• Health Policy and Management
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.81-99
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• 1993

The purpose of this research is to assess the geographical distribution of physicians and dentists and the degree of maldistribution of the physician. Data were obtained form the Korean Medical Association's report on physicians registry and census for 1990. To assess the degree of disparity in the rural-urban distribution of physician manpower and to identify changes in the distribution pattern, the Gini index of concentration was used. Major findings are as follows; 1. Urban-rural disparity in the distribution of physician manpower exists in all categories of manpower, i.e. physician, dentist, oriental medical doctor, general practitioner, medical specialist, practitioner, public health physician and public health dentist. Urban area which had 74.4% of nation's population, accounted for over 90% of all physician manpower. 2. In terms of the ration of physician manpower per 10, 000 population, in urban area, they were 8.2 physicians, 2.7 general practitioners, 5.5 specialists, 3.0 practitioners, 1.8 dentists and 1.3 oriental medical doctors. In rural area, the ratios were 1.4 physicians, 0.6 general practitioners, 0.9 specialists, 1.0 practitioners, 0.4 dentists and 0.4 oriental medical doctors. 3. Gini indicies computed to measure inequality of physician manpower distribution were 0. 3675 for physicians, 0.3372 for general practitioners, 0.3338 for specialists, 0.2263 for practitioners, 0.3132 for dentists and 0.3293 for oriental medical doctors. 4. Inspite of increase in the number of physician manpower, urban concentration of physician manpower intensified from 1980 to 1990. However, the Gini index for all physician manpower fell by 18.3~36.7% from 1980 to 1990, indicating more even distribution. 5. In rural area, the public health physicians and dentists had increased the ratios of physicians, general practitioners, practitioners and dentists per 10, 000 population remarkebly, and had decreased the Gini indicies of physicians, general practitioners, practitioners and dentists. Thus, public health physicians and dentists contributed to improve the distribution of physician manpower in rural area. Based on the results of this study, long-term and rational manpower policies should be developed to solve the problem of geographical maldistribution of physician manpower as well as short-term policy for inducing physicians to the rural areas.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.481-496
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to compare factors causing stress in pediatric and general dentists when treating pediatric patients and to evaluate their overall occupational stress level. A total of 191 dentists participated in the online survey, consisting of 66 pediatric dentists and 125 general dentists. The questionnaire was conducted using Google Form. Both groups were stressed due to poor cooperation of patient and caregiver, uncertain prognosis of treatment, and low cost of pediatric dental treatment. The pediatric dentists felt relatively high stress due to poor cooperation from caregivers and an uncertain prognosis of treatment (p < 0.05). Overall occupational stress was high in both groups in the order of patient, time, job environment, and income-related stress, and the degrees of pediatric dentists were lower than general dentists. Among the 3 sub-factors of occupational burnout, more than 98% of both groups showed burnout in "depersonalization", and more than 69% of both groups showed burnout in "emotional exhaustion". Both groups showed a low burnout rate in "reduced sense of accomplishment" and pediatric dentists showed a higher sense of accomplishment than general dentists (p < 0.05). This study showed that both groups were under high occupational stress due to various factors, and efforts were required to relieve stress.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.31-42
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• 2009

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of the public dentist's professional education for 81 dentists employed at the public health centers and dental clinics in the National hospitals. The purpose of this education was to improve public dentist's abilities to perform their duties. The 3days education was from 28 May until 30 May in 2008. The total 81 participants consisted of 8 medical position dentists, 20 employment position dentists, and 53 public health dentists. The survey provided appraisal of the education and suggestion of the development after this education. The obtained results were as followings : l. The public dental health project for the disabled people(91.4%) was a top priority. The second rank was the public dental health education project (87.6%) and the public dental health project for the aged people(86.4%) was followed. 2. The participants agreed that public dentist's professional educational programs were necessary(87.6%). 3. The participants did not have difficulties in attending this education(56.8%). 4. The participants who participated in 2008 public dentists' professional education were satisfied with this educational programs(81.4%). 5. Not only did the public dentists need the preventive dentistry programs and the treatment of the disabled people but also needed the health administrative programs and the health statistical programs in the future.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.294-303
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• 2014

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine whether orthodontic treatment experience affects the individual's perception of smile esthetics and to evaluate differences among orthodontically treated laypersons, non-treated laypersons, and dentists by using computerized image alterations. Methods: A photograph of a woman's smile was digitally altered using a software image editing program. The alterations involved gingival margin height, crown width and length, incisal plane canting, and dental midline of the maxillary anterior teeth. Three groups of raters (orthodontically treated laypersons, non-treated laypersons, and dentists) evaluated the original and altered images using a visual analog scale. Results: The threshold for detecting changes in maxillary central incisor gingival margin height among laypersons was 1.5 mm; the threshold of dentists, who were more perceptive, was 1.0 mm. For maxillary lateral incisor crown width and height, the threshold of all three groups was 3.0 mm. Canting of the incisal plane was perceived when the canting was 3.0 mm among non-treated laypersons, 2.0 mm among treated laypersons, and 1.0 mm among dentists. Non-treated laypersons could not perceive dental midline shifts; however, treated laypersons and dentists perceived them when the shift was ${\geq}3.0mm$. Conclusions: Laypersons with and without orthodontic treatment experience and dentists have different perceptions of smile esthetics. Orthodontically treated laypersons were more critical than non-treated laypersons regarding incisal plane canting and dental midline shifts. Based on these findings, it is suggested that orthodontic treatment experience improved the esthetic perceptions of laypersons.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.333-338
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• 2015

Background: Oral health professionals are responsible in Iran for providing a brief tobacco cessation program to smoker patients. The aim of this study was to assess Iranian dental student and dentist practice, knowledge and attitudes toward smoking cessation programs. Materials and Methods: A valid and reliable self-administered questionnaire was designed and distributed to 150 dentists working in Isfahan-Iran and 60 dental students. Some questions were developed based on the expected 5A tobacco cessation protocol. Statements on attitudes focused on professional responsibility towards smoking cessation and its effectiveness. Chi-square, ANOVA, and t test were used for statistical analysis. Results: The cessation program in dental settings covers a small group of patients (18%). Some 69.1% (n=96) of dentists reported asking their patients about tobacco use, 64% (n=83) advising their patients to quit, 33.8% (n=47) assessing their patients willingness to quit and 20% (n=28) reported helping their patients in changing their behavior. A far lower percentage reported active involvement in arranging assistance for smokers to quit (4.3%, n=5). Some 22% of students and 26% of dentists disagreed that the tobacco cessation programs should be as part of dentists' professional responsibility and 70% of them were willing to follow the protocol of tobacco cessation for patients. Conclusions: Iranian dentist performance regarding tobacco cessation is weak. Dentists and students indicated their lack of knowledge as the major reason for non-adherence to the protocol. Therefore, planning to encourage dentist to follow the protocol needs continuous educational programs.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.58 no.2
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• pp.68-82
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• 2020

Running title: Adequacy of dentist supply Objectives: The proper provision of dentists is very important for delivering the dental care that people need. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the adequacy of dentist supply and to predict the proper supply of dentists in Korea for the next 10 years. Methods and materials: Using the data from 2004 to 2017 in the Statictics Korea, the dental needs were measured as days of admission and the annual total dental care hours in 2020, 2023, 2026 and 2030 were predticted using regression analysis. The dental care productivity (average in-office hours) of dentists was analyzed using regression analysis including age, gender, education level and region as a confounder. The annual care hours were predicted according to seven scenarios based on the percentage of women among dentists, post-dentist education levels, the percentage of dentists in the metropolitan area, aging and retirement age. Results: The needed dentist based on the data in the Statictics Korea will be 27, 288 ~ 27, 311 in 2020, 28,104 ~ 28,1785 in 2023, 28,977 ~ 29,124 in 2026, and 30,174 ~ 30,413 in 2030. On the other hand, the number of dentists in Korea will be 26,945 in 2020, 28,813 in 2023, 30,682 in 2026 and 33,173 in 2030. The adequacy index of dentist supply will be -0.01 in 2020 to +0.10 in 2030. Conclusions: Our data showed that dentists will be adequately supplied in Korea for the next 10 years. Overall, the ratio between dentist versus 1,000 Koreans will be increased from 0.5 in 2019 to 0.7 in 2020, which will meet the mean of OECD countries.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.176-182
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• 2011

Objectives: Previous investigations have presented some evidence of late cognitive effects in dental personnel exposed to metallic mercury. We wanted to examine if Norwegian dentists have an increased prevalence of symptoms consistent with neurological and/or cognitive malfunction. Methods: The study group consisted of 406 dentists from central Norway and 217 controls from the general population, all under the age of 70. They had responded to a standardised postal questionnaire (Euroquest) inquiring about seven symptoms in regard to neurology, psychosomatics, memory, concentration, mood, sleep disturbances, and fatigue. A score was calculated for each symptom based on 4 to 15 single questions scored on a scale from 1 (seldom or never) to 4 (very often). Results: The dentists and controls had a participation rate of 57.2 % and 42.9 % respectively. The dentists reported no more cognitive symptoms than the controls, with low average symptom scores from 1.16 for neurological symptoms in males to 1.73 for fatigue in females. Corresponding figures for the controls were 1.22 and 1.77. There were a total of 1.2 % of the dentists and 1.8 % of the controls who reported having three or more of the seven symptoms "often" or more frequently. Conclusion: Norwegian dentists do not report more cognitive and neurological symptoms than controls from the general population.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.535-551
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• 2007

Objectives: This study was conducted to know dental service and fear after research on reliability on dentists and satisfaction on dental hygienists. Methods: This study was conducted by the 325 persons who had the experience of visiting dental medical institution. Statistical analysis was conducted using the SPSS 12.0 with T-test, ANOVA and correlation. The obtained results were as follows: Results: 1. Internal consistency of Dental Beliefs Survey(DBS) and dental hygienists satisfaction questionnaire factors were 0.758~0.908(Cronbach' alpha). And the Cronbach' alpha's coefficients of the all subscales were more than 0.6. So high reliability and validity were identified. 2. As result of analysing fear from general feature, the men feel more fear than women and more fear was felt in the case of having worse teeth status. Fear was higher in case of visiting to dental clinic than in case of visiting dental clinic for precaution. And that was statistically related. 3. Dental fear was higher in the case of having the past pain experience, insufficient anesthesia experience, experience of seeing other persons pain and this was statistically related(P<0.01)(P<0.05). 4. Average of reliability on dentists was 37.9, person who has high reliability was 81.8%, person who has low reliability was 18.2%, average of satisfaction on dental hygienists was 31.5%(Satisfaction on dental hygienists was 51.1% and dissatisfaction on dental hygienists was 48.9%). 5. Higher dentists reliability and satisfaction on dental hygienists has lower fear considering general feature and dental clinic use behavior but person who has the dental clinic to go regularly has higher dentists reliability and satisfaction on dental hygienists where, however, fear was not low. 6. As result of analyzing correlation between dental service and dental clinic use behavior, satisfaction on dental hygienists was negatively related to reliability on dentists and fear. And, reliability on dentists was positively related to fear, pain experience in dental clinic, incomplete anesthesia experience, near person pain experience(experience on seeing person in pain), which were statistically related(p<0.01). Conclusions: In relation to general features and reliability on dentists and satisfaction on dental hygienists caused by dental clinic use behavior, dental fear was decreased when reliability and satisfaction are higher. Group with low dental fear had higher reliability on dentists and satisfaction on dental hygienists than group with high dental fear but only reliability on dentists was statistically related(p<0.05).

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.127-139
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• 2010

Objectives : The study explored perceptional gap of dentists and their employees between expectation and satisfaction. Methods : For analysis, the study surveyed 407 employees and 91 dentists on their expectation and satisfaction depending on expectation. Results : When the satisfaction on a question was lower than expectation; the rate of sufficiency was below 100%, it is necessary to improve on the question. Contrarily when the satisfaction on a question was higher than expectation; the rate of sufficiency was upper 100%, it is necessary to continuously support the question. The most of satisfaction of employees on their dentists and their organization were lower than employees's expectation of those. The most of satisfaction of dentists on their own and employees were lower than dentists's expectation of those as similar as employees cases, It means that all of questions need to improve continuously. Conclusions : The issues for prior decision to change these phenomena are 1) improvement of communication each other, 2) recovery of credence each other, and 3) leadership style change from authoritarian to consideration.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.53 no.11
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• pp.870-885
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• 2015

This article discusses accomplishments and historical implications of American missionary dentist W.J. Scheifley and the first Korean dental department, which was established in 1915 in Korea. W.J. Scheifley, with Christian service mind and mission as a dentist, applied to American Protestantic missionary dentist overseas. The dental department in the Severance Union Medical College introduced the scientistic dental education of America, facilitated research on the dental condition of the Korean people, and ran independent dental clinic. W.J. Schiefley criticised the profit-seeking attitude of Japanese dentists and denturist(="IPCHISA", in Korean pronunciation) and emphasized on the significance of Oral Health. He did all kind of dental treatments with advanced equipments like X-ray machine, and managed the collective oral health care for missionaries overseas. He trained medical students and assistants of the dentists with the goal of producing Korean dentists, but he failed due to the Dentist law introduced by Japanese colonial administration that interfered with producing Korean dentists. However, O.R. Avison's proposal of the establishment of dental schools stimulated the establishment of Kyungsung dental school, which provided the basis for the Dental department in the Severance Union Medical College becoming special training institution for Korean Dentists.