• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.34-43
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• 2020

Background: The number and curriculum of dental hygienists in Korea have dramatically increased. Controversies have since resulted from insufficient job descriptions of the work performed by a dental hygienist. A dentist's perception was examined to legally reflect the actual work of dental hygienists. Methods: Four hundred and nineteen dentists were surveyed about the duties of a dental hygienist. Their views on the career and availability of each job were examined. The duties of the dental hygienist include 13 items in dental treatment preparation, 14 items of radiography, 21 items of preventive dentistry, 6 items of periodontal treatment, 12 items of oral medicine, 12 items of conservative dentistry, 8 items of prosthetics, 10 items of orthodontics, 7 items of oral and maxillofacial surgery, 6 items of implantation, 6 items of impression taking and model fabrication, 5 items of anesthesia and injection, 11 items of management and administrative, and 3 items of self-development. Results: Most of the duties were doable by a dental hygienist. Many dentists reported that managing implants, oral hygiene of special patients, some duties in oral medicine, teeth brightening, making temporary crowns, making individual trays, selecting shades, ligaturing, and precision impressions need ≥3 years of experience. Duties perceived by dentists not to be performed by dental hygienists were reading radiographs (55.4%), suture and stitch out (48.0%), intramuscular injection (36.0%), root planning (27.2%), cementation and removal of prostheses (23.2%), and examining pulp vitality (22.0%). Conclusion: Current laws are to be revised to include, the care provided by dental hygienists and under a physician's supervision. Flexibility is also needed to cope with rapidly changing dental technology.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.63-67
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• 2011

This study aimed to propose appropriate methods of statistical analysis and interpretation of survey results in dental hygiene. By using examples of published articles in the Journal of Dental Hygiene Science from 2003 to 2008, we made some suggestions to improve scientific and clear writing of the contents; purpose of the study, subjects and methods, statistical analysis, tables, and interpretations.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.519-527
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• 2023

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the awareness of students majoring in dental hygiene regarding the advanced dental hygiene system for the elderly and people with disabilities. Methods: From September 25 to October 20, 2023, an online survey was conducted with junior and senior students in 27 universities, including eight in the Seoul area, seven in the Chungcheong area, eight in the Yeongnam area, and four in the Honam area. Data analysis methods included frequency analysis, independent t-test, and one-way ANOVA. Results: After graduation, 72.9% of students were willing to work as advanced dental hygienists for the elderly and people with disabilities, and had greater recognition of the system (p=0.042), role (p<0.001), and expected effect (p=0.027) of an advanced dental hygienist than students who were not willing to work in this capacity. Conclusions: It is necessary to introduce a system that recognizes advanced dental hygienists for their expertise in oral hygiene management for the elderly and people with disabilities.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.565-575
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• 2017

Objectives: This study aims to investigate patient cooperation for dental treatments by dividing patients into two groups with different treatment categories, i.e. orthodontic patients versus non-orthodontic patients. Methods: On December 2016, the study conducted survey targeting 311 orthodontic or non-orthodontic patients who are 20 years old or older living in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. The study subject were informed with the adequate information of the study and signed consent forms. Except for the questionnaire copies from 23 respondents whose answers were insincere those from 288 respondents, equivalent to 92.6% of the data collected, were used in the present analysis. Results: This review intended to clarify any factors affecting patient cooperation for dental treatments shows that the perception of oral condition, the reliability of dentistry, and the patient preventive cooperation had an effect on patient cooperation for dental treatments. Conclusions: The results summarized above suggest orthodontic patients who are familiar with dental treatments by virtue of their regular visits to dental clinics have higher cooperation for dental treatments compared to non-orthodontic patients, and the higher reliability of dentistry leads to higher patient cooperation for dental treatments.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.523-532
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to provide basic data to standardize the clinical dental hygiene curriculum, based on analysis of current clinical dental hygiene curricula in Korea. We emailed questionnaires to 12 schools to investigate clinical dental hygiene curricula, from February to March, 2017. We analyzed the clinical dental hygiene curricula in 5 schools with a 3-year program and in 7 schools with a 4-year program. The questionnaire comprised nine items on topics relating to clinical dental hygiene, and four items relating to the dental hygiene process and oral prophylaxis. The questionnaire included details regarding the subject name, the grade/semester/credit system, course content and class hours, the number of senior professors, and the number of patients available for dental hygiene clinical training purposes. In total, there were 96 topics listed in the curricula relating to clinical dental hygiene training, and topics varied between the schools. There was an average of 20.4 topic credits, and more credits and hours were allocated to the 4-year program than to the 3-year program. On average, the ratio of students to professors was 21.4:1. Course content included infection control, concepts for dental hygiene processes, dental hygiene assessment, intervention and evaluation, case studies, and periodontal instrumentation. An average of 2 hours per patient was spent on dental hygiene practice, with an average of 1.9 visits. On average, student clinical training involved 19 patients and 26.6 patients in the 3-year and 4-year programs, respectively. The average participation time per student per topic was 38.0 hours and 53.1 hours, in the 3-year and 4-year programs, respectively. Standardizing the clinical dental hygiene curricula in Korea will require consensus guidelines on topics, the number of classes required to achieve core competencies as a dental hygienist, and theory and practice time.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Dental Administration
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.43-47
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• 2018

Online data can be explored for topics browsed by an unspecified population to detect professional information demands more quickly. The purpose of this study was to collect and analyze online questionnaires in order to find information required by dental hygienists. We analyzed the frequency of posting words after isolating nouns from questions of the Korean Dental Hygienists Association homepage's Q & A section, the Naver Knowledge-iN service, and a dental hygienists' online meeting site in Naver. We found that queries of the Korean Dental Hygienists Association's homepage were concentrated on education renewal and license notification. The queries about dental hygienists in the Naver Knowledge-iN service used words related to job or career choice, and the queries of the dental hygienist-affiliated site had many words related to dental practice, dental work, and turnover. This study showed that the information needs of unspecified dental hygienists varied depending on the online environment such as homepage, blog, and information service.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.39-47
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• 2014

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of self-esteem and interpersonal relationship abilities on department satisfaction in the dental hygiene students. Methods : A self-reported questionnaire was filled out by the dental hygiene students in Busan and Ulsan from March to May 2013. Results : Self-esteem had a positive relation with interpersonal relationship abilities(r=0.487, p<0.001) and department satisfaction (r=0.308, p<0.001). Interpersonal relationship had influence on department satisfaction (r=0.347, p<0.001). Multiple regression analysis showed positive relations with aptitude for dental hygienics(p<0.001), satisfaction with school facilities(p<0.001), interpersonal relationship abilities(p<0.001), choice motive for dental hygiene(p<0.05), self-esteem(p<0.05), and gender(p<0.05). Conclusions : To improve the department satisfaction, it is necessary to enhance self-esteem and interpersonal relationship abilities in the dental hygiene students by group counseling and active communication program.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Dental Administration
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.89-95
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• 2023

Social phobia is a mental disorder that triggers physical reactions, such as cold sweats, headaches, and panic attacks, as a result of anxiety about a particular situation. Individuals with social phobia are thought to be more sensitive to dental anxiety and may have difficulty visiting the dentist as a result. This study aimed to determine the relationship between social phobia and dental fear among college students, who are reported to have a high prevalence of social phobia. A total of 120 survey responses were analyzed. To investigate the variation in dental fear levels based on the level of social phobia, the total social phobia score was divided into two groups: 41 points or more, and 40 points or less. The disparity in dental fear scores was then analyzed using a t-test. The study found that the average score for dental fear was statistically significantly higher in the group with a total social phobia score of 41 points or more compared to the group with a total score of 40 points or less (p<0.05). Furthermore, the group that scored 41 points or higher on the social phobia scale reported experiencing symptoms such as feeling nauseous at the dentist (3.29 points), sweating upon entering the dentist (3.13 points), and feeling afraid when looking at the dentist (3.13 points). The score was high (p<0.05). Therefore, dental patients exhibiting anxiety symptoms require a comfortable treatment environment to alleviate dental fear, and safe, pain-free dental treatment techniques must be employed.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.931-942
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• 2017

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to provide a counseling program basis for the department satisfaction in dental hygiene department according to the subjective factors of happiness in dental hygiene students. Methods: A self-reported questionnaire was completed by 197 dental hygiene students in Gwangju from April 10 to 30, 2017. From collected data, general characteristics, happiness index and department satisfaction of the subjects were investigated. Data were analyzed using the IBM SPSS 18.0 program. Results: The happiness index according to general characteristics showed a significant difference in grade, character, friendship, academic achievement, pocket money satisfaction and health condition. The department satisfaction according to general characteristics showed a significant difference in grade, age, character, motivation for further study, friendship, academic achievement, pocket money satisfaction, health condition, sleep time. Happiness index showed a significant correlation with department satisfaction. The happiness index was higher as the department satisfaction was higher. Factors that affect happiness index are friendship, health condition, relationship satisfaction, perception satisfaction, school satisfaction, curriculum satisfaction and department satisfaction. Conclusions: The happiness index was higher as the department satisfaction was higher. Therefore, it is necessary to develop various programs to increase the happiness.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.91-103
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• 2015

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of sociodemographic characteristics on usage patterns of oral hygiene supplies of patients visiting a dental clinic. Methods : A questionnaire survey was administered to 592 patients visiting a dental clinic based in Daegu from December 2, 2013 through December 31, 2013. Statistical analysis was done with IBM SPSS Statistics 20.0. Results : For awareness of oral toothbrushes, electric toothbrushs had the highest ratio(67.6%), and for awareness of auxiliary oral hygiene devices, dental floss had the highest ratio (77.7%). For toothbrushes used, interdental brushes had the highest user ratio(34.3%), and for using auxiliary oral hygiene devices, dental floss had the highest ratio(37.7%). Age had an influence on the awareness of oral hygiene devices. Gender and Age had influence on the use of oral hygiene devices. Of the total respondents, 34.6% citied "do not need to do that" as the reason for not using oral hygiene supplies, followed by "do not know" (34%) and "it is tiresome" (30.4%). Conclusions : To effectively improve oral health status, a good motivation method necessary to promote the use of oral hygiene supplies.