To investigate the effects of stretching and relaxation exercises on painful upper extremity musculoskeletal problems of dentists and dentists

Mustafa Rıdvan CEYLAN, To investigate the effects of stretching and relaxation exercises on painful upper extremity musculoskeletal problems of dentists and dentists, Hasan Kalyoncu University, Institute of Health Sciences, Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Master's Program with Thesis, Gaziantep, 2019. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of upper extremity stretching and relaxation exercises in dentists and dentistry students. 54 dental students, 47 dentists were included in the study. Dentists with 1-4 years of professional experience as dentists and dentists with more than 4 years of professional experience; dentistry students were divided into 1st Grade undergraduate students and Grade 4 undergraduate students. The participants planned a home exercise program with printed material. Participants; demographic characteristics, physical activity habits, pain levels and degrees of musculoskeletal problems were recorded before and after the 6-week exercise program. Mc Gıll - Melzack (MPQ) pain questionnaire was used to measure the pain, localization of pain, the relationship between pain and the severity of pain. Upper limb stretching and relaxation exercises were performed in the form of 1 set 10 repetitions for 6 weeks. As a result of the study, it was found that the pain was decreased when pain was compared before and after the treatment, the state of pain preventing the doing work decreased and the physical activity increased (p <0.5). When the groups were compared, it was observed that Grade 4 students had lower levels of pain compared to other groups (p> 0.5). In conclusion, it has been observed that upper extremity stretching and relaxation exercises in dentists have a decreasing effect on pain and musculoskeletal problems and have an increase in physical activity level. Key Words: Dentists, Musculoskeletal Pain, Muscle Stretching Exercises, McGill Pain Questionnaire.