• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.717-727
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• 2018

Objectives: This study aimed to provide basic data on ways to facilitate effective communication between patients and dental hygienists, to improve the job satisfaction of dental hygienists, and to reduce the turnover rate among dental hygienists. Therefore, a comparative analysis of the perception of dental hygienists' emotional labor was conducted targeting patients and dental hygienists. Methods: Data were collected from August 1 to September 20, 2018, from 367 participants, including 216 dental hygienists and 151 patients residing in Gwangju, Jeonnam. Using the co-orientation model, their perception of dental hygienists' emotional labor was analyzed through the independent t-test and paired t-test. Results: With reference to objective consistency, patients showed a higher perception of dental hygienists' emotional labor than dental hygienists did, indicating that the former perceived the emotional labor more negatively. Regarding accuracy, there were significant differences in dental hygienists' response to six questions, while the same was observed for 11 questions for patients. Thus, the accuracy of dental hygienists was relatively higher than that of patients. Conclusions: To help dental hygienists perform dental health prevention activities more actively, consistently, and happily, and to establish commitment and professionalism in dental hygienists to enhance national dental health. Additionally, it would be necessary to sustain continuous research interest on measures for understanding the co-oriented relationship between patients and dental hygienists, and to solve the negative elements of dental hygienists' emotional labor.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.235-243
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• 2023

Objectives: This study compared the number of graduates in each region for the past 6 years and the number of dental hygienists working in dental clinics by region to evaluate the trend of dental hygienists moving to work areas after graduation. Methods: Health care big data open system_medical manpower statistics, resident population and household status data by year, and education statistics service were used to calculate the number of dentists and dental hygienists, admission status by region, number of dental hygienists per 100,000 population, number of dental hygienists per number of dentists, and distribution of dental hygienists by region. Results: Although the number of active dental hygienists increased in the metropolitan area, the ratio of dental hygienists to dentists did not improve significantly. In addition, the number of students enrolled in provincial universities decreased, and there were fewer active dental hygienists than graduates in provincial areas. Conclusions: Although the number of active dental hygienists increased due to increase in the number of dental hygiene departments, it was found that rural areas did not have a significant impact on the availability of dental hygienists as the graduates moved to the metropolitan area.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.209-220
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• 2020

Objectives: Although dental hygienists have a high employment rate as professional workers, turnover and retirement rates are very high. This study analyzed the factors related to work life of dental hygienists to prepare an alternative for life extension. Methods: From August 1 to December 31, 2019, 224 dental hygienists and 446 dental hygiene students were examined. Results: The expected working years for dental hygienists were 10-14 years (25.4%) and over 31 years (22.4%) for dental hygiene students. The recognized working years for dental hygienists were 10-14 years (22.4%) and 20-24 years (26.0%) for dental hygiene students. Work values of dental hygienists and dental hygiene students averaged 3.85 and 3.86, respectively. Furthermore, the average motive for selecting a major in dental hygienists was 3.08 points and in dental hygiene students, 3.24 points. The average career identity of dental hygienists and dental hygiene students were 2.82 and 2.91 points, respectively. Conclusions: The perception difference between dental hygienists and dental hygiene students was compared, and the factors that could play a positive role in prolonging life were identified. Based on this study, further systematic comparative studies and preparation of alternatives for life extension are required.

• 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.19 no.6
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• pp.1003-1013
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• 2019

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the differences of dental hygienists in how they view their work and how they rate their emotional labor and occupational stress. Gathering this data was an effort to provide information on how to increase occupational satisfaction and improve work environments for dental hygienists. Methods: We analyzed data collected from 178 dental hygienists. The dental hygienists were randomly selected by convenience sampling from dental hospitals. Results: Our results showed that pediatric hygienists had more negative responses in regard to their views on their work. As for emotional labor, dental hygienists from pediatric dental clinics experienced heavier emotional labor than those from general dental clinics. On the other hand, dental hygienists from general dental clinics suffered more from occupational stress than pediatric dental hygienists did. Conclusions: Given the findings of this study, effective and ideal programs that promote occupational satisfaction for dental hygienists should be prepared, and strategies should be developed to resolve emotional labor and improve their work environments, as well.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.197-211
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to examine the image of dental hygienists. The subjects in the study were 396 patients and their caregivers who visited 14 dental hospitals and dentists' offices in and around Seoul. After a survey was conducted, the following findings were given: 1. The people investigated gave a mean of 4.0 to the image of dental hygienists. Dental hygienists rated highest in terms of looking neat and tidy(4.33), and were given the lowest marks in arbitrary job performance(3.46). 2. There appeared four different types of dental hygienist images, which made a 59.824 prediction of the image of dental hygienists in general. A typical image(4.11) was most dominant, followed by professional one(4.07), personal one(4.01) and social one(3.73). 3. The relations between the general characteristics of the respondents and their image of dental hygienists could be described as below: 1) By age, those who were in their 60s(4.12) had the best image of dental hygienists, and the teenagers(3.90) had the worst image of them. 2) By gender, the men(4.05) looked at dental hygienists more positively than the women(3.96). They had a significantly different opinion on the social image of dental hygienists according to gender(pE0.05). 3) By marital status, the married people(4.00) had a better image of dental hygienists than the unmarried ones(3.95). 4) As for the influence of the type of dental institutions, they had a more favorable image of dental hygienists in dentists' offices(4.13) than in dental hospitals(3.88). There was a broad significant difference in the way they looked at the professional and personal images of dental hygienists according to the type of dental institutions(pE0.001). 5) As to the impact of educational level, those who received community-college or higher education(4.01) had the best image of dental hygienists, and those who received middle-school or lower education(3.91) had the worst image of them. 6) By occupation, the government workers and students(4.07) had the best image of dental hygienists, and the company employees(3.90) had the worst image of them. They took a significantly different view of the social image of dental hygienists according to occupation(pE0.05). 7) Concerning the impact of the frequency of receiving dental treatment, the respondents who had received it seven times or more(4.16) had the best image of dental hygienists, and those who hadn't(3.79) the worst image of them. There was a wide significant gap according to that frequency. The way they looked at the typical, social and professional images of dental hygienists was quite different significantly according to that frequency as well(pE0.001). 8) As for the influence of whether they were accompanied by caregivers or not, the people who weren't accompanied by caregivers(3.99) had a better image of dental hygienists than those who were(3.97).

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.463-476
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• 2018

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the perception of dental hygienists and look for ways to inform the dental hygienist correctly by investigating factors influencing the perception of dentalhygienists. Methods: The final analysis population for this study was composed of 302 adults aged 20 years or older who were living in Seoul or Gyeonggi-do. Statistical analysis of the collected data was conducted using the SPSS WIN 22.0 statistical program. Results: When factors influencing perceptions of dental hygienists were investigated, educational background beyond high school (p<0.05), educational background beyond college (p<0.001), occupation (student, p<0.05), title (dental hygienist, p<0.01), and whether dental hygienists offered comfort during treatment (yes, p<0.001) were found to exert statistically significant influence. In other words, participants with educational background beyond high school and college, student, participants who call the title dental hygienists, and participants who felt comforted by dental hygienists during treatment had better perceptions of dental hygienists. Conclusions: Based upon the results as mentioned above, It will be needed more training to enhance the skills of a dental hygienist patient response. Also participants who felt comforted by dental hygienists during treatment had better perceptions of dental hygienists. This indicates a need to devise ways to better foster the ability of dental hygienists.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.1067-1077
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• 2018

Objectives: The purpose of the study is to investigate the opinions of some local clinical dental hygienists on medical personnel of dental hygienists. It will be for provide the Future dental hygienist basic data necessary for medical personnel. Methods: A self-reported questionnaire was completed by 171 dental hygienists in Busan and Gyeongnam from December 1, 2017 to January 31, 2018. Structured questionnaires were uesd for analysis. The questionnaire consisted of general characteristics of the subjects(7 items), medical personnel necessity and opinions of dental hygienist(2 items), the opinions of distinction of the task between dental hygienists and other personnel(2 items), many frequency task in the dental clinic. The collected data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, descriptive statistics and ANOVA using IBM SPSS VER 20.0. Results: 89.5% of the dental hygienists required medical personnel of dental hygienist, the opinions on the necessity were as follows: 'role and quality improvement as oral health professionals', 'lack of legislation and application of dental hygienists duties'. There was no difference reason between dental hygienists and other personnel on duties, the reason were investigated to uncertainty of dental hygienist system, lack of dental hygienist workforce, dentists lack awareness of dental hygienist expertise. There was surveyed by the current many frequency duties in the dental clinic, assist for dental treatment, Oral health education and counselling, Preventive dental treatment. Conclusions: Legal guarantees for clinical dental hygienists work are absolutely required. Therefore, relevant government agencies and related organizations should resolve the contradiction of the legal system of medical law and medical technicians. The clinical dental hygienists should be promoted to medical personnel through the amendment of the medical law so that the duties practiced by the dental hygienist can be matched with the legal practice.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.321-327
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• 2016

Objectives: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the level of ethical dilemma and related factors in some clinical dental hygienists. Methods: A self-reported questionnaire was filled out by 290 clinical dental hygienists in G metropolitan city from January 5 to February 27, 2015. The instruments used for this study were the modified ethical dilemma scale developed Lee, Kim and Park. The questionnaire consisted of dental hygienists & subjects(4 items), dental hygienists & professionals(12 items), dental hygienists & partners(7 items), and medical information(31 items). The questions were measured by Likert 5 points scale. The statistical analyses include descriptive statistics, t-test and stepwise multiple regression analysis using SPSS 12.0 program. Results: Dental hygienists perceived ethical dilemma scored 3.35 and 3.24 except medical information. Professionals and partners in sub-domain of ethical dilemma by experience of ethics education and ethical conflict were high and showed statistically significant difference. The strongest predictor of dental hygienists and subjects was job satisfaction. The strongest predictor of dental hygienists and partners was adequacy of ethics education in college/university. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that it is necessary to develop the professional dental hygiene program for the prevention of ethical dilemma in dental hygienists and to make ethics education for ethical decision making.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.623-633
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• 2020

Objectives: Since scaling has been covered by insurance, the number of patients undergoing scaling has increased. Simultaneously, legal disputes around scaling have increased. Therefore, this study was aimed at comparing the differences between the perceptions of dental hygienists and patients regarding the scaling procedure and providing dental hygienists with basic data to find ways to reduce disputes arising from these differences. Methods: A survey was conducted on 119 dental hygienists working in Busan and the South Gyeongsang Province and 110 patients who visited hospitals for scaling. Frequency analyses were performed for dental hygienists' scaling behavior and patient discomfort during scaling. The independent t-test and chi-square test were performed to compare the perceptions of dental hygienists and patients regarding the scaling procedure. Results: Polishing after scaling was performed according to 70.1% of dental hygienists but only 29.9% of patients. Oral health education was provided according to 20.4% of dental hygienists, while 79.6% of patients said that they received oral health education at the Dentiform. The scaling time was reported to be shorter by patients than by dental hygienists. Both dental hygienists and patients said that legal action was required if problems occurred during scaling, and the refund standard was that patients needed it more than dental hygienists. Conclusions: There are differences between the perceptions of dental hygienists and patients regarding scaling. Dental hygienists should identify these differences and try to prevent conflicts or disputes with patients around scaling.