Why reaching and twisting are wrecking your body—and wasting time in dentistry

Have you stopped to consider why so many dental clinicians end up with pain or injuries? It’s not usually a sudden and dramatic event, but rather a gradual accumulation of damage from seemingly harmless micro habits. It's like “death by a thousand cuts,” but it’s a thousand ergonomic moves. Two of the most prevalent micro habits I've observed are reaching and twisting.

Just think about how you work while treating your patients. Are you constantly reaching for things that are too far away, or twisting continually to grab the suction that’s off to the side? During my assessments, I’ve seen clinicians reach and twist hundreds of times, and I’m typically watching them for only a short period of time. How much does that add up to at the end of the day, week, month, or year?

Another reason these maneuvers are so harmful is that they’re a literal waste of time. If you work in clinical dentistry or are about to, you understand that every second counts. What if you could free some precious minutes just by preventing these habits? And bonus: you’ll save energy.

Reaching and twisting in dental hygiene

Of course we have to reach for things as we provide patient care. What we want to avoid is the full arm extended reach, where the shoulder and elbow are fully engaged. What we do want is a nice, easy reach where we don’t have to extend the entire arm.

An easy fix for this is to plan ahead. What do you use most often during an appointment? For some, it’s their bracket table, and for others, it’s their suction or air/water. Be sure your most frequently used items are within easy reach. That’s it! And be sure to move these items with you as you move around the patient.

An example of twisting is when you reach across your body to grab something, such as a scaler or suction on the other side of them. Cross-body reaching is an ergonomic no-no. This is not only a reach, but a twist as well.

An easy way to test if you’re twisting is to ask yourself, “Am I squared up?” When I say squared up, I mean your head, shoulders, hips, legs, and feet should all be pointing in the same direction. If anything is pointing in a different direction, that’s a twist.

I have a technique that eliminates the need for this called the “hand-pass,” which is demonstrated in this video. It means picking something up from your tray with the nearest hand and passing it to your other hand instead of twisting to pick it up with both hands.

Twisting, like reaching, not only strains the body but also wastes precious time and energy.

Practicing dentistry is physically demanding, but it can be less so with a little ergonomic know-how, and by paying attention to the little things you do every day. Because those little things add up.