Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to suggest direction for dental technicians and management of dental laboratories to contribute to the improvement of oral health of citizens with high-quality dental prosthesis by researching operational status and management satisfaction of dental laboratories. Methods: In order to investigate operational status and management satisfaction of dental laboratories, this study conducted a questionnaire survey by mailing questionnaires to heads of dental laboratories designated as clinical training workshops of Department of Dental Technology of G University and a total of 158 questionnaires were used for analysis. Results: As for gender, males were 142 persons (89.9%) and females were 16 persons (10.1%). For location of the laboratories, number of laboratories in metropolitan cities was 94 (59.5%) while small and that in mid-sized cities was 64 (40.5%). As for the satisfaction with job, those who have managed dental laboratories for 23-30 years ($1.92{\pm}77$), transact with 7-12 dental clinics ($1.70{\pm}75$), had monthly income of 4-8 million won ($1.74{\pm}.80$) and had 8-10 employees ($2.33{\pm}.68$) were the highest in their satisfaction. As for satisfaction with management, those who have managed their business for 15-20 years ($2.86{\pm}.52$), transact with more than 20 dental clinics ($2.00{\pm}.04$), had monthly income of less than 4 million won ($2.00{\pm}.85$) and had less than 3 employees ($2.00{\pm}.62$) were the highest in their satisfaction. As for monthly income, those with less than 2 million won were 24 persons (15.2%), 2-4 million were 64 persons (40.5%), 4-6 million were 40 (25.3%), 6-8 million were 14 (8.9%) and over 8 million won were 16 persons (10.2%). As for number of employees, those with less than 3 employees were 32perosns (20.3%), 4-7 were 82 (51.9%), 8-10 were 26 (16.5%) and more than 11 were 10 persons (6.3%). As for severance payment, 84 persons practiced it according to Labor Standard Act (53.2%) and 34 practice it to a proper degree (21.5%) while 20 did not practice it at all (12.7%) and 20 persons did not respond to the question (12.7%). Conclusion: Although dental laboratories have rapidly expanded in number from 473 in 1986 to 2,400 in 2015, dental technician circles are facing difficulty in their management due to fierce competition and low profitability. Therefore, in order to improve this problem, it is necessary to readjust prices for dental prosthesis to realistic ones.
