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http://dx.doi.org/10.22671/JKADA.2021.9.1.14

A survey on the perceptions of dental hygienists and dentists on the legal scope of dental hygienists  

Kim, Myoung-Hee (Department of Dental Hygiene, College of Health Science, Eulji University)
Kim, Seol-Hee (Department of Dental Hygiene, Konyang University)
Kim, Hye-Sung (Apple Tree Dental Hospital)
Hwang, Young-Sun (Department of Dental Hygiene, College of Health Science, Eulji University)
Kim, Jin (Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Department of Dentistry, Daejeon St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University)
Publication Information
Journal of Korean Academy of Dental Administration / v.9, no.1, 2021 , pp. 14-24 More about this Journal
Abstract
Dentists and dental hygienists are major collaborators, as expressed by the concept of "Four-handed dentistry." Dentists are guaranteed their legal duties and rights in accordance with the Medical Act, whereas dental hygienists are currently stipulated in the scope of their legal duties under the Act on Medical Technicians. However, there is a difference between the actual work and the legal work performed by dental hygienists; therefore, the work is dependent on many legal controversies and authoritative interpretations. The purpose of this study is, first, to develop a reliable questionnaire tool regarding the actual work performed by dental hygienists in dental hospitals and clinics, and second, to examine the awareness of the appropriateness of legal work based on the developed questionnaire. The target subjects of the survey were dental hygienists and dentists, and the dental hygienists were those who worked in dental hospitals and clinics as license reporters of the Korean Dental Hygienists Association. A total of 1,294 dental hygienists and 39 dentists were included in the final analysis. In the dental hygienist group, 19 items received the response "appropriate for legal work" in over 90% of cases, accounting for 25% of the total 76 items. In addition, in a total of 31 items, more than 80% of the responses were appropriate for legal work. Among them, the highest was 'Scailing' (97.7%), followed by "Extraoral-Panorama" (97.1%). In the dentist group, 10 out of 76 items showed over 90% adequacy for legal work, and among them, "instrument cleaning and sterilization" was the highest at 100%. It was followed by "Intraoral radiography," "Scailing," and "Toothpick method, TPM" with 97.4%. In the case of dentists, 28 out of a total of 76 items showed an appropriateness of more than 80% for legal work. This study comprehensively investigated the actual work of dental hygienists in line with timely and appropriate social issues and provided reliable statistics in evidence-based dentistry.
Keywords
Dental hygienists; Legal scope; Perception; Dentists;
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