• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
• /
• v.16 no.5
• /
• pp.651-660
• /
• 2016

Objective: The purpose of the study is to investigate clinical skill proficiency in core dental hygiene competency in dental hygienists. Methods: The study subjects were 208 dental hygienists in Seoul and Gyeonggido. A complete self-reported questionnaire was filled out by 171 dental hygienists. The questionnaire consisted of general characteristics of the subjects, assessment of core dental hygiene competency, implementation of core dental hygiene competency, and education of core dental hygiene competency. Data were analyzed by PASW Statistics 18.0 to carry out a frequency analysis, one-way ANOVA and Pearson's correlation. Results: Chief complaint confirmation($4.08{\pm}0.91$), scaling (ultrasonic scaler)($4.36{\pm}0.88$), and toothbrushing education($4.35{\pm}0.86$) were found to be the most important in the areas of dental hygiene assessment, implementation, and education, respectively. In dental hygiene education, statistically significant differences were identified by 'level of education,' 'working career,' 'type of workplace,' 'department,' and 'main task.' Conclusions: Respondents were found to think that their level of proficiency should be above average for most jobs. Proficiency in core competency was shown to be different according to 'general characteristics of dental hygienists,' 'type of workplace,' and 'department.'