• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.361-368
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• 2023

Background: This study aims to investigate the perceptions of dentists and dental hygienists regarding quality dental job conditions and to identify differences in perceptions based on job type. Methods: As a result of conducting face-to-face and online surveys, data from a total of 132 people were analyzed. In order to investigate the perception of quality job conditions, the importance of a total of 13 items was investigated, and the work policies and job satisfaction of the current workplace were examined. Since the data did not follow a normal distribution, a non-parametric test, the Mann-Whitney U test, was performed. Results: Both dentists and dental hygienists perceived income and working hours to be of priority importance for quality job conditions. Dental hygienists valued holiday support and welfare, human relations, and personal development potential more than dentists (p<0.05). Looking at differences by job type, dental hygienists rated all conditions as more important than dentists except income, indicating a statistically significant difference (p<0.05). In terms of the work policies, 96.2% of the practices in the study were required to have the four types of social security contributions, but fewer had flexible working hours (19.7%), healthcare support (23.5%), and incentives (25.0%). Of the participants, 60.6% had parental leave available at their workplace, and dental hygienists had statistically significantly higher job satisfaction when parental leave was available (2.57 points) than when it was not (p<0.05). Conclusion: Quality dental jobs are an important factor in keeping workers happy and maintaining an efficient practice. Dental practice owners need to pay attention to the quality of jobs required by the dental workforce, provide flexible working hours and welfare programs such as parental leave, and create a workplace atmosphere and human resource management system that supports the use of these programs.

• Journal of The Korean Dental Society of Anesthesiology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.29-39
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• 2014

Background: Dental phobia or anxiety of patients is the serious impediment to appropriate and effective dental treatment. Sedative technique helps to mitigate patients' fear and anxiety thus make them more cooperative and familiar to dental practices. With increasing attention to sedative dentistry in dentists, educational requirements and technical qualification also become stricter but actual survey on recent sedative dentistry has not been reported yet. Especially there is insufficient study reporting the survey of sedative dentistry subjected to Korean adults. In this paper, we conducted a survey study on the actual condition and practice related to sedation with a questionnaire to dentists in South Korea. Methods: The survey was done for members of The Korean Dental Society of Anesthesiology (KDSA), who had great interest in sedation and for whom survey-by-mail was convenient. 472 members of The KDSA having dental license and solid address and contact information were subjected to the survey by sending them survey questions about their sedative techniques and knowledge. In order to increase the response rate, small gifts were presented to those who accurately responded to the survey questions and text messages and phone calls were made to encourage their participation. We collected their responses over two months and examined the returned surveys. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 21 for each question. Results: Out of 472 dentists, 181 responded (38.4% response rate). 63.0% (114 dentists; 77 male and 37 female) of respondents had experience on sedative technique and their average age was $39.8{\pm}7.6$ year. 74 of them were private practitioners, 17 of them were professors (14.9%), 11 of them were dentists-in-service (9.6%), 11 of them were residents (specialist training) (9.6%) and 1 of them was military doctors (0.9%). There were 89 dentists (78.1%) who were specialists or receiving trainings to be specialist, most of whom were pediatric dentists (55, 48.2%) and oral surgeon (31, 27.2%). The most popular route for drug medications was orderly oral, inhalational, intravenous medication. Combination of oral and inhalational medications or single use of intravenous medication was the most common. The most preferred sedative drug was pocral in oral sedation and midazolam in intravenous sedation. 48.2% of practitioners responded that they experienced side effects and emergency situations. Airway obstruction was the most frequent. Conclusions: Results from the survey show that the protocol and system for sedative dentistry have been improved compared to the past. Nevertheless, quality of emergency protocol, monitoring devices and preparation of sedative drugs was still insufficient to achieve safe sedative procedure. This study acquires novelty since actual survey on recent sedative dentistry for adult patients has not been reported yet.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.579-588
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• 1999

Monitoring of patients is essential in assuring the safety of sedation in the dental office. The purpose of this study was to explore the utilization and preferences of sedation, utilization of monitoring methods, and the preparation for emergencies during sedation. Members of the Korean Academy of Pediatric Dentistry were surveyed(n=245) from 1998. 10. 1 to 1998. 12. 20 to establish current trends in the use of sedation practices and monitoring methods in Korea. Findings of the survey include: 1. Twenty nine percent of pediatric dentists use sedative agents in their practices. Seventy one percent of pediatric dentists do not use any sedative agents in their practices 2. Thirty nine percent of pediatric dentists who use sedative agents do so without monitoring devices 3. Nitrous oxide inhalation sedation was the most frequently utilized sedation method by pediatric dentists and chloral hydrate was the most frequently utilized sedative by pediatric dentists. Pulse oximeter was the most frequently utilized monitoring method during sedation in dental office. 4. Only twenty eight percent of pediatric dentists obtain the informed consent of the child's legal guardian. 5. Only sixty percent of pediatric dentists prepare for emergencies during sedation.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Dental Administration
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.14-24
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• 2021

Dentists and dental hygienists are major collaborators, as expressed by the concept of "Four-handed dentistry." Dentists are guaranteed their legal duties and rights in accordance with the Medical Act, whereas dental hygienists are currently stipulated in the scope of their legal duties under the Act on Medical Technicians. However, there is a difference between the actual work and the legal work performed by dental hygienists; therefore, the work is dependent on many legal controversies and authoritative interpretations. The purpose of this study is, first, to develop a reliable questionnaire tool regarding the actual work performed by dental hygienists in dental hospitals and clinics, and second, to examine the awareness of the appropriateness of legal work based on the developed questionnaire. The target subjects of the survey were dental hygienists and dentists, and the dental hygienists were those who worked in dental hospitals and clinics as license reporters of the Korean Dental Hygienists Association. A total of 1,294 dental hygienists and 39 dentists were included in the final analysis. In the dental hygienist group, 19 items received the response "appropriate for legal work" in over 90% of cases, accounting for 25% of the total 76 items. In addition, in a total of 31 items, more than 80% of the responses were appropriate for legal work. Among them, the highest was 'Scailing' (97.7%), followed by "Extraoral-Panorama" (97.1%). In the dentist group, 10 out of 76 items showed over 90% adequacy for legal work, and among them, "instrument cleaning and sterilization" was the highest at 100%. It was followed by "Intraoral radiography," "Scailing," and "Toothpick method, TPM" with 97.4%. In the case of dentists, 28 out of a total of 76 items showed an appropriateness of more than 80% for legal work. This study comprehensively investigated the actual work of dental hygienists in line with timely and appropriate social issues and provided reliable statistics in evidence-based dentistry.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.139-155
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• 2017

The study of job satisfaction among female dentists is essential to improve the quality of their life. In this study, a job satisfaction survey of female dentists in Gwangju was performed and the factors affecting job satisfaction were examined. A survey of female dentists in Gwangju was conducted using a custom-designed and validated questionnaire which incorporated the Korean Dentist satisfaction Survey (KDSS) as well as questions regarding socio-demographics and professional characteristics. Satisfaction for each question was measured by a 5-point Likert scale. The final analysis was performed with 89 questionnaires, after excluding 3 non-response questionnaires. Analysis of the data for each group was carried out using a Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis H test. The reliability of the questionnaire was identified by the internal consistency of the survey using Cronbach coefficient. The data were statistically analyzed using SPSS (IBM SPSS Statistics 19, SPSS Inc, Chicago, Ill, USA). The level of statistical significance was set at p = 0.05. On analyzing with use of the above mentioned method, the following findings were observed: Income, leisure time, time for self-development, and overall job satisfaction were lower than the average, especially the percentage of dissatisfaction was much higher than that of satisfaction. Satisfaction was associated with age, duration of employment, and the number of assistants. The limitations of this study are the lack of an adequate sample size, convenience sampling during extraction, the lack of questionnaire items, the limitations of quantitative research, and failure to perform measurement in the non-response group. However, female dentists can be expected to achieve a more satisfactory and enhanced working environment if the research based on the current study is followed up in an expanded target group.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.280-287
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• 2010

Objective: In spite of increasing dental treatment for the disabled, there was a few collected data on dental treatment status and dentists' perception in Korea. The purpose of this' study is to research the current dental treatment status for the disabled in Korea and to suggest public health policies for the disabled. Material and methods: Total of 68 dentists who have treated the disabled regularly were asked to fill questionnaires regarding dental treatments for the disabled. Results: 1. It is necessary to set up public dental center for the disabled in rural area. 2. In case of dental treatments relating to cerebral palsy, ADHD, autism, the compensation for treatment time and extra investment is needed. 3. Only 39.7% of dentists charged treatment fees to the disabled as same as normal patients. Moreover 38.2% of dentists answered that they didn't charge treatment fees at all when their patient are disabled. 4.23.5% of dentists provided all of dental treatments including dental implant and orthodontic appliances in Korea. However, 54.3% of dentists reported the improvement of access to dental implant, orthodontic and esthetic treatment is needed. 5. It is imperative for the government to improve the support system for the disabled. Conclusions: Through this research only 26.5% of dentists answered that they had received the fund from the government and 11.1% of them were satisfied with the support for the disabled in Korea. This indicated the improvement of government financial support system for the disabled is needed.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.3-9
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• 2011

Purpose: Infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remains a major global threat, and although the prevalence is comparatively still very low, the number of HIV-positive Koreans is increasing. However, there are no official guidelines as to how to treat people living with HIV/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) (PLWHA) or how to screen for potentially infectious people. This study assessed the level of knowledge and attitudes of dentists in Korea toward PLWHA, and their attitudes to screening patients for HIV infections. Methods: A cross-sectional prospective survey targeting dentists working in Korea was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire. Results: A satisfactory level of knowledge about HIV/AIDS and a relatively positive attitude toward PLWHA was found. Most of the respondents preferred rapid HIV testing using oral fluid as a specimen. The general attitude of dentists toward HIV/AIDS is sufficiently positive to enable provision of the best treatment to the patients in need. Conclusions: Most of the dentists require HIV testing in dental clinics. In spite of their needs, there are several obstacles. It is hoped that financial considerations and official legal requirements related to HIV testing strategies will be considered.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.54 no.12
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• pp.971-984
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• 2016

The increase rate of dentists' competition is very fast at metropolitan areas in South Korea. We compare metropolitan and rural parameters to investigate the relation between competition and revenue variation. The competition and revenue variables of 73 metropolitan and 75 rural areas were calculated from 2010 Census of Service Industry microdata which include non-insurance revenues of dental clinics. Independent sample t-test results showed that the level of competition among dental clinics in metropolitan areas is higher. The lowest and the low ranked revenues are higher in rural areas. The highest and the average revenues are higher in metropolitan areas. But, 25 percentile and median revenues has no significant difference between two areas. Simple log linear regression results showed that the number of clinics could explain the distribution of revenues in both areas better than the density of active dentists and Herfindahl-Hirschman index. In the areas with many clinics have high maximum and average revenues and low minimum revenues. The increasing rate of maximum revenues is higher in metropolitan areas though the decreasing rate of minimum revenues is higher in rural areas. Metropolitan areas have higher Gini coefficients than rural areas, but the increasing rate of Gini coefficients is lower than rural areas. Findings from this study are useful reference when the dentists select the opening areas. One is that the median revenues between metropolitan and rural areas have no significant difference. The other is that the rural areas ensure the more stable and uniform revenues. The results would help to relieve the consumptive competition among dentists and to achieve the distributional efficiency of dental human resources.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.43-52
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• 2007

The supply and demand planning the pediatric dentists is earnest, because of the start of the dental specialist system on 2008 and aging society with low fertility. Therefore in order to develop the model, that is adequate to estimate demand for the pediatric dentists, a studies on the supply and demand planing of other health manpower were reviewed. The obtained results were as follows : 1. The health demand method was appropriate for demand estimation of the pediatric dentists. 2. There was independent variables needed for demand estimation model: prevalence, utilization rate, referral rate, fertility rate, productivity, annual working days, and so on. 3. Since statistical data for application of these variables was insufficient as result of searching, questionnaire researching and discussion of specialist may be necessary. 4. Each independent variables should be inducted into an equation by using a adequate regression model and then estimated.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.125-135
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors related to high school students' fear of dental treatment and distrust for dentists, analyze the relation between these factors and dental health services utilization, and then apply basis data for providing individualized dental health service. The period of the data collection was from November 1st to November 22th 2013, and the subjects were 300 of the first-year high school students in Daugu, and the final analysis data were total 280. using frequency, T-test, correlation and multiple regression analysis, the results of this study were as follows. The higher the distrust for dentist(${\beta}=0.322$) and the burden of dental visit(${\beta}=0.161$), fear of Dental treatment was increased. The larger the fear of Dental treatment and Past experienced pain level, distrust for dentist was increased. therefore, In order to decrease patients' distrust for dentists, good communication between patients and doctors, and efficient treat plans were needed. As a result, patients should have positive attitude on treat. Through early detection and early treatment of oral disease, effective dental health care services with decreasing the fear of dental care system should be provided.