• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.360-372
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• 2023

The aim of this study was to identify the current state of pediatric dentists, evaluate the adequacy of pediatric dentist supply and demand, and find out the perception of all pediatric dentists on the current state of pediatric dentists and policy establishment. An Online survey was conducted among pediatric dentists. The questionnaire was subdivided into 'general characteristics', 'number of dental treatments and working days per year', 'proportion of covered services', 'perceptions of supply and demand of pediatric dentists'. Through the Korean Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Services, the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS), and the Korean Statistical Information Service, the current state of pediatric dentists, the number of claims for covered services, and the decrease in births per year were investigated. Dental clinics claiming to be pediatric dentistry reached half of all medical institutions, but only 3.78% of pediatric dentists actually worked. 61.36% of all pediatric dentists were concentrated in the metropolitan area, showing a national imbalance. Although the population of children and adolescents have continuously decreased over the past 20 years, the number of NHIS-covered services has shown a continuous increase. Over the past 10 years, the optimal supply of pediatric dentists has been maintained at around 4,000. According to the analysis, 92.15% of pediatric dentists thought that it was necessary to prepare policies and support measures at the government level. This study is expected to be used as basic data for establishing a demand estimation method for pediatric dentistry specialists in the future.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.323-332
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• 2017

This study aimed to investigate the factors influencing the decision on whether to receive regular oral check-ups among the national health insurance beneficiaries with income and aged over 20 years in Korea. This was a cross-sectional study, using the data from the 2014 6th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES VI-2), conducted by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The final sample included 2,843 subjects who participated in the health examination survey and oral check-ups. The IBM SPSS Statistics ver. 20.0 was used for the statistical analysis, based on the complex sampling design. The Rao-Scott chi-square test was used to verify the difference in the distribution of independent variables with regard to oral check-ups. The binary logistic regression analysis was used to determine the influencing factors. The ratio of beneficiaries who received oral check-ups was less than half of those who received medical examinations. The Rao-Scott chi-square test, revealed significant differences in the age group (p<0.05) of the predisposing factors, toothache within a year (p<0.001), untreated dental caries (p<0.001) of the need factors, personal income level (p<0.001), educational level (p<0.001), type of medical insurance (p<0.001), and private health insurance (p<0.01) of the enabling factors. In the binary logistic regression analysis, factors influencing oral check-ups were age group, personal income level, educational level, toothache within a year, and untreated dental caries. These findings show a variety of factors influencing the utilization of regular oral check-ups.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.245-253
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• 2019

Background: This study aimed to analyze correlations between depression, cognitive function, oral health state, ability to perform activities of daily living, oral dryness symptoms, and oral health-related quality of life, and determine factors influencing the latter. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study based on questionnaires completed by 260 participants with suspected dementia, residing in South Korea. Psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, and dental hygienists visited clinics in the participating regions for examination and questionnaire administration. General characteristics, the geriatric depression scale, ability to perform activities of daily living, cognitive function, oral health state, and oral health-related quality of life were analyzed. Independent t-tests, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis were conducted, identifying factors affecting oral health-related quality of life. Data analysis was performed using SPSS ver. 20.0 (IBM Corp., USA), and the significance was set at p<0.05. Results: Approximately 65.0% of participants were female, 63.5% were in their 70s, and 90.0% had health insurance. About 21.5%, 42.0%, and 36.5% were normal, slightly impaired, and had dementia, respectively. High cognitive impairment was associated with poor oral health. Sex, education levels, marital status, and living arrangements influenced oral health-related quality of life. According to the regression analysis, geriatric depression and oral dryness affected the Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index scores. Conclusion: In conclusion, oral dryness and depression levels among elders influenced oral health-related quality of life. The results showed that to enhance elders' oral health-related quality of life, it is essential to not only improve their oral health state, but also relieve oral health problems, especially oral dryness, and take into consideration their psychological aspects.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.385-395
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• 2023

The purpose of this study was to analyze the screening rates and examination results of the national dental screening program for infants and children since its initiation. Data for this study were obtained from the annual health screening statistical yearbook of the National Health Insurance Service. The investigation focused on the screening rate according to year, age, and region, as well as examination results from 2008 to 2021. The study revealed a general increase in screening rates over the years, with a simultaneous decrease observed as the age of the subjects increased. Regional variations in screening rates were observed, with the highest and lowest rates in Sejong and Jeonbuk, respectively. Analysis of examination results revealed an increasing proportion of subjects requiring treatment as they aged. From 2008 to 2013, less than 15% of subjects aged 18 - 24 and 18 - 29 months required treatment, whereas over 30% required treatment in the remaining age groups. Between 2014 and 2021, the proportion of subjects in the 18 - 29 month age group requiring treatment remained under 15%, but it exceeded 40% in the other age groups. In conclusion, active participation in national dental screening for infants and children is crucial to improving oral health outcomes.

• The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.229-234
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• 2016

PURPOSE. The purpose of this study was to investigate the demographic patterns of maxillofacial prosthetic treatment to identify the characteristics and geographic distribution of patients with maxillofacial prosthetics in the capital region of Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS. This retrospective analytical multicenter study was performed by chart reviews. This study included patients who visited the department of prosthodontics at four university dental hospitals for maxillofacial prosthetic rehabilitation. Patients with facial and congenital defects or with insufficient medical data were excluded. The patients were classified into three categories based on the location of the defect. Patients' sex, age, and residential area were analyzed. Pearson's chi-square test with a significance level of 0.05 was used to analyze the variables. RESULTS. Among 540 patients with maxillofacial prosthetics, there were 284 (52.59%) male patients and 256 (47.41%) female patients. The number of the patients varied greatly by hospital. Most patients were older than 70, and the most common defect was a hard palate defect. Chi-square analysis did not identify any significant differences in sex, age, and distance to hospital for any defect group (P>.05). CONCLUSION. The results of this study indicated that there was imbalance in the distribution of patients with maxillofacial prosthetic among the hospitals in the capital region of Korea. Considerations on specialists and insurance policies for the improvement of maxillofacial prosthetics in Korea are required.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.378-383
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• 2016

With change in the pattern of disease occurrence and increase in the interest in health, efforts to assess the health status on patients covering their subjective awareness at the same time as clinical and objective evaluation on health are continued. To measure health-related quality of life can be one of these efforts. This study was performed to evaluate the relevance of the quality of overall health-related-life and oral health condition. Also the second year (2014) materials in the 6th the National Health and Nutrition Survey were applied to this study. The factors affecting general health related quality of life measured by EuroQol-5 dimension (EQ-5D) have been confirmed by gender, age, education level, income level, private health insurance, perceived health status, toothache experience during the last 1 year, remaining tooth number. As oral health plays an important role in determining the overall health conditions, objective oral health state influences the whole body health. Hence, it can be regarded that oral health is ultimately related to the general health-related quality of life.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.109-114
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• 1980

Ease of manipulation, adequate mechanical properties, long years of experience and economical cost are the factors which have established amalgam as the most widely used material for dental restorations. But amalgam restoration may require replacement because of secondary caries, fracture, "fall-out", dimensional change, tarnish or corrosion etc.. These failures of amalgam restorations seem to arise from failures during operations rather than from the inherent shortcomings of the material itself or of the patient's mismanagement. It is anticipated that notonly number of analgam restoration, but failures will be increase after more extensive utilization of the medical insurance which began in 1977. Then authors think that it would be helpful for the development of better treatment in daily dental practice, to know the duration of amalgam restorations and the reasons for their replacement. The data for this survey was compiled from 2, 856 out-patients of the Department of Dentistry, Ewha Woman's University Hospital from January 1975 to December 1977. 260 cases among 1,718 fillings were studied, of which 205 cases both had a single reason for replacement and recognized the date of the previous filling. The results obtained were as follows; 1. Amalgam fillings were 58. 5 percent of all dental restorative materials. Of these, 15. 13 percent of the amalgam restorations had to be replaced. 2. The first reason for replacement of amalgam restorations was secondary caries (56.10%), the second was fracture (23.80%) and the third was "fall-out" (8.78%). 3. Among those amalgms requiring replacement, 52.2 percent had been in place less than 3 years, 70.7 percent within 5 years and 89.8 percent had been in place less than 10 years. Only 10.2 percent had been in place more than 10 years.

• The Journal of Korea Assosiation for Disability and Oral Health
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.14-22
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• 2019

The aim of this study was to determine the factors contributing to the barrier of dental treatment for special needs patients perceived by the main caregivers of the patients. A questionnaire was developed with three parts: patient-related factors, caregiver-related factors, and factors for treatment barriers. Patient- and caregiver-related factors were analyzed for correlations with the barrier factors. Fisher's exact test and Chi-square test were used at the level of 0.05. A total of 52 caregivers (mean age [SD]=50.2 [11.5] years) for the patients with intellectual and cognitive disabilities (mean age [SD]=38.9 [21.3]) responded to the questionnaires. Oral hygiene status, need for assistance in tooth brushing, and cooperation for tooth brushing were correlated with the level of treatment cooperation of the patients (p<0.05). The above three factors were also correlated with the treatment barrier despite patients presenting oral symptoms (p<0.05). Two thirds of the caregivers felt the treatment cost as severe or a considerable financial burden. For patients, insurance types and need for assistance in tooth brushing, and for caregivers, education levels and financial status were significant factors contributing to financial burden (p<0.05). There were background factors of the patients and their caregivers associated with access to dental treatment for special needs patients. Deficient cooperative skills and financial burdens were the main obstacles to treatment access. Tooth brushing skills and oral hygiene status can be proxy measures to cooperative ability for dental treatment.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.3-14
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• 2021

Objective: This study aimed to identify the perceptions of orthodontic treatment among Korean adults and determine the factors that drive them to seek orthodontic treatment. Methods: A total of 2,321 adults aged 19-64 years were surveyed using an internet research system from a specialized research company. The participants were divided into the following groups based on their experience of and willingness to undergo orthodontic treatment: experience, acceptance, and non-acceptance groups. The characteristics of the participants were compared using analysis of variance with post-hoc analysis. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed in all three models with the non-acceptance group as a reference. Results: In terms of demographic characteristics, age, gender, marital status, and education had significant influences on orthodontic treatment decisions in adults in the experience and acceptance groups (p < 0.001). When all the factors were analyzed, age, marital status, past dental treatment experience, regular oral examinations, demand for orthodontic treatment, optimal treatment period, health insurance coverage, information on orthodontic treatments, perceptions regarding orthodontic treatment, and psychosocial impact of dental esthetics significantly influenced orthodontic treatment decisions in adults in the experience and acceptance groups (p < 0.001). Conclusions: These findings suggest that various factors influence orthodontic treatment decisions in adults. Individuals who seek orthodontic treatment were found to undergo more regular dental treatment and oral examination than those who did not. They also had a better perception of orthodontic treatment and more negative values for the psychosocial impact of dental esthetics.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.67-74
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• 2022

Background: Depression and cognitive function have a positive effect on the improvement of quality of life and extension of lifespan in the elderly. In addition, it appears as a major factor influencing oral health status. Therefore, this study looked at the relationship between the Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI), depression, and cognitive function in the elderly using the Korea Longitudinal Study of Aging. Methods: In this study, 4,535 elderly people aged 65 years and over were targeted using the 7th data of the 2018 Korea Longitudinal Study of Aging. A t-test and ANOVA analysis were performed to compare GOHAI, depression, and cognitive function by group. In addition, hierarchical multiple linear regression was performed to understand the effect of the elderly's perceived depression scale and cognitive ability on GOHAI. Results: As a result of adding the depression scale and cognitive function variables to Model 2, the explanatory power was 22%. Educational level, marital status, private health insurance subscription, average monthly allowance, subjective health status, use of dentures, smoking status, economic activity, depression scale, and cognitive function were found to have significant influence (p<0.05). In addition, when controlled and viewed with all factors, depression and cognitive function were found to have an effect on oral health-related quality of life. Conclusion: The findings indicate that depression and cognitive function are associated with oral health-related quality of life in the Korean elderly. As the age increases, the quality of life declines due to depression and cognitive function problems, in addition to oral discomfort, eating disorders, and physical discomfort.