Occupational exposure of dentists to electromagnetic fields produced by magnetostrictive cavitrons alters the serum cortisol level
Mortazavi SM, Vazife-Doost S, Yaghooti M, Mehdizadeh S, Rajaie-Far A. · 2012
View Original AbstractDental professionals using electromagnetic scaling devices showed 35% lower stress hormone levels, potentially affecting cardiovascular and immune function.
Plain English Summary
Iranian researchers studied 41 dentists and dental students, comparing cortisol levels (a stress hormone) between those who used magnetostrictive dental scalers and those who didn't. They found that dentists exposed to the electromagnetic fields from these common dental tools had significantly lower cortisol levels by the end of their workday. This matters because cortisol helps regulate blood pressure, cardiovascular function, and immune system response, so chronically low levels could affect health.
Why This Matters
This study breaks new ground by documenting how occupational EMF exposure in dentistry affects stress hormones. What makes this research particularly compelling is that it measured actual workplace exposure to magnetostrictive cavitrons, which are standard equipment in dental offices worldwide. The 35% drop in cortisol levels among exposed dentists represents a significant biological response that could have long-term health implications. The reality is that millions of dental professionals use these devices daily, yet this appears to be the first study to examine their hormonal effects. While the researchers acknowledge mixed findings in EMF-cortisol research generally, this workplace-specific evidence adds to growing concerns about occupational EMF exposure in healthcare settings.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.
Study Details
The aim of this study is to compare the level of cortisol among dentists and dentistry students who are being occupationally exposed to EMFs emitted by magnetostrictive cavitrons (case group) and among their counterparts who are not being exposed to these fields (control group).
In this case–control study, blood samples were collected from 41 dentists and dentistry students, 21...
The serum cortisol level of dentists and dental students in the morning (before starting the work) i...
As far as we know, this is the first study that evaluated the effect of occupational exposure of dentists to EMFs on their serum cortisol level. The EMFs produced by magnetostrictive cavitrons can decrease the serum cortisol level in dentists. As cortisol plays an important role in blood pressure regulation, cardiovascular, and immune system function, a low cortisol level may threaten health. More studies are needed to clearly understand the effects of EMFs emitted by magnetostrictive cavitron on the level of stress hormones. As some studies have shown that exposure to EMFs has no effect on the cortisol level, whereas other studies reported either an increase or a decrease in the cortisol level, it can be concluded that the effects of exposure to EMFs may occur only at specific absorbed energies or energy absorption rates (usually known as window) similar to that exists in the case of exposure to the low doses of ionizing radiations.
Show BibTeX
@article{sm_2012_occupational_exposure_of_dentists_2434,
author = {Mortazavi SM and Vazife-Doost S and Yaghooti M and Mehdizadeh S and Rajaie-Far A. },
title = {Occupational exposure of dentists to electromagnetic fields produced by magnetostrictive cavitrons alters the serum cortisol level},
year = {2012},
url = {https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3361780/},
}