This study intended to evaluate noise level of dental handpieces and the effects of noise cancelling devices. An ear model was designed to measure the level of the noise delivered to the inner ear during dental handpiece operation. The level of noise was measured in various conditions using the ear model and the portable noise meter. Noise level was measured again after applying of 4 different noise cancelling devices to the model ear.
The noise level of dental handpieces was 82.5 - 84.4 dB. When 4 types of noise canceling devices were applied, the noise level reduced to 67.4 - 73.8 dB. All 4 devices had statistically significant effect in reducing the noise of the handpiece.
Considering the intensity and exposure time, noise in dental clinics can cause hearing damage to dentists. For protection from the risk of occupational hearing damages, noise canceling devices can be recommended.

Full arch models play an important role in clear aligner orthodontic therapy and the preparation of prosthodontic appliances. Three dimensional (3D) printed full arches are very popular with the benefit of easy production and good mechanical properties for fabricating clear aligner. However, the accuracy of 3D printed full arches after long storage have not been proved yet. The objective of this study was to estimate the long-term accuracy of 3D full arches produced by the four types of 3D printers (stereo-lithography apparatus (SLA), digital light projector (DLP), Polyjet™ (POL), and fused deposition modeling (FDM)) following an accelerated aging treatment. The highest accuracy was produced by POL (before treatment) and SLA (after treatment) group, respectively. Comparisons between absolute mean trueness for the 3D printed full arches before and after treatment indicated that the deviation of the trueness values of FDM group were significantly higher than those of other experimental groups (p<0.05). In addition, all trueness relative errors for FDM group were greater than 0.04 after treatment, which was high compared to those of other experimental groups. Therefore, the long-term storage of full arches fabricated by FDM type 3D printer is not recommended and the 3D printed full arches should be used immediately whenever possible.
Aging ; Printing, Three-Dimensional