Posture advice
All the posture experts recommend that the chair is flat (patient position supine) and the chin tilted up to deliver the teeth to the loupe and not the other way around. This is especially important for lower molars. Some articles are below which recommend this.
Also you need to make sure that when the patient is in that position the height of the chair is at the correct distance for the loupe to be in focus at the working distance of your loupe. In other words if you tilt the chair further back, the base will need to be raised to compensate.
The strongest professional-body source is the FDI World Dental Federation’s Ergonomics and Posture Guidelines for Oral Health Professionals. It illustrates the patient lying substantially supine and says that patient positioning should be determined by the dentist’s natural posture, while identifying upright treatment as appropriate only in exceptional circumstances such as certain medical conditions, elderly patients, vertigo, hypotension or pregnancy.
“The patient should lie supine, only then can you achieve good posture yourself.”
— British Dental Journal, 2024.
Top tips for preventing musculoskeletal disorders and optimising posture for dental professionals
Carol Robinson, Dhruti Mysore, Ewen McColl & Sunitha Bhagavathi Mysore
British Dental Journal volume 237, pages306–309 (2024)
Posturedontics: How does dentistry fit you?
This peer-reviewed paper defines the supine position as:
“The patient lying on his or her back in a horizontal position and the chair back nearly parallel to the floor.”
It also says the chair should be adjustable so that the operator can maintain a neutral posture
J.Pharm Bioallied Sc: 2015 Aug;7(Suppl 2):S393–S397.
Jodalli PS, Kurana S, Shameema, Ragher M, Khed J, Prabhu V
Peer-reviewed review: Ergonomics in Dentistry
Under “Patient Positioning,” the review states:
“Supine positioning of the patient in the chair is usually the most effective way to help to maintain neutral posture.”
Dental ergonomics to combat musculoskeletal disorders: A review.
International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics. 2013;19(4):561–571.
Gupta A, Ankola AV, Hebbal M.
Dentsply Sirona’s UK ergonomics guidance, states: You can maintain a neutral posture by placing the patient in a supine position in the dental chair.