• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.207-219
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• 2019

Objectives: This study investigates the dental hygienist's main duties in clinical dental practice and examine whether dental hygienists can safely perform each duty by referring to the educational contents of dental hygiene departments and national examinations of dental hygienists. Methods: A questionnaire on the main duties of dental hygienists was administered to 477 clinical dental hygienists working at dental clinics and hospitals, general dental hospitals, and university dental hospitals in Seoul, Gyeonggi-do, and Incheon. We divide the dental hygienists' clinical dental hygiene practice and clinical dental assist and analyze the legal scope of practice, university educational contents, and national examination contents. Statistical analysis was performed through frequency analysis, and multi-frequency data were analyzed using Excel 2013. Results: All 48 items (except 2 items of 29 dental hygiene practice and 21 assist practice items) surveyed were covered in the National Examination for Dental Hygienists and included in the Dental Hygiene Education Learning Objective. The multi-frequency clinical dental practice of eight items of clinical dental hygiene practice and two assist practice items were within the legal scope of the dental hygienist's role. Conclusions: Further discussions are needed to redefine the legal scope of the role of the dental hygienist.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.155-162
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• 2020

Background: Despite the demand for greater competence of dental hygienists in recent times, and the consequent standardization of systems in the organizations, there is a lack of a proper system for hierarchal positions of dental hygienists. The aim of this study was to identify the tasks performed by Korean dental hygienists in various work settings and hierarchal positions to suggest a standardized system for task-related hierarchal positions. Methods: A survey was conducted by sending questionnaires to 966 dental hygienists, and responses from 757 participants were included in the final analysis. The survey comprised questions regarding participants' general characteristics, tasks, current positions, and the internal policies or standards of the respective organizations to define these positions. The participants' positions were analyzed as frequency and cross-sectional analysis with respect to their general characteristics, their place in the organizational charts, the size of their workplaces, and differences in the tasks performed. Results: Data showed that 82.6% of the hospitals and clinics in Korea have organizational systems to determine the positions, and there was a significant difference in the systems according to the size of the health facility (p<0.05). The standards or policies used to define positions within general or university hospitals were determined by internal regulations or bylaws, whereas work experience was the major determinant of positions in smaller dental hospitals or clinics. The main tasks performed by dental hygienists in Korea were dental assistance (81.2%), routine dental hygiene tasks (53.4%), and administrative tasks, such as reception and billing (46.1%). Conclusion: Most dental hygienists in Korea are actively involved in dental assistance. Therefore, their specific tasks and responsibilities should be standardized more effectively. The data obtained from this study can be used to establish a standardized position system.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.330-342
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• 2023

Background: As the medical knowledge base grows at an accelerating rate, evidence-based clinical performance becomes increasingly important for providing quality care. Previous studies have highlighted the need to promote job crafting to actualize evidence-based practical skills in the medical field. This study aimed to investigate the degree of evidence-based practice among dental hygienists and assess the impact of job crafting on the evidence-based practical skills of dental hygienists. Methods: Dental hygienists working at dental hospitals and clinics in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province were surveyed between February 28 and April 6, 2023. The sample was comprised of 267 participants. The hypotheses were tested independent t-tests, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and multiple regression analyses using SPSS 29.0. Results: The degree of job crafting by dental hygienists demonstrated significant differences based on educational attainment, workplace size, and workplace type. Evidence-based practical skills exhibited significant variations based on educational attainment and job position. All job crafting subfactors demonstrated positive correlations with evidence-based practical skills. The job crafting subfactors affecting the evidence-based practical skills of dental hygienists were 'increasing structural job resources' and 'increasing challenging job demands,' which together explained 38.7% of the variance in evidence-based practical skills. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that job crafting was positively and significantly correlated with evidence-based practical skills. To strengthen the job crafting ability of dental hygienists, improving environmental conditions and fostering an organizational culture that motivates continued participation in education is necessary. The development and promotion of programs that enable learning of the latest evidence should be actively pursued. Additionally, regular attendance at workshops and participation in organizational evidence-based practice education programs are necessary.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.61-67
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• 2016

Objectives: The purpose of the study is to investigate the knowledge of the dental health insurance standard of elderly denture in the dental hygienists. Methods: A self-reported questionnaire was completed by 183 dental hygienists in Busan and Gyeongnam. The questionnaire consisted of general profiles of the subjects(11 items) and 10 items of the dental health insurance standard of the elderly denture including subject of spplication, application method, calculation of range, and temporary denture. Each question was measure by Likert 5 points scale. Cronbach's alpha was 0.936 in the study. The data were analyzed using SPSS 20.0 program. Results: The knowledge of the dental health insurance standard on the elderly denture in the dental hygienists was high in cognition of the renewed standard change(p<0.001), individual career(p<0.05), and recognition of the current standard(p<0.05). Conclusions: It is continuously necessary to inform the dental hygienists of the knowledge of dental health insurance standard. The web-based program for the dental health insurance education should be provided continuously for the dental hygienists.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Dental Administration
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.10-20
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• 2019

Korean dental hygienists perform more tasks in dental clinics than are described in the law. The purpose of this study was to investigate the actual work of Korean dental hygienists in dental clinics using an observational study design. Two dental hygienists observed and recorded the work performed in 1 day from the time of commencement to the time of leaving work by 18 dental hygienists working in the dental clinic in a single area. Data management, prevention of infection, counseling, calculus removal, radiography, assistance of fixed orthodontic treatment, assistance of fixed prosthetic treatment, and preparation for implant surgery were recorded. Among the tasks that take more than 1 min, the most time-consuming tasks were document management, infection control, consultation, calculus removal, preparation for implant surgery, assistance of orthodontic treatment, and assistance of fixed prosthetic treatment. Korean dental hygienists are performing various tasks, such as infection control, dental hospital/clinic management, oral disease prevention, and dental treatment assistants.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.1037-1051
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• 2017

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the knowledge of dental hygienists on CPR, their CPR attitude and performance ability in an effort to offer data that can contribute to the development of a more effective CPR education program. Methods: A self-reported questionnaire was filled out by 234 dental hygienists in Jeollanam and Jeollabukdo from February 24 to May 20, 2017. The questionnaire asked dental hygienists of the knowledge, attitude, performance ability in regards to CPR. The data were analyzed using SPSS Window ver. 19.0 program through independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, chi-square test and multiple regression analysis. The Cronbach alpha of their CPR knowledge was 0.78, and that of attitude to CPR was 0.79. The Cronbach alpha of CPR performance ability was 0.96. Results: The dental hygienists surveyed in this study who were aware of CPR accounted for 88.9% of total subjects. Dental hygienists who were certified in CPR accounted for 20.5% of total subjects. They received a score of 7.66 on CPR knowledge, 3.33 on attitude and 2.61 on performance ability. There was a positive correlation between the knowledge and attitude, between the knowledge and performance ability and between the attitude and performance ability (r=0.332, r=0.461, r=0.426). A regression analysis showed that the dental hygienists who were younger, who graduated from a four-year university or a higher educational institution, who were CPR certificate holders, who received more CPR education, who were cognizant of automated external defibrillator, who were more knowledgeable on CPR and who took a more positive attitude were more likely to be affected in terms of CPR performance. Conclusions: The dental hygienists surveyed were aware of CPR on the whole, but their CPR knowledge, attitude and performance were not sufficient to perform CPR in emergency situations. More intensive education should be provided for dental hygienists to have an accurate knowledge of CPR to carry it out with a positive attitude.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.455-465
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• 2021

Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate dental hygienists' knowledge of smoking, attitudes toward tobacco cessation, and tobacco cessation education activities, which will serve as fundamental data for developing an effective tobacco cessation education program for dental hygienists. Methods: From 2020-08-17 to 2020-09-05, 184 dental hygienists working at dental clinics and hospitals in Gwangju and Jeollanam-do were surveyed. We performed t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation analysis, and multiple regression analyses. Results: Dental hygienists' smoking-related knowledge, expert attitudes toward tobacco cessation, and tobacco cessation education activities were all high in tobacco cessation education (p<0.05). According to the analysis of the dental hygienists' knowledge of smoking, attitude toward smoking, and correlation of tobacco cessation education activities, there was a significant amount of correlation (p<0.01). According to the analysis of factors affecting dental hygienists' tobacco cessation education activities, expert attitudes towards tobacco cessation (𝛽=0.434, p<0.001), tobacco cessation materials (𝛽=0.160, p=0.009), experience in tobacco cessation education while attending school (𝛽=0.152, p=0.010), and attitudes toward tobacco cessation (p<0.05) were statistically significant. Conclusions: The results of this study are utilized as fundamental data to develop an effective tobacco cessation education program, factoring in dental hygienists' attitudes toward tobacco cessation.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.907-918
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• 2019

Objectives: This qualitative research was conducted to clearly find and clinically understand dental hygienists' work experience in order to lay the legal foundation for their work range and safe execution. Methods: From March 1 to April 30, 2019, seven study participants were selected and participated in-depth interviews. Phenomenological research methodology was applied for intensive analysis. Results: They performed jobs that required no professionalism, such as dental assistance, except for scaling. Dental hygienists, nurses' aids, and dental technicians performed the same jobs regardless of difficulty level and legal work range. Dental hygienists failed to accurately recognize their legal work range. Since there was the wide gap between their legal work range and actual work range, it was necessary to expand the work range in line with actual conditions. Conclusions: Given the results, it is necessary to conduct in-depth discussions within the dental circle to make dental hygienists' work execution in line with reality by improving and discussing a legal system for job assignment and expansion of workers. Therefore, it is required to form a plan for the many jobs dental hygienists executed in a clinical setting.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.1138-1147
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• 2012

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to grasp association with dental hygienists' job expectation through correlation between curricular subjects for the department of dental hygiene and job. Methods : It carried out convenience sampling of dental hospitals where are located in Capital Area, and then conducted a self-administered questionnaire survey targeting 274 dental hygienists who are working here. The statistical program was analyzed by using PSAW 18.0. Results : Research subjects' 60.2% experienced turnover. Its reason accounted for 31.7% with the working condition. As a result of examining difference in experience of turnover according to dental hygienists' individual characteristic and working form, the significant difference was shown in age, marriage, annual salary, working institution, and career. In consequence of confirming association between curricular subjects and job, the majority showed high correlation. However, the correlation with oral physiology, clinical dental hygiene, and dental clinics showed low correlation as the insignificant variable. Conclusions : As a result of this study, the high correlation between curricular subjects and job can be considered to reflect dental hygienists' job expectation. On the other hand, the working condition, professional sense, and turnover experience, which are factors related to dental hygienists' job expectation, were indicated to fail to meet job expectation.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.693-705
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• 2018

Objectives: This study aimed to identify the importance of the directivity of reflecting on a realistic task when aiming to reorganize a relevant law for dental hygienists through examining dental hygiene students' perceived need for a relevant law on dental hygiene related work. Methods: A survey was conducted targeting dental hygiene students from March 28 to April 30, 2018. The following findings were obtained. The results were summarized as follows. The collected data were analyzed using the SPSS WIN 21.0 statistical program. Results: With reference to the influence of the need for a work-related legislation on dental hygienists' awareness of their legal rights, findings revealed that the latter was higher when there was higher involvement in precision impression procedures, higher involvement in occlusal adjustment in the middle stage, and higher perceived need for legislation on a comprehensive dental hygiene course (all p<0.05). Conclusions: Based on these findings, it is considered necessary to pursue a national solution for modifying the relevant legal system to provide institutional support for dental hygienists' work. Additionally, the worry in the whole dentistry in order to establish dental hygienists' task.