a desk answering a phone offers occupants slash captives a ton of associated body pain. Studies show that 40%–70% of office workers who sit at a desk for three to five hours per day experience pain, and that pain is dose-related. The longer we sit at a desk, the worse the pain and damage gets. The location of the body pain is slightly different in order of prevalence for front-office staff versus back-office staff, with low back being number one at 72.4%.1 In addition to back pain, 58% of desk workers report arm, neck, and shoulder pain...
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Despite the sophisticated business attire, the dental front office is not a glamorous job. The unyielding demand for attention starts with the first greetings and goes to nonstop phone calls, insurance claim/coverage battles, and treatment plan presentations that flow into the lunch break and well past the end of operating hours. Yes, this author may be a hygienist and ergonomics expert now, but the four-plus years working the front desk of dental offices left quite an unforgettable mark—not the least of which was an ergonomic struggle all its own.
What seems like a physically “simple” job of sitting at a desk answering a phone offers occupants slash captives a ton of associated body pain. Studies show that 40%–70% of office workers who sit at a desk for three to five hours per day experience pain, and that pain is dose-related. The longer we sit at a desk, the worse the pain and damage gets. The location of the body pain is slightly different in order of prevalence for front-office staff versus back-office staff, with low back being number one at 72.4%.1 In addition to back pain, 58% of desk workers report arm, neck, and shoulder pain...
Click Here To Read More