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Work-related contact dermatitis in dentistry

Work-related contact dermatitis[60] is the most common form of skin disease in the dental team.

Size of the problem?

Dental nurses, and to a lesser extent dentists, are at a greater risk of developing work-related contact dermatitis compared to other occupations

What is it?

Dermatitis is an inflammatory condition of the skin caused by outside agents which can result in irritation, redness, cracking and blistering.

Much less commonly seen skin problems, such as those due to contact urticaria, may be due to occupational exposure to natural latex rubber proteins in sensitised individuals. Use the "Latex" link to see more information about latex allergies.

Who is affected?

Work-related dermatitis can affect all members of the dental team who regularly wash their hands, are exposed to chemicals used in dental work and/or are exposed to rubber materials such as those in personal protective equipment.

Causes

The main causes of work-related contact dermatitis in these workers are rubber chemicals (eg carbamates, thirurams) which may be present in both natural rubber latex and synthetic rubber materials (eg nitrile), soaps/cleaners and 'wet-work' (eg having wet skin through frequent hand washing, surface cleaning). The skin of workers may also be exposed to other allergenic or irritating chemicals often used in dental practice (eg an X-ray developer).

Reduce the risks of work-related dermatitis

Advice for employees

  • Where practicable, use machinery and tools provided rather than hands (eg equipment cleaning machines).
  • During handwashing, thoroughly rinse off residual soap/hand cleanser.
  • Ensure your hands are thoroughly dry before continuing work.
  • Use emollient creams regularly, especially after finishing work. Ensure all parts of the hand are covered.
  • Check your skin for early signs and report concerns to your 'responsible person'. Early detection can help prevent more serious dermatitis from developing.

Advice for employers

To comply with the laws that apply[61], you need to carry out a risk assessment. Depending on the risks, put in place suitable measures to manage the risks or work-related contact dermatitis which may include:

  • Consider using less hazardous alternative approaches such as automation (eg an equipment washing machine), use of tools or less hazardous products.
  • Provide hand hygiene products (eg gentle soaps) that are both effective and minimise the risk of skin disease.
  • Train employees in use of equipment and gloves, correct hand cleaning and skin care measures (eg regular use of moisturisers). Downloadable posters[62] for information are available on this website.
  • Provide good hand-drying facilities (eg good-quality, soft paper towels).
  • Provide emollients in suitable dispensers to prevent cross-contamination.

Use a system of skin-checking[63] or other appropriate health surveillance to ensure preventative measures are working.

Useful links

Link URLs in this page

  1. Skin at workhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/index.htm
  2. Overview - Employers, employees and traineeshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/index.htm
  3. Overview - What are work-related skin diseases?https://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/whatare.htm
  4. Dermatitishttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/dermatitis.htm
  5. Urticariahttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/urticaria.htm
  6. Skin cancerhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/cancer.htm
  7. Sun exposurehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/sunprotect.htm
  8. Overview - Latex allergieshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/latex.htm
  9. Selecting latex gloveshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/latex-gloves.htm
  10. How does exposure happen?https://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/exposure.htm
  11. Overview - How can they be prevented?https://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/prevention.htm
  12. Gloveshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/gloves.htm
  13. High-risk jobshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/highrisk/index.htm
  14. What does the law say?https://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/law.htm
  15. Overview - H&S and medical professionalshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/index.htm
  16. Overview - Causes of skin diseasehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/causes/index.htm
  17. Causes of Contact dermatitishttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/causes/dermatitis.htm
  18. Causes of Contact urticariahttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/causes/urticaria.htm
  19. Causes of Acneshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/causes/acnes.htm
  20. Causes of Cancershttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/causes/cancers.htm
  21. Causes of Leucoderma (Vitiligo)https://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/causes/leucoderma.htm
  22. Structure and functions of the skinhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/causes/structure.htm
  23. Skin infectionshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/causes/infections.htm
  24. Overview - Causative agentshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/causes/agents.htm
  25. Skin irritants and sensitisershttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/causes/agentstable1.htm
  26. Causes of contact urticariahttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/causes/agentstable2.htm
  27. Agents that cause skin cancerhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/causes/agentstable3.htm
  28. Managing exposure riskshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/managerisk.htm
  29. Legal requirementshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/legal.htm
  30. Information for inspectorshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/inspectors.htm
  31. Training resourceshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/trainingresources.htm
  32. Overview - Resourceshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/information.htm
  33. Publicationshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/publications.htm
  34. Postershttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/posters.htm
  35. Overview - Case studieshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/casestudies/index.htm
  36. Photographic chemicalshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/casestudies/photographic.htm
  37. Tiler: Ted's storyhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/casestudies/tiler.htm
  38. Hairdressing: Maxine's storyhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/casestudies/hairdressers.htm
  39. Hairdressing: Julie's storyhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/casestudies/julie-hair.htm
  40. Hairdressing: Marie's storyhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/casestudies/marie-hair.htm
  41. Latex allergies - Nursinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/casestudies/alison-nursing.htm
  42. Latex allergies - Radiographyhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/casestudies/pip-radiographer.htm
  43. Latex allergies - Dental practicehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/casestudies/julie-dental.htm
  44. Catering industryhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/casestudies/catering.htm
  45. Meat processinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/casestudies/meatprocessing.htm
  46. Paint manufacturinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/casestudies/paint.htm
  47. Fabric coaterhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/casestudies/fabric.htm
  48. Image galleryhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/imagelibrary.htm
  49. Statisticshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/statistics.htm
  50. Researchhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/research.htm
  51. Presentationshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/presentations.htm
  52. Videoshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/videos.htm
  53. Linkshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/links.htm
  54. Overview - FAQshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/faq/index.htm
  55. General questionshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/faq/general.htm
  56. Hairdressing FAQhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/faq/hairdressing.htm
  57. Catering FAQhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/faq/catering.htm
  58. Cleaning FAQhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/faq/cleaning.htm
  59. Dental practice FAQhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/faq/dental.htm
  60. Work-related contact dermatitishttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/dermatitis.htm
  61. laws that applyhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/law.htm
  62. postershttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/posters.htm
  63. skin-checkinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/healthservices/faqs.htm#q12
  64. Dermatitis statisticshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/tables/index.htm#thor
  65. Latex allergieshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/latex.htm
  66. More health and safety issues in the Health and Social Services sectorhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/healthservices/index.htm
  67. Skin checks for dermatitis (Free poster)https://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/assets/docs/skindermatitis.pdf
  68. Keep your top on: INDG 147https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg147.pdf
  69. COSHH Essentialshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/coshh/index.htm
  70. HSE Bookshttps://books.hse.gov.uk/
  71. The National Eczema Societyhttp://www.eczema.org/
  72. Cateringhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/catering/index.htm
  73. Constructionhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/index.htm
  74. COSHHhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/coshh/index.htm
  75. Health serviceshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/healthservices/index.htm
  76. Printinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/printing/index.htm

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Updated 2021-05-04