• Journal of Korean Academy of Oral Health
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.167-174
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• 2018

Objectives: The aim of this study was to analyze the accessibility of dental care services among individuals with precarious employment in South Korea. Methods: We used the $9^{th}$ wave of the Korean Health Panel data (2015) and included 7,736 wage and non-wage earners in our study. We determined precariousness in the labor market as a combination of employment relationship and job income, and categorized individuals based on this into the following four groups: Group A comprising those who report job and income security, Group B comprising those who experience job insecurity alone, Group C comprising those who report a stable job but low income, and Group D comprising those who experience both job and income insecurity. Accessibility to dental care services was determined by experience of unmet dental care needs and unmet dental care needs caused primarily by financial burden. Logistic regression analyses were used to assess the effect of precarious work on access to dental care services. Results: Individuals with job insecurity (Group B; OR=1.445; 95% CI=1.22-1.70) and both job and income insecurity (Group D; OR=1.899; 95% CI=1.61-2.24) were more likely to have unmet needs than the comparison group. Both groups B and D were also 2.048 (95% CI=1.57-2.66) times and 4.435 (95% CI =3.46-5.68) times more likely, respectively, to have unmet dental care needs caused by financial burden. Education status, health insurance, and health status were all also effective factors influencing unmet dental care needs. Conclusions: Unstable employment and low income resulted in diminished access to dental care services. Therefore, governments should consider health policy solutions to reduce barriers preventing individuals with employment and income instability from accessing adequate dental care.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.457-467
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• 2020

Objectives: This study confirms the current status of visiting oral health-care services for the elderly to draw policy implications for revitalization of the visiting oral health care services in the future. Methods: First, a survey was conducted on health centers about the current status of the elderly visiting oral health-care service and how to revitalize it. Next, the number of oral hygiene services provided to the elderly was checked in the long-term care insurance system. Results: Oral health education (100%) was the most common practice in visiting oral health-care service for the elderly, and the most difficult thing in providing services was the lack of dental hygienists (38.9%). The status of oral health-care services in the long-term care insurance system for elderly revealed that the total number of service claims has been confirmed to be zero since the introduction of the system. Conclusions: Despite the existence of a system that provides elderly visiting oral healthcare services, to revitalize it, the law must be amended to secure a dental hygienist as the main agent of the activity and to further take responsibility for autonomous authority and performance.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.335-346
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• 2018

Objectives: This study was conducted to examine the degree of dental fear according to the experiences of the preventive dental care services. Methods: A self-administered survey was conducted in the subjects of male and female teenagers who lived in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do areas, and 231 copies of collected data for a month from July 26, 2017 were analyzed to find the following results. Results: In terms of the experiences of the preventive dental care services, they were classified in the order of preventive scaling (67.5%), education of toothbrushing (60.6%), fluoride application (49.8%) and sealant (44.2%). For the degree of dental fear according to their general characteristics, treatment avoidance factor ($2.56{\pm}1.19$) in the married was higher than that in the unmarried. All of treatment avoidance, physiological response and fearful stimulus induction factor, and the entire degree of fear were higher when there were experiences of the preventive dental care services than those without such experiences. The factors affecting the degree of dental fear included dental health conditions, experiences of toothbrushing education, sealant and fluoride application. In case those without the experiences considered their dental health condition was not healthy, the degree of dental fear was increased. Conclusions: This study verified that the degree of dental fear was increased in case no experiences of the preventive dental care services. Therefore, it is necessary to seek out the measures for promotion of the preventive dental care services, to reduce the degree of dental fear and enhance the dental health.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.373-381
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• 2016

Objectives: The purpose of the study is to investigate the awareness toward use and service contents of long term care for the elderly. Methods: A self-reported questionnaire was completed by 296 adults from August 13 to October 20, 2014. The questionnaire consisted of general characteristics of the subjects, awareness toward long term care insurance for the elderly, awareness toward long term oral health care services, use of long term care service and use intention for the long term care insurance. Data were analyzed by SPSS 18.0 program. Results: Those who were aware of the long term care insurance accounted for 55.4 percent. Approximately 50 percent of the respondents recognized long term care service items, home visit care, home visit bathing, and home visit nursing. Most of the respondents had information of long term care services by way of mass media and direct contact. Only 13.4 percent of the respondents were aware of the oral health service in the long term care insurance. The subjects were aware of denture cleaning, oral cleaning and oral health education out of oral health service in order; and oral health services that needed to be offered were denture cleaning, oral health education and professional toothbrushing. They reported that dental hygienists were the most important manpower that offered the efficient oral health care services. They answered that professional manpower and financial support are required for oral health services. The positive thinking to long term care insurance accounted for 89.2 percent and 91.3 percent had use intention for oral health services. Conclusions: Many elderly people have mastication or dysphagic problems due to systemic diseases. Therefore, it is necessary to announce the long term care insurance and long term care services for the elderly people.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.899-905
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• 2015

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the regional difference of chronic periodontal care services in Korea by the analysis of 2010 raw data from Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. Methods: The subjects were the chronic periodontitis patients over 35 years old from dental care facilities in Korea. The study population was 278,319 including 264,994 claims made by dental clinics, 8,084 by dental hospitals, 3,509 by general hospitals, and 1,732 by tertiary hospitals. Results: There was a significant difference in medical care cost benefit between the provinces(p<0.0001). The age groups showed a clear difference in the patient charge, cost of insurance, and medical care cost benefit(p<0.0001). In consideration of the first visit or revisit, there were differences in the rate of prescription, dental examination, and surgical procedures of the chronic periodontal patients from dental facilities. The radiographic use rate in the tertiary hospitals was 2.6 times higher than that of the dental clinic in the treatment of the new chronic periodontal patients. Conclusions: The use of dental services in the periodontitis is influenced by the types of medical services facility, cost of medical insurance, and patient charge. In consideration of cost benefit analysis, prevention is the most important care for the periodontitis. Regional difference in peridontitis is cause by the use of medical services and quality of treatment.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.455-462
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• 2018

Objectives: This study was carried out to identify plans to activate home visit oral care services by dental hygienists in Long-term care insurance. Methods: In-depth interviews were carried out with 21 Long-term Home Care Center Managers as target. A total of 21 (27%) Home Care Centers were selected through convenience sampling among 78 Home Care Centers that are located in Won-ju city. The Managers were presented with questions and answered in 20-30 minutes in accordance with the interview instructions. The interview results were analyzed through content analysis, and their experiences and perceptions were classified into two themes and categorized again into four components. Results: The Home Care Center Managers suggested that dental hygienists should activate home-visit oral hygiene services. It is necessary to improve the management process and awareness of the elderly. Conclusions: To activate oral hygiene services, it is necessary to improve the service guideline and enhance the efficiency of the service process. This should be acceptable both to the elderly who need the services and the dental hygienists who provide them.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.154-168
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• 2023

Background: Legal regulations and fees have been established in Korea to provide visiting oral health care services to individuals with long-term care insurance (LTCI). However, beneficiaries of this service are very limited. Therefore, to improve the Korean system we propose a comparative analysis with the Japanese system. Methods: This study is a descriptive analysis based on secondary data, such as statistics, laws, and service record forms from Korea and Japan. The most recent institutional documents were obtained through a Google search. The variables investigated were financial resources of LTCI, co-payment structure, monthly limit of LTCI benefits, care levels of LTCI, service providers, service costs, contents of service, and the number of cases of service. Results: In both Korea and Japan, LTCI is financed through a combination of taxes and insurance premiums. However, the monthly limit for receiving LTCI services in Japan is about 2.4 times higher than in Korea. Visiting medical and dental treatment is also possible in Japan. Furthermore, nursing staff can provide daily oral health care services according to dental hygienists' instruction unlike Korea. Oral health care services in Korea are focused on oral hygiene and prevention of oral diseases, while Japan additionally provides oral function screening, patient education for oral health management, and training for nursing staff to enhance oral function, eating, and swallowing of the patients. Conclusion: We concluded that the possibility of visiting dental treatment, differences in monthly limit of LTCI benefits, oral function assessment and guidance, as well as collaboration with other healthcare professionals contributed to the difference in the frequency of utilization of visiting oral health care services between Korea and Japan.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.9 no.7
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• pp.95-103
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to awareness of dental care services in the elderly long-term care insurance system and retirement preparation of middle-aged people. The survey respondents had a 56.1% saving for old age life, And showed a tendency to they don't like depend on one's family(41.8%), elderly care was intended to use facility services and nursing care. 36.7% of respondents answered "I know a little" about the system. Also, the need for dental care services within the system was high (98.5%), If the service is provided, 92.3% of the respondents said that they would participate, otherwise unrecognized rate of dental care services in long-term care insurance was 85.2%. Therefore, it is necessary to expand the awareness of the part of dental care service in the system. The results of this study can be used as basic data for the improvement of the system of dental care services in long-term care insurance for elderly.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.565-574
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• 2015

Objectives: The purpose of the study is to investigate the oral health of the elderly people receiving nursing care and home care services in Chungnam. Methods: The subjects were 350 elderly people receiving 21 nursing care and home care services in Chungnam. The direct interview with the elderly people and oral examination was carried out from July, 2012 to December, 2013 after explanation fo the purpose of the study. The subjects consisted of 178 elderly people receiving nursing care services and 172 elderly people receiving home care services. Except incomplete answers, 315 data were analyzed. The questionnaire consisted of general characteristics of the subjects, characteristics by facility, oral condition, oral care behavior, correlation by factors on oral health, influencing factor on dental caries, influencing factor on periodontal disease, and influencing factor on elasticity of gingival muscle. Data were analyzed by frequency analysis, chi-square test, and multiple regression analysis using SPSS 21.0 program. Results: Multivariate analysis of influencing factors on oral health revealed that the elderly people with low education level tended to have higher incidence rate of dental caries. The influencing factors on oral health were the elasticity of gingival muscle, periodontal disease, educational level, and economic level. (p<0.05). The explanation power was 26.2%. Conclusions: Oral Health Promotion should be obligatorily established as one of the medical system and medical fee system to promote oral health condition for the aged.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.819-829
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• 2020

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the relationship between dental care needs and dental service use in Korean elderly. Methods: Using the sixth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, from 22,948 individuals, 1,572 (male 701, female 871) elderly individuals aged above 65 years were included in the study. All analyses were stratified by sex. Results: In males, the group with subjective needs was 3.74 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.58-5.41) times more likely to use dental services than the group without subjective needs. For females, the group with subjective needs was 2.17 (95% CI: 1.57-2.98 ) times more likely to use dental services than the group without subjective needs. Conclusions: To conclude, the elderly with symptoms, used the dental services for pain relief and functional recovery. Fundamental efforts to improve oral health are needed, such as providing treatment, prevention and educational services, besides efforts to provide treatment-oriented dental services. Further research is needed for the middle and elderly individuals who are in the blind spot of the existing policy.