Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are concerning among dental students. The study aims to compare the prevalence of MSDs between male and female dental students. A total of 63 dental students completed the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire. The results showed that female students had a higher prevalence of symptoms in the neck and lower back compared to those of the male students. In the weekly assessment, male students had a higher occurrence of symptoms in the hands and wrists. These findings emphasize the need to address musculoskeletal issues among dental students, targeting their different etiologies to prevent disabilities and early retirements associated with MSDs.

Changes in postural control associated with clinical practice or specific conditions such as the presence of neck pain remain unexplored in dental students. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the time-course changes in postural control complexity among dental students enrolled in clinical practice, comparing those with and without neck pain. We used an online Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire for group allocation and center of pressure (CoP) oscillations with a tri-axial Bertec force plate. Baseline data were acquired from dental students with neck pain (NP) (n = 21) and asymptomatic in a control group (n = 23), before starting their clinical practice, and assessments were repeated after their first semester. CoP fluctuations were determined through the calculation of sample entropy. Both groups had similar postural control at baseline, but asymptomatic students exhibited more irregular CoP AP (p = 0.013) and ML (p = 0.015) oscillations, while students with neck pain showed a more rigid pattern (p = 0.004) in the AP direction at the endpoint. Our results showed that dental students’ postural control complexity decreased during the first semester of clinical practice. Over time, asymptomatic students exhibited more random postural control patterns, while students with neck pain demonstrated more rigid postural control during upright stance, indicating that postural control complexity differs between students with and without neck pain when exposed to clinical training.

This study aimed to investigate if there are differences in neck strength between dental students in their fourth and fifth years, with and without neck pain. Neck muscle strength was assessed in flexion, extension, and lateral flexion to both sides using a handheld dynamometer while participants performed maximum voluntary isometric contractions with a make test procedure. Differences between groups were evaluated through a one-way analysis of variance followed by Tukey’s post hoc comparison. Forty-three students (twenty-one fourth-year and twenty-two fifth-year students) participated in the study. Fifth-year students with neck pain (P5) (n = 14) showed less strength (p = 0.018) compared to the no-pain group (NP) (n = 15) in neck flexion and lateral flexion for both sides (p < 0.001). The fourth-year symptomatic students (P4) (n = 14) showed reduced right lateral flexion strength compared to the NP group (p = 0.035). No significant differences were observed in neck extension across all groups (p = 0.085). Our research indicates a progressive decline in neck muscle strength in flexion and lateral flexion among students with neck pain over their training years. Our findings suggest that this may be linked to the increasing mechanical demands of clinical practice during training, potentially affecting muscle balance and cervical function. This pain could be associated with changes in motor behavior and reduced cervical muscle strength.