• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.11-16
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• 1980

It is generally accepted that dental procedures can be the causes of dental anxiety, and dental anxiety is described as a significant influence on physical reactions, which may complacate the dental treatment, and there has been much emphasis in the control of it. So it is very useful for dentists to know the degree of anxiety of their patients for the treatment planning and prevention of unexpected emergent state which may be caused by severe anxiety. For the study of the degree of the dental anxiety, 1,041 patients of the Dept. of Oral Diagnosis of S.N.U. hospital and some private clinics were evaluated for dental anxiety by means of dental anxiety scale questionaire. The results were as follows : 1. The mean value of 517 male patients and 524 female patients were are $9.31\pm2.76 and 12.01\pm2.78$ in respective. 2. There was no significant alteration by age and educational backgrounds. 3. Four male patients and nineteen female patients achieved scores ranging from 17 to 20 which have been known to dental phobics.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.615-624
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• 2019

Objectives: This study explored job satisfaction experience and meaning of work in dental hygienists. Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with 13 clinical dental hygienists who had been working in dental clinics for more than 10 years. The analysis method used was developed by Giorgi, including all four steps. Results: The results of the interview were categorized into five central meanings: recognition and trust (including patient's trust, trust in the boss, recognition in the hospital, and intimacy), growth (growth of the hospital, growth in jobs, and problem-solving skills), professional pride (self-esteem, extension of work and changes of awareness, and being able to help others), reward (financial compensation and psychological rewards), and meaning of life given by work (the process of maturing, self-representation, and vitality of life). Conclusions: Based on this study, we need to develop tools to measure dental hygienists' level of job satisfaction as well as follow-up research on ways to improve it.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.195-198
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• 2009

Purpose : To establish reference doses of periapical radiography in Chonnam Province, Korea. Materials and Methods : The target-skin distances were measured for dental patient's 1235 exposures including 345 mandibular molar areas. Each periapical radiation exposure was simulated with exactly the same patients exposure parameters and the simulated radiation doses were measured utilizing Mult-O-Meter (Unfors Instruments, Billadal, Sweden). The measurements were done in 44 dental clinics with 49 dental x-ray sets in Chonnam Province for one or two weeks at each dental clinic during year 2006. Results : The third quartile patient surface doses were 2.8 mGy for overall periapical exposures and 3.2 mGy for periapical mandibular molar exposures. Conclusion : The third quartile patient surface doses in Chonnam Province can be used as a guide to accepted clinical practice to reduce patient radiation exposure for the surveyed reference doses were below the recommended dental periapical radiography dose of 7 mGy by IAEA.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.343-350
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• 2023

Background: Digital panoramic dental X-ray equipment (PDX) is frequently used by patients and dental workers for diagnosis and examination in dental institutions; however, infection control has not been properly implemented. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to systematically review the potential risk of cross-infection in the dental environment by investigating the contamination level of general aerobic bacteria and Staphylococcus aureus, which are important in hospital infections, in PDX areas that people mainly contact. Methods: This survey was conducted from March to May 2023 and covered one general hospital, three dental hospitals, and nine dental clinics equipped with PDX. Bacteria samples were collected from the left-handle, right-handle, forehead support, and head side support as the patient's contact areas, as well as the X-ray exposure switch and left-click mouse button as the dental hygienist's contact areas of the PDX. The collected bacteria were spread on Petrifilm, and colonies formed after 48 hours of culture were counted. Results: General aerobic bacteria and S. aureus were detected in all areas investigated. Significant differences in bacterial counts between different regions of the PDX were observed in both groups (p<0.001). The detection rates of general aerobic bacteria (p<0.001) and S. aureus (p<0.001) were significantly higher in the contact areas of patients than those of dental hygienists. A positive correlation was observed between the forehead and the temple region in terms of general aerobic bacteria and S. aureus detection (r=1) (p<0.01). Conclusion: Taken together, the presence of many bacteria, including S. aureus, detected in PDX indicates that PDX has a potential cross-infection risk. Our results therefore highlight the need for the development of appropriate disinfection protocols for reusable medical devices such as PDX and periodic infection prevention training for hospital-related workers, including dental hygienists.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.631-639
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• 2015

Objectives: The purpose of the study was to investigate the satisfaction towards clinical training institution according to clinical practice contents in the dental hygiene students. Methods: A self-reported questionnaire was completed by 382 dental hygiene students of five colleges in Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongsangnam-do from August 20 to September 30, 2013. The data were analyzed using SPSS WIN 20.0 program for t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson's correlation analysis. The questionnaire consisted of the general characteristics of the subjects and the satisfaction towards the clinical training institution. The satisfaction was composed of 44 questions including the general satisfaction, practice contents, practice guide, training time of practice, training environment, practice evaluation, and personal relationship by Likert 5 point scale. Results: The students were most satisfied with the practice contents of the dental university hospitals. The dental hospital and dental clinics were the most satisfied choice in the personal relationships. Public health center dental clinics bestowed the students with the most satisfied practice guidance, time, environment, and evaluation. Practice contents and practice time were the most influential factors to dental hygiene department satisfaction to the students. Conclusions: In order to enhance the clinical practice satisfaction, it is necessary to have the continuous relationship with the clinical training institution. The practice satisfaction is influenced by the contents and environment of the clinical training institution.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.41-46
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to examine the work and turnover of dental hygienists in a bid to find out problems with them and feasible reform measures. The subjects in this study were 383 dental hygienists, on whom a self-administered survey was conducted in May and June, 2010. Concerning the work of the dental hygienists by the type of dental institution, the largest group placed importance on treatment cooperation as the major duty. Both of the dental clinic(54.3%) and the dental hospital employees(30.0%) faced the most difficulties in providing treatment counseling. As to the work awareness of the dental hygienists by career, the greatest group gave weight to treatment cooperation as the major duty, and the gaps in that aspect were statistically significant (p<.05). In dental clinics, working conditions (27.2%) and in dental hospitals, salary increase (37.1%) should be given top priority for improvement. The most common reasons for which dental hygienists changed theirs jobs were significantly different between dental clinics and dental hospitals: discord with supervisors (39.3%) in dental clinics and dissatisfaction with the salary (28.6%) in dental hospitals. The difference between the two results were statistically significant (p<.05). These findings indicate that independent working and improvement in working conditions of dental hygienists are urgently needed.

• The Journal of Korea Assosiation for Disability and Oral Health
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.7-10
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• 2018

Special care dentistry, also known as special needs dentistry, is concerned with the oral health of people who have intellectual disability, or who are affected by other medical, physical, or psychiatric issues. Dental schools must educate dental students for the competency in managing and treating individuals with special health care needs. The purpose of this study is to identify the current status of special care dentistry education in Korean dental schools. A questionnaire relating to the education of special care dentistry was sent to eleven dental schools in Korea via email. The result turned out that eight out of eleven schools had classroom teaching of special care dentistry, while only four had practical teaching programs. Nine schools had dental clinics for the disabled, in which two of them had special care clinics within the Pediatric dentistry clinic, and other seven in separate clinical sites. Despite the increased interest in special care dentistry, education including classroom teaching and practical teaching was still insufficient and needed more development. This study implicated a small but valuable understanding of special needs dentistry education in Korea.

• 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.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.993-1003
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• 2011

Objectives : This study is designed to identify the need for an efficient infection control plan in the curriculum of Dept. of Dental Hygiene and encourage dental hygienists to be more attentive to infection control by analyzing their personal protective measures, hand-washing frequency and other factors relating to infection control. Methods : A survey was conducted of 471 dental hygienists in general hospitals, dental clinics and dental hospitals in City of Busan and Gyeongsangnam-do from December 20, 2009 to February 21, 2010. Results : 1. Among those who worked for more than 11 years, personal protection (3.79) and hand-washing frequency (3.90) factors were rated high (p<0.05). 2. When surveyed by workplace, personal protection was high in general hospitals (3.75) while hand-washing frequency was high in dental clinics (3.74). 3. Among those who received infection control education more than three times, personal protection (4.07) and hand-washing frequency (3.80) were high (p<0.05). 4. Personal protection-related factors were general hospital workers, necessity of infection control education and awareness on infectious disease (p<0.05), while factors associated with hand-washing frequency were number of patients per day, whether or not infection control-related class is given at school, necessity of infection control education and awareness on infectious disease (p<0.05). Conclusions : To enhance awareness of infection control, it may be necessary to addan infection control-related class to the school curriculum and provide the necessity of conducting continuous and systematic infection control education through newly entering staff training and education of dental practitioners.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.399-406
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to investigate the performance of dental infection control. This survey was performed on 158 of the dental hygienist in certain areas. The research was performed using a self-reported questionnaire and interview method from June to July, 2014. The collected data was analyzed by PASW Statistics ver. 18.0. Guideline of infection management, infection controller, regular infection control training, Sterilization of the handpiece/per head resulted 57~74% for dental hospital. It was higher than 13~20% for dental clinics (p<0.05). Infection control guidelines and vaccination recognition of dental were more performed in dental hospital. Patient's hand hygiene performed, tooth brushing before treatment, cross infection educational experience was less than 20%, research cooperation of medical history was over 90% (p<0.05). Performing rate of the dental hospital workers were investigated higher in protective personal devices, infection control of treatment room. A correlation analysis about institutional support, infection control of dental hygienists, patients with infection control cooperation showed a positive correlation statistically significant. Infection control can be enhanced when the medical staff, the patient, the organization combined cognitive and practice. Dental hygienist is required to recognize and practice the infection control guidelines through continuing education.