• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.793-803
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• 2021

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the current status of dental hygiene curricula related to clinical practice in Korea. Methods: Clinical work included the categories 'history taking, infection control, oral prophylaxis, preventive treatment, education/counseling, radiography/reading, assisting/cooperation, impression/bite registration, anesthesia, etc.', and 66 works were finally selected based on the frequent tasks of dental hygienists. The subjects were made to answer nine questionnaires. Results: It was found that the theory and practice of the main works operated quite differently in lectures and practice in each school. All types of practice were applied to all schools in the case of 'scaling'. The evaluation of clinical practice was also found to be very different from school to school. Conclusions: For dental hygienists to establish expertise in clinical practice and promote quality improvement, it is necessary to develop a core curriculum focusing on clinical practice. The standardized curriculum should be improved to an efficient and competency-centered one defining clearly the role of dental hygienists considering the needs and importance of clinical practice.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.234-240
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to provide basic data on counseling, education, and treatment related to orthodontic practices through an understanding of the relationships between orthodontic treatment, oral health-related quality of life, and happiness of high school students. The subjects in this study were 500 students in Grades 1~3 of a high school in Jeollabuk-do. We conducted a survey targeting this group; the results revealed the following: in the social support item, peer support showed significant differences in the matter of orthodontic treatment (p<0.05). In oral health-related quality of life, the students without orthodontic treatment showed 14.09 scores that were higher than the students with treatment (p<0.05). Regarding happiness, the students with orthodontic treatment showed higher scores which were significantly different from the those of the non-orthodontic treatment group (p<0.05). Additionally, upon examining the correlations between self-esteem, social support, oral health-related quality of life, and happiness, oral health-related quality of life, peer support, and happiness showed the negative (-) correlations while the rest of the variables showed the positive correlations (p<0.05). The factors having effects on oral health-related quality of life included the stress, matter of orthodontic treatment, and teachers support (p<0.05). The factors having effects on happiness included self-esteem, peer support, and family support (p<0.05). Based on the above results, even though dental orthodontic treatment had negative effects on oral health-related quality of life, it had positive effects on happiness. Consequently, it would seem necessary to seek active methods to increase oral health-related quality of life. This improvement could be achieved by minimizing inconveniences, such as mastication, in the process of dental orthodontic treatment, and developing programs that could enhance happiness.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2015

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of happiness index in dental hygienists. This study can be used to improve the quality of life and the turnover intention in the dental hygienists. Methods: The subjects were 281 dental hygienists in Seoul, Gyeonggi-do, and Chungcheong province. A self-reported questionnaire was completed by the subjects. The questionnaire consisted of 7 questions of general characteristics of the subjects, 7 questions of dental hygiene performance, and 9 questions of happiness index. The instrument for happiness index was modified from Suh and Koo. Cronbach's alpha was 0.850 in the happiness index measure by Likert 7 scale. The instrument for professionalism was modified from Baek and consisted of 25 questions measure by Likert 5 scale. Cronbach's alpha was 0.694 in the professionalism. The instrument for turnover intention was modified from Lee and consisted of 5 questions measured by Likert 5 scale. Cronbach's alpha was 0.712 in turnover intention. Data were analyzed using SPSS 18.0. for one way ANOVA, Duncan posthoc test, Pearson correlation coefficients and hierarchical regression. Results: The means of happiness index, professionalism and turnover intention of subjects were 4.44, 3.06 and 3.05, respectively. The happiness index was higher in those who are married(4.66), those who have high income, and those who have careers in dental hygienists(4.61). There were significant differences in the happiness index by the average daily working hours, place of treatment, work intensity and off duty hours. Conclusions: This study suggests that improvement of the happiness index in clinical dental hygienists requires the continuing and systematic education program and administrative support that can reduce the turnover intention.

• Journal of Technologic Dentistry
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.291-302
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• 2012

Purpose: It is to survey old men's utilization status of dental clinic and temporary-binding dentures and then to provide basic data to make a program for manufacturing old men's dentures and their teeth health education. Methods: Random selection was made on old men living in Daejeon and Chungnam, and a survey was conducted from April 15 to May 20, 2011. 500 questionnaires were distributed and 420 questionnaires were collected. Using spss 18.0 program, final analysis was made on 363 questionnaires except for 57 questionnaires which had missing value or showed some doubts about the unreliability. Results: 1. With respect to number of natural teeth as per the age, the upper/lower jaws had meaningful differences (P<.001), which means that the older the person is, the smaller number of natural teeth is. In the meantime, there was no meaningful difference according to sex. 2. With respect to kind of prosthetics installed in a mouth as per the age, there was meaningful difference in the upper jaws (P<.05) but there was no meaningful difference in the lower jaws. It was found out that the older the persons are, the more they use removable dentures while the younger the persons are, the more they use fixed partial dentures. 3. With respect to mouth health condition recognized by oneself, it showed bad (44.4%) and good (10.3%),which means recognition as bad is greater, and the age when prosthetics were first used is dispersed variously from below 40 to over 70. 4. Dental care institutions which they mainly used are hospital and clinics (91.5%), and 66.4% of them visited dental clinics lately. Preferential treatment if they go to dentists is as follows in the order of prosthetics (33.9%), gum treatment (24.2%) and pain treatment (14.9%). 5. 68.4% of them revisited dentists after installation of dentures and the reason for revisit is as follows in the order of poorly fitted dentures (35.1%), painful gum 25.9%, regular check-up 25.4% and difficult chewing 9.6%. Conclusion: As our country enters into an aging society, mouth health problem of old men has come to a serious issue, and therefore, a survey was conducted on some old men with respect to their utilization status of dental clinic and removable dentures in order to provide basic data for improvement of quality of their life, maintenance and enhancement of their mouth health. The study result shows that the older they are, the higher the loss rate of teeth as well as needs for prosthetics are, and thus it is thought the study will help to develop mouth health education program which may improve quality of old men's life by recovery of mouth functions declined due to loss of teeth and by regular check-up, education for mouth health control and following-up control of dentures.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.503-511
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• 2012

Objectives : This research seeks to present the data needed for the development of coping strategy, following medical market opening by identifying dental hygienists' perspective and coping measures towards the opening. Methods : One hundred eighty-eight dental hygienists were targeted to identify their level of perception towards medical market opening, attitude towards medical market opening, question of whether they agree or not with the opening and reasons, and coping measures and benefits of the medical market opening. t-test, chi-square test and cross-tabulation analysis were used for the analysis Results : First, team leaders are more aware of the medical market opening and hold greater sense of crisis towards opening compared to the rank and file. Second, the reasons cited for agreeing with the medical market opening included improvement of medical services' quality and diversification of services. As for the reasons for disagreeing, they cited the increase medical expenses paid by public. Third, limitation of the hospital management technique was cited the most when it comes to the scope of Korean hospitals' management crisis, followed by the limitations of the diagnosis procedure, limitations of the medical services, limitations of the medical techniques and increase in the number of large hospitals, in the order cited. Fourth, team leaders perceive greater need to seek coping measures from the aspect of realizing medical insurance fee from the policy development, service and system level aspects when it comes to the coping measures depending on their ranks. Conclusions : Therefore, Dental Hygienist has a comparatively low awareness of medical market opening, coping measures need to be explored to cope with the medical market opening by ensuring the dissemination of accurate knowledge through the education on the fees for dental hygienist and seminars in relation to the medical market opening.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.235-243
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• 2015

Objectives: The purpose of the study is to investigate the oral health and oral health beliefs in industrial workers and to analyze the influencing factors on dental health care utilization. Methods: The subjects were 280 adults from 16 to 64 years old in Seoul and Gyeonggi from June 20 to July 31, 2014, A self-reported questionnaire was completed after receiving informed consent. The independent variables consisted of predisposing, enabling, and need factors. The predisposing factors included gender, age, residence area, number of family. The enabling variables included monthly income, education, occupation, type of employment. The need factors included subjective oral health recognition and oral health belief model. These three variables had a direct and indirect influence on dental clinic use. The types of occupation were classified into desk duties, merchandizing and service duties technology and others by KSCO-6. Results: The relating factors to dental health care utilization were sex, oral health beliefs perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and self-efficacy. Female tended to have the higher oral health beliefs perceived benefits, perceived barriers(p<0.01), self-efficacy(p<0.05). Conclusions: Those who received frequent oral examination and health instruction tended to have a favorable impact on maintenance of oral health status and improvement in quality of life.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.197-211
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• 2011

Objectives : OHIP-14 and EQ-5D were used, targeting the residents of farming communities to identify the elements that influence oral cavity's health and quality of life due to health and to identify the importance of oral cavity's health in order to increase health of adults' oral cavity and quality of life via improved health. Methods : This research was conducted from July 17th, 2010 to August 16th, 2010 targeting 600 residents in Goryeong-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do, aging over 40. The data has been analyzed using Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test and hierarchical multiple regression through SPSS Win Program 18.0 version. Results : 1. OHIP-14 and EQ-5D based on general characteristics showed lower oral health-related quality of life and health-related quality of life on the following cases: women (p=0.004, p<0.001), older (p<0.001, p<0.001), lower scholastic ability (p<0.001, p<0.001), lower average of average spending money (p<0.001, p<0.001), higher number of chronic disease (p<0.001, p<0.001), less drinking (p=0.012, p=0.008), lower perceived oral health and health status (p<0.001, p<0.001) and non smoking showed only EQ-5D (p<0.001). 2. OHIP-14 and EQ-5D based on oral health behavior showed lower oral health-related quality of life and health-related quality of life on the following cases: no periodic oral check-up (p<0.001, p<0.001), less experience of oral health education (p<0.001, p<0.001), horizontal tooth-brushing method(p<0.001, p<0.001) and lower frequency of tooth-brushing showed only OHIP-14 (p=0.042). OHIP-14 and EQ-5D based on oral health status and subjective oral symptom showed lower oral health-related quality of life and health-related quality of life on following cases: number of existing tooth less than 20 (p<0.001, p<0.001), the number of missing teeth more than 9 (p<0.001, p=0.044), DMFT (Decay, Missing, Filling Teeth) index more than 18 (p<0.001, p<0.001), wears denture (p<0.001, p<0.001), edentulous (p<0.001, p=0.002), have xerostomia (p<0.001, p<0.001) and have chewing discomfort (p<0.001, p<0.001). 3. Factors affecting OHIP-14 were gender, age, perceived oral health status, perceived health status, number of existing teeth, dental status, xerostomia and chewing discomfort, and the of reliability (how well it explains) the final model was 48.7%. EQ-5D showed relevance on gender, age, presence of chronic disease, perceived health status, xerostomia, chewing discomfort and oral health-related quality of life, and the reliability of the final model was 42.9%. Conclusions : In order to improve the quality of life of ruralists, oral health needs to be improved or remained by increasing the rate of possession of the existing teeth and preventing the loss of teeth. In order to do so, improvement of accessibility of dental clinic, change of direction from treatment-centered to prevention-centered health care system, development of oral health education program and various oral health care policies which would vitalize continuous oral health care system are considered to be necessary.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.90-98
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• 2022

Background: Integrated management of general, mental, and oral health is necessary to improve an individual's quality of life. This study aimed to identify the effects of mental and oral health behaviors on metabolic syndrome. Methods: A total of 4,227 Korean adults aged 20 years or older were selected as study subjects using raw data from the first year (2019) of the 8th period of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). A complex sample chi-square test and a complex sample logistic regression analysis were performed using the PASW Statistics ver. 18.0 program. Results: The effect on metabolic syndrome was significantly higher in male than in 1.833 times in male, 2.914 times in 30~49 years old, and 3.855 times in 50~64 years old, and 3.929 times in people over 65 years old compared to 20~29 years old, and compared to those with a college degree or higher, those with a middle school degree or lower are 2.116 times, those with lower income levels are 1.507 times higher, those with middle-lower are 1.359 times higher, those with middle-high are 1.401 times. Compared to non-smokers, smokers were 1.570 times higher than non-smokers and compared to those without speech problem and chewing difficulty, they were 1.717 times and 1.397 times higher, respectively and 1.973 times higher in those with 0~1 brushing times per day. Mental health did not affect prevalence of metabolic syndrome. Conclusion: It is necessary to improve maintain a healthy lifestyle to lower the risk of metabolic syndrome. It is necessary to establish effective dental hygiene customized education and an efficient health management system at the national level that can induce improvement of oral health behavior for the prevention and management of metabolic syndrome.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.190-203
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• 2003

Background: Dental hygienists are at risk of acquiring infections through exposure to infectious agents. This study explores the frequency of exposure to infectious agents and infection control practices among dental hygienists. Methods: We undertook a cross-sectional survey to examine the exposure to infectious agents and infection control practices among dental hygienists through questionnaire. Data were obtained from 124 dental hygienists attending educational conferences. A multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine the factors that effect infection control practices in relation to age, completion of infection control education, recognition of their own serum hepatitis Ag/Ab status, the number of one day patients, location of clinics, type of clinics, and career years. Result: Of the 124 dental hygienists, 91.7% were exposed to at least one accident such as needle stick injuries during their practices periods. The health screening coverage rate in dental hygienists was 16.5%. The number of one day patients and career years were important in relation to infection control practices among dental hygienists. The adjusted odds ratio estimates for career years were 5.049 times greater(95% Cl 1.238-20.597) for groups with over 4 career years than under 2 career years. That for the number of one day patients were 0.261(95% Cl 0.071-0.955) lower for through 20 up to 30 patients, 0.531(95% Cl 0.102-2.78) lower for through 30 up to 40 patients and 0.498(95% Cl 0.123-2.017) lower for more than 40 patients than under 20 patients. Conclusion: From these results, prevalence of infection control practices among dental hygienists is related to the number of one day patients and career years. Prevention of cross infection and reduction of future transmission should be a priority to dental hygienists for promotion of infection control and further efforts to educate newcomers on infection prevention should be made.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.671-683
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• 2011

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to examine the oral health knowledge and actual oral health care of the selected subjects, their decision making about prosthetic treatment, the state and characteristics of their prosthetic treatment and their satisfaction with prosthetic treatment in an attempt to provide some information on the improvement of the quality of life related to oral health and the promotion of oral health. Methods : The subjects in this study were 250 people who received education in two different lifelong education institutions in the city of Busan. After a survey was conducted from May 23 to June 15, 2011, the answer sheets from 217 respondents were analyzed. Results : 1. As for the general characteristics of the respondents, the men(52.1%) outnumbered the women. Those who were in their 60 and up(47.5%) made up the largest age group, and the married people(65.4%) outnumbered the unmarried ones. By occupation, the company employees(20.3%) made up the biggest group. By education, the greatest group was high-school graduates(36.1%). By monthly mean income, the biggest group gained an income of 2.01 million won or more(36.9%). As to medical security, community-based insurance was most prevailing (36.9%). In terms of health promotion, the largest group worked out to stay fit(52.4%). 2. Regarding oral health knowledge, they had a good knowledge about the cause of dental caries(56.7%), but they weren't well aware of the right time for regular dental checkup(47.9%). In relation to oral health care, regular scaling wasn't prevailing(16.9%). 3. Regarding connections between the general characteristics and satisfaction with prosthesis, the less-educated respondents expressed significantly more dissatisfaction(p=0.015). By monthly mean income, those who had a smaller income were dissatisfied in general(p=0.028). Conclusions : The findings of the study illustrated that it's required to spread awareness of the importance of oral health among people in general, and that differentiated incremental oral health care should be provided for different age groups. In order to raise the satisfaction of patients with prosthesis, how to relieve their pain and anxiety and how to adjust prosthetic treatment cost properly should carefully be considered. In addition, the government should take measures to offer assistance for the low-income classes in preparation for an increase in the elderly population.