• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.891-902
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• 2018

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to propose contents of a curriculum and training program for dental hygienists as medical professionals by surveying the opinions of clinical dental hygienists and dental hygiene professors. Methods: The subjects were 192 clinical dental hygienists and 193 dental hygiene professors. They answered questionnaires that consisted of grading each task based on its importance: a) for dental hygiene students to learn, b) to perform autonomously in clinical practice, and c) the expectancy of the task to change when dental hygienists become medical professionals. Data analysis was performed using an independent sample T test to capture differences between clinical dental hygienists and dental hygiene professors. The terms in the answers of open-ended questionnaires were extracted. We used R 3.5.0, R Recommender, and Wordcloud software packages. Results: Calculus removal had the highest scores for dental hygiene students to learn and expectancy to change when dental hygienists become medical professionals. Physiotherapy of temporomandibular disorders (TMD), planning, performing, and assessment of community oral health programs had the lowest scores in autonomy in clinical practice. The dental hygiene professors gave higher scores in most of the tasks for dental hygiene students to learn, autonomy in clinical practice, and expectancy to change, than did clinical dental hygienists. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), job ethics, and communication were the most frequently mentioned terms in the training as medical professionals program contents. Conclusions: In the future, it will be necessary to study the curriculum to improve the proficiency of dental hygienists as medical professionals.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.817-827
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• 2006

Purpose : This study was designed 1) to compare the perception of dental professionals and lay people with respect to minor variations in maxillary anterior tooth size and alignment and their relation to the surrounding soft tissues, and 2) to evaluate the normal tooth-gingiva topographical relationships in periodontally healthy young subjects, Materials and methods : Maxillary anterior teeth were intentionally diagrammed in varying degree of deviation with respect to one of three common anterior esthetic discrepancies including variations in crown length, shape of gingival margin, and length of interproximal contact, 17 images were generated to be preferentially selected by 2 groups consisting of dental professionals and lay people (total of 740). Smiling photographs of 120 dental students who had healthy periodontium were taken and the photographic images were analyzed to be classified as 17 kinds of altered image groups. Results : The results demonstrated noticeable difference between the varying levels of discrepancy. Both group preferred gingival margin of lateral incisor to be 0.5mm lower than that of central incisor. Lay people preferred the gingival margin shape that has 2/9 horizontal component of the crown width, while dental professionals preferred the gingival margin shape that has 1/9 horizontal component of the crown width. Lay people preferred longer length of the interproximal contact (two thirds of the crown length), whereas dental professionals preferred shorter length of the interproximal contact (half of the crown length). Photographic analysis of normal esthetic gingival topography revealed 2/9 horizontal component and short length of the interproximal contact which was of the hybrid nature of the preferences shared by lay people and dental professionals. Conclusion: The results of this study show that dental professionals and lay people demonstrated significant difference in their preference of dental esthetic components, which may then influence the decision making process by dental professionals with respect to designing the anterior esthetic gingival line.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.169-180
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• 2009

This study grasped recognition on a system of long-term care insurance for the elderly targeting dental professionals who are working at dental hospitals and clinics where are located in Daejeon Metropolitan City. It developed and utilized materials available for educating the care staff in a system of long-term care insurance for the elderly and the dental professionals who participate in the oral hygiene service. It carried out the effective duty performance for the elderly in a situation of long-term care protection. Thus, the purpose of this study was to contribute to the early settlement in a system of long-term care insurance for the elderly. The following conclusions were obtained as a result of having carried out self-administered questionnaire research targeting 238 people from August 1 to August 30 in 2008. 1. In the general characteristics of the research subject, the present working place was indicated to be 22.7% for dental hospital, 71.8% for dental clinic, and 5.5% for others. As for the main duty field, the medical treatment & cooperative duty was indicated to be the highest with 61.8%, and was statistically significant(p=0.000). 2. The necessity for a system of long-term care insurance for the elderly was indicated to be 77.7% for 'necessary' and 1.7% for 'unnecessary,' and was statistically significant(p=0.016). 3. In the item of dividing the service of long-term care insurance for the elderly, the dental hygienists showed higher recognition than non-dental hygienists, and indicated significant difference(p=0.010). 4. As for recognition on a system of long-term care insurance for the elderly in dental professionals who responded as saying of 'knowing name and contents' about a system of long-term care insurance for the elderly, the recognition level was high in recognition of subjects' age(p=0.000), division in services(p=0.012), contents in at-home care service(p=0.000), execution in oral-hygiene service(p=0.004), procedure of using the long-term care insurance for the elderly(p=0.016), item of judging grade of long-term care insurance for the elderly(p=0.013), medical charge by service according to judging grade of long-term care insurance for the elderly(p=0.015), burden of cost for a system of long-term care insurance for the elderly(p=0.011), qualification of care staff(p=0.002), and contents of oral-hygiene service(p=0.027), and showed significant difference. 5. The service of long-term care insurance for the elderly and the oral-hygiene service indicated the statistically significant correlation. Accordingly, all of dental professionals need to make a desperate effort to improve dental professionals' knowledge on a system of long-term care insurance for the elderly enough to be required a system of long-term care insurance for the elderly. The more systematic and standardized professional education and materials are thought to be needed to be developed aiming at the success in oral-hygiene service within a system of long-term care insurance for the elderly, by strengthening professionalism in dentists and dental hygienists.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.220-229
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• 2022

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the accuracy performance of dental professionals in the classification of different types of dental implant systems (DISs) using panoramic radiographic images with and without the assistance of a deep learning (DL) algorithm. Methods: Using a self-reported questionnaire, the classification accuracy of dental professionals (including 5 board-certified periodontists, 8 periodontology residents, and 31 dentists not specialized in implantology working at 3 dental hospitals) with and without the assistance of an automated DL algorithm were determined and compared. The accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, confusion matrix, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, and area under the ROC curves were calculated to evaluate the classification performance of the DL algorithm and dental professionals. Results: Using the DL algorithm led to a statistically significant improvement in the average classification accuracy of DISs (mean accuracy: 78.88%) compared to that without the assistance of the DL algorithm (mean accuracy: 63.13%, P<0.05). In particular, when assisted by the DL algorithm, board-certified periodontists (mean accuracy: 88.56%) showed higher average accuracy than did the DL algorithm, and dentists not specialized in implantology (mean accuracy: 77.83%) showed the largest improvement, reaching an average accuracy similar to that of the algorithm (mean accuracy: 80.56%). Conclusions: The automated DL algorithm classified DISs with accuracy and performance comparable to those of board-certified periodontists, and it may be useful for dental professionals for the classification of various types of DISs encountered in clinical practice.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Oral Health
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.175-180
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• 2018

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between oral health professionals' knowledge, attitude, and practice with regard to infectious waste management and to identify related factors influencing it. Methods: The study comprised of 219 oral health professionals from select dental clinics and public health centers recruited between August 25, 2016 and September 5, 2016, who agreed to participate in the study with full understanding of the study objectives. A self-reported questionnaire was administered, which consisted of 22 items on knowledge of infectious waste management, 9 items on attitude, and 16 items on practice. Data were analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient and stepwise multiple regression analyses. Results: The age, knowledge, and clinical attitude of oral health professionals significantly correlated with waste management practice. Specifically, infectious waste management practice improved with increasing age, a greater level of knowledge, and a more positive clinical attitude. Additionally, the standardized regression coefficient demonstrated that, of these three factors, clinical attitude more strongly correlated with effective waste management practice, followed by age and level of knowledge. Conclusions: These results indicated that oral health professionals had a low level of knowledge regarding infectious waste management, and a more positive clinical attitude resulted in better practices. Therefore, the development of detailed and active education guidelines and strategies are needed to enhance the attitude, knowledge, and practice of oral health professionals with regard to infectious waste management.

• Journal of Korean Dental Hygiene Science
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.123-144
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• 2022

Background: The aim of this study was to identify the bibliographic characteristics and research trends of the literature published on the profession of dental hygiene to provide basic data for research, education, and intervention program development for the establishment of healthy professionalism among dental hygienists and dental hygienist students. Methods: A literature search was conducted through four databases. They were looked up using the terms "dental hygiene" and "professional." Finally, 46 research papers that meet the selection criteria were selected for analysis. Results: From 2004 to 2022, 46 articles were published. Except for key words related to subjects and tools, key words ranked at the top were job satisfaction, self-esteem, self-leadership, and stress. Five tools of professionalism-professional self-concept, professional intuition, professional identity, and a professional values scale -were used in the study. Conclusion: Considering the social perception of dental hygienists as professionals and the reality of dental hygiene that is carrying out the process of professionalization, efforts are needed to identify and promote beliefs and attitudes toward professionals such as professionalism and professional identity.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2017

Considerable effort has been made to address the issue of occupational health and environmental exposure to mercury. This review reports on the current literature of mercury exposure and health impacts on dental personnel. Citations were searched using four comprehensive electronic databases for articles published between 2002 and 2015. All original articles that evaluated an association between the use of dental amalgam and occupational mercury exposure in dental personnel were included. Fifteen publications from nine different countries met the selection criteria. The design and quality of the studies showed significant variation, particularly in the choice of biomarkers as an indicator of mercury exposure. In several countries, dental personnel had higher mercury levels in biological fluids and tissues than in control groups; some work practices increased mercury exposure but the exposure levels remained below recommended guidelines. Dental personnel reported more health conditions, often involving the central nervous system, than the control groups. Clinical symptoms reported by dental professionals may be associated with low-level, long-term exposure to occupational mercury, but may also be due to the effects of aging, occupational overuse, and stress. It is important that dental personnel, researchers, and educators continue to encourage and monitor good work practices by dental professionals.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Health Science
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.1-9
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• 2013

Purpose. This research is implemented to identify the status of educations about the pricing standard, status of the cognition of the pricing standard, and the solutions to the questions on the pricing standard of the oral health professionals. it will provide the easier accessibility to the annual changes in Dental Health Insurance Standards to the oral health professionals. Methods. The research subjects are the total 204 oral health professionals in limited area, and it was analyzed with structured questionnaires. The collected data is analyzed by IBM SPSS ver. 19.0, a statistical program (IBM Co., Armonk, NY, USA) for the frequency and percentage, and ANOVA. The result is as following Results. The awareness of dental health insurance standard was statistically significant differences by age (p<0.01), career (p<0.001), the prime task (p<0.01), and dental insurance claimants (p<0.05). The awareness of the standard was statistically significant differences by educational training within last 6 months (p<0.05), the cognition of the standard (p<0.001), and solutions for the questions (p<0.05). Conclusions. As the results of the research, it is necessary to develop the educational program under condition of age, career, main task, and better understanding in Dental Health Insurance Standard for oral health professional.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.531-538
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• 2015

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate third and forth year dental students' perception towards dental hygienists as professionals. Methods: A self-reported questionnaire was completed by 602 dental college students in Korea after receiving the informed consent. Except incomplete answers, 217 data were analyzed. The questionnaire consisted of three questions of the general perception towards dental hygienists, four questions of the cooperation relationship to the dental hygienists, four questions of oral health education, five questions of preventive dental health care, five questions of dental treatment cooperation, and five questions of dental health care management. The data were analyzed using PASW Statistics 18.0(SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Results: Most of the dental college students viewed the dental hygienists as professionals. However, they did not exactly know the professional job of dental hygienists within the current national medical services system and they often viewed the dental hygienists as a medical assistant. The dental college students thought that the key role of the dental hygienists is the dental assisting. Only a small fraction of the participants recognized oral health promotion, preventive cares, and hospital management as professional roles of dental hygienists. Conclusions : Dental college students' perception towards dental hygienists as professionals needs to be improved. Understanding the job description of dental hygienists clearly is a crucial part of dental students' learning process and future practice.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.245-251
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• 2015

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the oral health awareness and oral health care provided by workers in the long-term elderly care facilities. Methods: A self-reported questionnaire was completed by 213 workers in long-term elderly care facilities. The questionnaire consisted of general characteristics, oral health awareness, oral health behavior, oral health knowledge, oral health care professionals, oral health care, oral health care improvement, and denture care. Except the incomplete answers, 200 data were analyzed by the statistical software of SPSS WIN 18.0. Results: Highly educated people tended to have higher oral health awareness. The workers in the facility maintained the oral health care but they suggested that dental professionals are needed. Conclusions: It is necessary to suggest the oral health care management by dental professionals.