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

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.47-65
• /
• 2006

Objectives: This research is to provide the basic data for the improvement on oral health by examining the relationship between the dental fear and the dental service utilization, and to discuss a strategy for dental health in order to lower the level of dental fear. Methods: Data were collected by conducting a structured survey of 1,607 people between the age of 13 and 70 who have experiences in visiting a dental institution. Both univariate and multivariate analyses were employed to analyze the relationship between the number of times dental service and dental fears. Results: The average level of dental fear the respondents reported was $52.16{\pm}15.71$ and 31.5% of the response was at the level of high dental fear. A strong physiologic response during the dental treatment was muscle tension and the stimulations that strongly arouse the dental fear were the anaesthetic needle and the sound of drill. A result of analysis on the relationship between the dental fear and the dental service utilization shows that as the level of dental fear became higher, the number of times for the dental service utilization for the last year had reduced. Also when a patient has an experience of putting off or canceling an appointment due to dental fear and as a physiologic response during the dental treatment became stronger, the result shows a tendency that the number of times for the dental service utilization for the last year had reduced. Conclusions: It has been observed that dental fear is one of the main barrier to use dental service. Therefore, a physio-psychological factor like the dental fear should be included in the task of promotion of dental health, and in analyzing the dental service utilization behavior. A discussion about how to lower dental fear was made with respect to oral health promotion. At individual level, improvement of communication skill by dental service providers should be made with rearrangement of clinic environment into more cozy one.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
• /
• v.19 no.5
• /
• pp.625-633
• /
• 2019

The aim of this study was to review the history of dental hygiene education in Korea on its $50^{th}$ anniversary in 2015. Internal resources and documents from the Korean Dental Hygienists' Association and other accessible resources were examined to verify the historical facts of dental hygiene education in Korea. From 1965 to 1967, the first class of four dental hygiene students graduated, and the legal basis for dental hygiene as a profession was established, which led to the start of the profession Registered Dental Hygienist in 1971. From 1977 to 1993, 13 higher educational institutions started dental hygiene programs. The Korean Dental Hygienists' Association (1977) and Korean Association of Dental Hygiene College Professors (1987) were established in this period. From 1994 to 2006, the duration of major-intensive course programs in dental hygiene was extended to three from the two years of 1994, and the first bachelor's degree program in dental hygiene started in 2002. In this period, studies on dental hygiene became significantly active owing to vigorous activities by academic societies. The master's degree program in dental hygiene was established in 2007. Academic dental hygiene journals, the Journal of Dental Hygiene Science, and Journal of Korean Academy of Dental Hygiene Education were promoted as the registered journals of the Korean Research Foundation. From 1965 to 2015, dental hygiene education in South Korea expanded both quantitatively and qualitatively and is now ready for further progress in the future.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.347-353
• /
• 2016

Objectives: The purpose of the study is to investigate the dental fear and related factors of dental hygienists using dental fear survey. Methods: A self-reported questionnaire was completed by 279 dental hygienists from January 15 to March 28, 2015. The study instrument was dental fear survey. Data were analyzed using SPSS 19.0 program by t-test, one way ANOVA and stepwise multiple regression analysis. The questionnaire included general characteristics of the subjects, subjective oral health status, use of dental care services, subjective oral health status, and recent dental treatment. Results: Alcohol consumption was the most influential factor to the dental fear. The subjective status of oral health and direct pain sense also contributed to the dental fear. Conclusions: To reduce the dental fear, it is important to have high confidence toward the dental treatment performance in the dental hygienists.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.209-220
• /
• 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 Technologic Dentistry
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.129-143
• /
• 2000

With increasing number of dental patients, it is also increasing patient's desire to get better medical service. As the concern for improvement of dental medical service quality is growing, satisfaction degree of dental patients is becoming very important. This study was to investigate difference of patients' satisfaction degree concerned with installation of dental labs and the reason. The data for this study were collected through Self-Administered Questionnaires from 284 patients who had visited dental clinics more than two times. The results are as follows: Female respondents ratio was as twice much as male ones. And 54.2% of the respondents were found out to have completed university education. Dental clinics with dental labs scored higher than others in patients' satisfaction and recommendation willingness degree. Dental clinics without dental labs scored higher in patients' revisiting willingness degree. With simple Correlation Analyses it was found out that the most influential variable concerned with patients' general satisfaction degree was medical facility in dental clinics with dental labs, dentist ability to cure in dental clinics without dental labs. There were some discrepancies with other subordinate variables. Through Stepwise Multiful Regression Analyses it was found out that the most influential variable with patients' general satisfaction degree was dentist ability to cure in total and dental clinics without dental labs and medical facility in dental clinics with dental labs. There were also some discrepancies with other subordinate variables.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.281-293
• /
• 2018

Objectives: This study was conducted to identify the requirements for the clinical dental tasks in the dental hygienists using the frequency of dental hygienists' tasks in the Korean dental clinics, and to provide them with the core competencies for achieving these. Methods: This study was based on evaluation of a self-reported survey. The dental hygienists were investigated upon classification of their tasks into direct and assistant performances, and the dentists were investigated by the competency level of the dental hygienists. The data from 481 clinical dental hygienists and 67 dentists were used for final analysis in this study, excluding the subjects who provided incomplete or inappropriate responses to the survey. The collected data were analyzed by frequency analysis. Results: The clinical dental core competency tasks of the dental hygienists were divided into 4 tasks for common dentistry, 4 for periodontics, 5 for conservative dentistry, 5 for pediatric dentistry, 5 for dental prosthodontics, and 3 for dental orthodontics. Clinical dental core competency tasks of the dental hygienists were performed more frequently of tasks performance than 8.0, and dentists required competence level was similar to that of most dental hygienists clinical dental core competencies. Conclusions: It is necessary to check whether the curricula of the universities include the competencies for the students enough to perform the corresponding tasks and the core competencies need to be reflected in the curricula. The clinical dental core competencies need to be agreed by dental hygienists, and it is necessary to be organized as the evaluation guide of the institute of dental hygiene education and evaluation and utilized as the national examination.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.5-10
• /
• 2015

Background: Patients were subjected to post-discharge follow-up (by telephone) in order to investigate the potential complications of outpatient general anesthesia or deep sedation that could develop in disabled dental patients discharged from the hospital. The ultimate aim of this study was to establish an appropriate response measure for such complications. Methods: The caregivers of 79 disabled patients who underwent dental procedures under general anesthesia at our outpatient clinic were interviewed over telephone. Necessary care instructions were provided during the phone calls when required. The patient satisfaction level regarding the telephonic follow-up care was surveyed by additional telephone calls. Results: Most of the patients did not suffer any serious complications; however, some reported fever and bleeding. The data obtained in this study can be utilized towards the development of caregiver education pertaining to the ambulatory general anesthesia of dental patients with disabilities. Conclusions: Additionally, we hope that the findings of this study will help minimize the effects of complications experienced by disabled dental patients undergoing ambulatory general anesthesia, as well as increase the overall patient satisfaction level.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Dental Administration
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.70-77
• /
• 2023

This study surveyed and analyzed attitudes toward people with disabilities, awareness of considerations in dental treatment for individuals with disabilities, the need for education on dental treatment for people with disabilities, and the educational requirements for dental hygienists working in dental medical institutions. The study was conducted to highlight the importance of dental treatment education for people with disabilities and to provide foundational data for future dental treatment education programs targeting dental hygienists. A total of 221 dental hygienists working in dental care institutions nationwide participated in a self-administered online questionnaire from November 2 to 15, 2022. This study concludes that there is a significant correlation between the attitudes of dental hygienists toward the disabled, their recognition of considerations in dental treatment for the disabled, the need for education on dental treatment for the disabled, and their educational experience in providing dental treatment for the disabled. In order to improve these factors, it is important to implement and expand systematic dental care education for people with disabilities in the school curriculum, as well as in supplementary education and seminars.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
• /
• v.21 no.5
• /
• pp.475-477
• /
• 2021