Association of Scapular Stability and Distal Extremity Functioning in Dental Professionals

Background: Dental professionals require a steady hand and steady posture to maintain during their work. Maintaining posture in a position of shoulder elevation and abduction to perform fine dental tasks can lead to the involvement of scapular musculature and pain in the upper quadrant. This study helps establish the correlation between distal extremity and upper quadrant functioning in dental professionals. Methodology: The study included 384 dental professionals. The analysis of scapular stability measure was done by lateral scapular slide test, scapular index, scapular dyskinesia yes/no test, scapular assistance test, and scapular repositioning test. Individual muscle strength of scapular muscles was done. Distal extremity functioning was analyzed by the Purdue pegboard test and the hand grip strength. Results: In the lateral scapular slide test, the scapular index was statistically not significant (p-value > 0.05) while the strength of scapular muscles is statistically significant (p-value < 0.05) with dominant distal end extremity functioning. Conclusion: There is a significant association between muscle strength of various scapular stabilizers & no association of scapula static position measures with distal extremity functioning.