A study on the illumination of dental clinic

Choi, Jong In; Kim, Yu Lee; Dong, Jin Keun

Abstract

Purpose: This study was designed to investigate the present conditions of illumination techniques in dental clinics in order to contribute improvement of operating environment. This study also aimed exploring qualitative and quantitative luminous intensity required for color temperature in dental clinic illumination, which was a critical part of esthetic dentistry.
Materials and methods
A total of forty-eight local dental clinics were selected for sampling a) luminous intensity, and b) color temperature. The author measured the luminous intensity and the color temperature with lux meter and color meter respectively between 12pm and 2pm. The dental unit chair placed in the general operation positions were kept the distance 60 cm, then all dental units were measured three times and averaged. The author measured the luminous intensity and color temperature with both common dental operating light and then without operating light in different office environments. The study was conducted under three conditions: 1. artificial illumination in clear day light 2. artificial illumination in cloudy day light, and 3. artificial illumination alone.
Results
The results obtained were as follows. 1. The average luminous intensity in dental clinic lighting was 425 lux which was not sufficient to produce the optimal shade of the patient's teeth. Furthermore, the average luminous intensity even in full operating lighting was 9532 lux which fell short of the required level of 10,000 lux. 2. The average color temperature of all dental clinics surveyed was 5169 K which met the optimal range. However, only 33.3% fell in the correct region between 5,000-5,500 K as 25% were over 5,500 K and 41.6% were below 5,000 K. As a result, 66.7% were under insufficient color temperature conditions. 3. The dental unit chair placed next to a window, hence exposure to natural lighting, had significantly higher luminous intensity and color temperature compared to the dental unit chair which didn't have a window or natural lighting. 4. The data analysis revealed that only 6.3% of the dental clinic were met the standard of the average luminous intensity and color temperature.