Hearing thresholds among dental professionals and students: early identification of occupational hearing loss using conventional and advanced audiological assessments

Abstract Dental professionals may exhibit early signs of hearing loss, particularly at high frequencies. Conventional audiometry (CA) may not detect the earliest cochlear changes, whereas extended high-frequency audiometry (EHFA) and distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) may identify early auditory alterations. In this study, we evaluated and compared auditory function between dental professionals and dental students using CA, EHFA, and DPOAEs. We recruited 74 participants, comprising 30 dental professionals and 44 dental students. We collected data using otoscopic examinations and audiological assessments in a sound-treated room. Dental professionals had significantly higher hearing thresholds than dental students at 1, 3, 6, and 8 kHz (all p < 0.05). EHFA demonstrated significantly elevated hearing thresholds across 9–16 kHz, while DPOAE amplitudes were significantly lower at most tested frequencies ( p < 0.05 at 11 of 13 frequencies), findings consistent with early noise-related cochlear dysfunction. Together, the CA, EHFA, and DPOAE findings indicate a pattern of hearing changes observed between dental professionals and dental students. These findings emphasise the importance of combining advanced audiological assessments with routine occupational hearing screening, particularly for dental professionals exposed to multiple sources of occupational noise.