• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.47-65
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• 2006

Objectives: This research is to provide the basic data for the improvement on oral health by examining the relationship between the dental fear and the dental service utilization, and to discuss a strategy for dental health in order to lower the level of dental fear. Methods: Data were collected by conducting a structured survey of 1,607 people between the age of 13 and 70 who have experiences in visiting a dental institution. Both univariate and multivariate analyses were employed to analyze the relationship between the number of times dental service and dental fears. Results: The average level of dental fear the respondents reported was $52.16{\pm}15.71$ and 31.5% of the response was at the level of high dental fear. A strong physiologic response during the dental treatment was muscle tension and the stimulations that strongly arouse the dental fear were the anaesthetic needle and the sound of drill. A result of analysis on the relationship between the dental fear and the dental service utilization shows that as the level of dental fear became higher, the number of times for the dental service utilization for the last year had reduced. Also when a patient has an experience of putting off or canceling an appointment due to dental fear and as a physiologic response during the dental treatment became stronger, the result shows a tendency that the number of times for the dental service utilization for the last year had reduced. Conclusions: It has been observed that dental fear is one of the main barrier to use dental service. Therefore, a physio-psychological factor like the dental fear should be included in the task of promotion of dental health, and in analyzing the dental service utilization behavior. A discussion about how to lower dental fear was made with respect to oral health promotion. At individual level, improvement of communication skill by dental service providers should be made with rearrangement of clinic environment into more cozy one.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.11 no.9
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• pp.65-72
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• 2020

This study conducted to investigate the core competency of dental hygiene based on learning outcomes for establishing an educational evaluation and certification system for dental hygiene. The sub-categories of core competencies, the overall score of professional behavior and ethical decision-making ability (category 1) and the ability to apply scientific and professional clinical hygiene and knowledge and skills of clinical dental work (category 2) was highest. and the level of communication skills (category 3) was 4.48 points, and the level of evidence-based integrated thinking and problem solving skills (category 5) was 4.35 points. Furthermore, there was a strong correlation between the core competency sub-categories, and it is necessary to identify the core competency between health care service occupations and to qualitatively study the core competency of dental hygienists working in clinical practice.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.427-439
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• 2011

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to examine the awareness of company employees. The importance of the selection factors of dental clinics by demographic characteristics. Methods : The subjects of this study was 218 employees. In this study, structured were used. Results : As for perception of the importance of traffic convenience by general characteristics, the company employees who were male, who were married, who had children, who continued to work for a longer period and who were better paid placed more significance on traffic convenience among the selection factors of dental institutions, and the gaps between them and their counterparts were significant. Regarding perception of the importance of the physical environments of dental institutions by general characteristics, those who were in their 20s and in their 50s and up, who were less educated, who worked for a smaller period and who were less paid gave more weight on the importance of physical environments, and the gaps between them and their counterparts were significant. As to perception of the importance of the image of dental institutions by general characteristics, monthly pay made a significant difference to that. Concerning the external qualifications of dental personnels, they took a significantly different view according to their age and monthly pay. In relation to perception of the importance of dental service by general characteristics, the women attached more importance to dental service than the men, and the intergroup gap was significant. In regard to perception of the importance of the basic components of dental institutions by general characteristics, those who were in their 40s and up, who had children, who were better paid and who were assistant directors were significantly different from their counterparts in their opinions on the importance of the basic components of dental institutions. Conclusions : The findings of the study suggest that dental institutions should make efforts to provide patients with the best medical service to gain their confidence.

• The Journal of Korea Assosiation for Disability and Oral Health
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.111-120
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• 2018

The need for oral health rights for people with disabilities is very high, and current oral health care system does not fully reflect these demands. Efforts to promote oral health of people with disabilities are urgently needed. In order for the disabled to have oral health rights, access to oral health services for people with disabilities should be improved and barriers to access should be resolved. In this study, we propose oral health service delivery system to guarantee oral health rights for the disabled. In addition, before applying the proposed oral medical delivery system, the external effects of the system application were predicted and the expert verification was conducted to find out the solution. There are some controversies about the development of the service delivery system proposed in this study. As a result of the expert verification, there were disagreements about the suitability of the service provider, the suitability of the service recipient, the appropriateness of the service content and scope, and the appropriateness of the cost and the revenue source. Subsequent Delphi surveys require the development of structured questionnaires for discussions that require consensus. It is expected that a reasonable consensus of expert opinions will be derived.

• The Journal of Korea Assosiation for Disability and Oral Health
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.17-30
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• 2006

Federal disability law has evolved from several laws geared to protect people with disabilities since the late 1960s and early 1970s. When U.S. Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990, no federal statute prohibited the majority of employers, program administrators, owners and managers of places of public accommodation and others from discriminating against people with disabilities. Toward the ends to assure equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for individuals with the disabilities, the ADA pursues three major strategies: Title I addresses inequality in employment, Title II, inequality in public services, and Title III, inequality in services and accommodations offered by private entities. The purposes of the study were to analyze the impact of the ADA on health care for persons with disabilities and to review the ongoing health policy reforms at the federal and state governments. Essential remedies that the ADA contemplates are based on two principles, simple discrimination and reasonable accommodation, which significantly improved access to quality care, especially long-term care, by persons with disabilities. However, the ongoing Medicaid policy reforms to control rising health care costs in the U.S. could threaten the access to care by persons with disabilities in optional groups and to optional care services by persons with disabilities in mandatory groups.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.1-20
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• 2010

Objectives : This study is purposed to segment dental service markets with reflecting customer's preference and to suggest some marketing strategies applied to each segmented market. Methods : The customer's data collected from a series of online survey comprise such factors as expertise of dentist, courtesy, clinic size, equipment, price and distance, including some socio-demographics. A conjoint analysis and a clustering analysis with estimated coefficients were performed to find out some dental market segments for three dental service types such as dental caries, esthetic treatments and dental implants. Results : Three or four market segments for each dental service type are derived from the analysis, and subsequently market characteristics for each derived segment are explored. Furthermore, some dental marketing strategies for each segment are suggested for better management. Conclusion : A conventional way of developing dental marketing strategies can be improved, while specific customer's preference are responded.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.271-276
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• 2006

This study set out to analyze the relationships between the senior citizens' dental health activities and dental health conditions, to provide basic data to develop a program for their better dental health, and finally to search for the ways to improve their life quality through dental health care. The subjects were 142 senior citizens(58 were male and 84 were female) who were 65 years old or older and visited a dental hospital or clinic in the Seoul metropolitan area from April 17 to April 28, 2006. With the cooperation from the dentists, the investigators examined their dental conditions and conducted one-on-one interviews to collect the information about their demographic characteristics, dental health activities, and subjective dental health conditions. The collected data were analyzed with T-test, ANOVA and Pearson's correlation coefficient using the SPSS WIN 11.5 program. The analysis results were summarized as follows: First, 58 men(40.8%) and 84 women(59.2%) consisted of the subject group, where percentage of the female participants was bigger Those who were aged from 65 to 69 made the biggest age group in the subjects, accounting for 58.5% with 83. Second, those who had three dental caries or less and then didn't treat them or treated them(F) accounted for the biggest percentage with 117(82.4%) and 72(50.7%) respectively. As for the remaining teeth, the biggest number of them(40 subjects, 28.2%) had three or less remaining. Third, it turned out the female subjects had a higher level of dental health activities than their male counterparts(P = 0.00). As for living expenses, those who were paid salary or earned income themselves carried out their dental health activities in a higher level than those who lived on the benefit from the government(p = 0.02). Fourth, the subjects' subjective dental health conditions had negative correlations with their dental caries not treated. And there were positive correlations between their dental caries not treated and dental caries lost and between their dental caries treated and remaining teeth. Fifth, those subjects who earned their living expenses themselves had the most dental caries treated at 5.4(p = 0.02), and there was statistically significant difference with the numbers. Sixth, those subjects who brushed their teeth in their own manner had 11.8 teeth lost(p = 0.05), which was more than the number of those who brushed their teeth in other methods. And there was statistically significant difference among them. The remaining teeth were found most at 17.3(p = 0.00) among those who brushed their upper and lower teeth separately. In addition, those who visited the public health center often had significantly more teeth treated(4.3) than others(p = 0.00).

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.1-15
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• 2017

This study was designed to analyze the effect of servicescape and human service quality on patients' internal response and their behavioral intention in dental care organizations. Self-administered survey questionnaires with structured instruments were developed, and a total of 226 responses were used for statistical analyses using SPSS Windows version 18.0 program and AMOS 18.0 program. Major findings of the study are as follows. First, among other servicescape components, air condition environment was found to have a positive effect on patients' cognitive and physiological responses, while signals and symbols had a positive effect on cognitive and emotional responses. Second, the competence, among other factors of the human service quality, had positive influence on cognitive and emotional responses, while customer understanding affected positively on emotional response. Third, none of the servicescape components showed a direct effect on patients' behavioral intention, but their influence was mediated by internal responses. However, customer understanding, among other human service quality factors, had a direct effect on patients' behavioral intention. Fourth, emotional response, among other internal response factors, proved to have positive influence on behavioral intention. Results from this study suggest that dental care service providers can increase their competitiveness and customer satisfaction by understanding and improving the most important areas of servicescape and human service quality.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.142-149
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• 2017

This study targeted 123 dental hygienists working at the university and dental hospital as well as the dental clinic in Busan. The study ran for 5 months beginning July 23, 2016. The purpose of the study was to understand the relationship between core competencies and job performance for dental hygienists. The major core competencies of dental hygienists were interpersonal relation competency (3.61) was the highest, followed by management and educational competency (3.59), organizational relation competency (3.57), and basic dental hygiene management competency (3.56). Regarding the subjects' job performance, 'the task requested by a boss could be finished by the deadline' (3.93) was the highest, followed by 'there has been no case where others were harmed owing to carelessness' (3.76). 'The performance exceeding the targets set by the boss' (3.11) was relatively low. The group working for dental hospitals showed higher job performance than the group working for dental clinics (p=0.009) while there were high correlations between core competencies and job performance (p=0.733). Also, analysis for understanding relevant variables of core competencies that affected job performance revealed that the interpersonal relation competency (p=0.25), self-control competency (p=0.32), and basic dental hygiene competency (p=0.15) were significant. In summary, reinforcement of the dental hygienists' core competencies has a positive effect on job performance. Improved job performance in turn should improve patient care as well as the performance of the healthcare organization overall which will be eventually helpful to the provision of high-quality medical service to patients, and helpful for the hospital organization Helpful in making their performance better. Therefore, it would be necessary to establish administrative/educational support to facilitate dental hygiene education to develop major competencies and vocational basic abilities, as well as reinforce diverse competency educational programs for the current dental hygienists.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.393-411
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• 2010

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to examine factors related to the satisfaction level of patients with dental services. Methods : The subjects in this study were 200 patients at three different dental clinics in South Gyeongsang Province, on whom a survey was conducted from June 1 to July 31, 2009. The collected data were analyzed, and the findings of the study were as follows. Results : In regard to the general characteristics of the patients investigated, the women(61.5%) out-numbered the men. By age, those who were at the age of 30 and down made up the largest age group(47.0%). By academic background, the greatest group received junior-college education(54.0%). By occupation, the company employees constituted the largest group (50.5%). By income, the greatest group earned an income of 2 to 2.99 million won(75.0%). Second, as to connections between the characteristics of dental treatment and the reason of choosing the dental clinics, the largest group(70.4%) chose the dental clinics by word of mouth or the recommendation of others. Concerning the reason of dissatisfaction, the biggest group(72.7%) was unsatisfied with medical costs. As for the degree of explicit complaint, the greatest group(49.7%) sort of complained about what made them dissatisfied. Regarding the type of treatment, the biggest group(49.0%) received prosthodontic treatment. In relation to fear for dental treatment, the largest group(34.0%) feared receiving the treatment, and the biggest group(42.6%) did that due to the sound of machines. Third, satisfaction with services(0.762) had the closest correlation to overall satisfaction level, followed by satisfaction with employees(0.735), satisfaction with dentists(0.644) and satisfaction with convenient facilities (0.579). Fourth, the factors that affected overall satisfaction level were gender, the reason of choosing the dental clinic, satisfaction with dentists, satisfaction with employees, satisfaction with services and satisfaction with convenient facilities. The patients who were better satisfied with services(p<0.001), who were more contented with dentists(p<0.001), who chose the dental clinics by the recommendation of others(p<0.01), who were male(p<0.05), who were more gratified with employees(p<0.05) and who were more contented with convenient facilities expressed better overall satisfaction. Conclusions : The above-mentioned findings suggested that dental institutions should keep track of the expectations of patients to prepare differentiated strategies for marketing and human-resources development in consideration of their own circumstances to boost the satisfaction level of patients. Specifically, it's required to heighten the satisfaction level of patients with dentists.