Code of ethics for dental hygienists. American Dental Hygienists' Association House of Delegates.
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Dental Hygienists↗
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Levels of career satisfaction amongst dental healthcare professionals: comparison of dental therapists, dental hygienists and dental practitioners.
OBJECTIVE: To compare the levels of career satisfaction expressed by three professional groups working in dental health: dental therapists, dental hygienists and dental practitioners. BASIC RESEARCH DESIGN: Level of career satisfaction was assessed using a ten point scale in three surveys. Postal surveys were conducted of all dental therapists and dental hygienists registered with the General Dental Council. Data for dental practitioners were collected as part of the British Dental Association Omnibus Survey 2000. PARTICIPANTS: Data are reported for 227 dental therapists, 2,251 dental hygienists and 970 dental practitioners. RESULTS: Significant differences were found between groups in the level of career satisfaction expressed. Dental practitioners were less likely to express high levels of satisfaction in comparison with the other two professional groups. Within each group characteristics of the respondents were associated with satisfaction levels. Younger dental therapists and dental hygienists expressed lower levels of career satisfaction. The level of career satisfaction expressed by dental practitioners was associated with gender, place of work (North vs South UK), year of qualification, size of practice and system of remuneration. CONCLUSIONS: Dental practitioners express lower levels of job satisfaction in comparison to other groups of dental health care professionals. Job dissatisfaction among dental practitioners is related to a number of socio-demographic factors.
Adult↗
Production and economic contributions of dental hygienists.
Dental hygienists' contribution to total gross billings and production, measured in standard production minutes, was studied in 13 private practices that employed hygienists. Hygienists' treatment accounted for one fourth of total production and one eighth of all gross billings. These results, together with analyses of the use of available time, the range of procedures performed by hygienists, and the rate of return for these procedures, illustrate the utility of this type of information when assessing the possibility of changes in the dental hygiene profession. In the past five years, the literature concerning dental hygienists has included a number of contributions that focus on the status of and possible changes in the practice of dental hygiene. These contributions have discussed the general future of dental hygiene,1-3 and the specific issues of professionalism,4-6 advocacy,7-8 and legal and political activity and knowledge.9-11 In addition, several discussions of new forms of dental hygiene practice also have appeared in the hygiene literature, 12-17 as well as in the general dental literature.18-20 Finally, surveys of dental hygienists have been reported frequently.21-30 The content of this growing body of literature indicates that the profession of dental hygiene currently is undergoing an internal examination, and that several educators and practitioners are advocating the acceptance of increased responsibility by hygienists.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Dental Hygienists↗
Student dental hygienists' and dental hygiene educators' attitudes toward the handicapped.
The purpose of this study was to determine the attitudes of student dental hygienists and dental hygiene educators at four educational sites in a north central state in the United States, using the Dental Students' Attitudes Toward the Handicapped Scale (DSATHS) developed by Lee and Sonis. It was hypothesized that (1) the majority of students would express a negative attitude toward the handicapped and (2) no significant differences would be found between students and educators. Of the 110 students surveyed, there was an 84% response rate. Of the 46 educators surveyed, there was a 78% response rate. The data were analyzed using frequency distributions. Chi-square analyses were performed to determine if significant differences exist between (1) student dental hygienists and (2) student dental hygienists and dental hygiene educators. The criterion for statistical significance was p less than .05 for all analyses. The results revealed that over 50% of the students have a positive attitude toward their (1) educational experience; (2) perceptions of their instructors' experiential qualifications in working with the handicapped; and (3) desire for future and interpersonal relationships with the handicapped. However, more students have a positive attitude toward their relationships with the handicapped than toward their educational experience and perceptions of instructors relative to the handicapped. Fewer than 50% of the students agreed that their (1) educational experiences facilitate confidence or enjoyment in working with the handicapped; (2) teachers demonstrated enthusiasm or enjoyment when working with the handicapped; and (3) school's program for treatment of the handicapped is good.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Attitude of Health Personnel↗
The impact of Kansas House Bill 2724: perceptions of Kansas dental hygienists and dental assistants.
PURPOSE: Kansas House Bill 2724 (HB 2724), which allows dental assistants to perform coronal scaling, was passed by the Kansas legislature in the spring of 1998. This bill was the legislature's way of addressing access to care and manpower issues, in relation to oral health care in Kansas. The intent of this study was to collect baseline data related to HB 2724. Specific purposes of this study were to, 1) compare overall perceptions of dental hygienists and scaling assistants related to HB 2724, 2) compare perceptions of dental hygienists and scaling assistants on how HD 2724 has addressed access to care and manpower issues, and 3) examine the impact of HB 2724 on the delivery of preventive care in underserved areas in Kansas. METHODS: This study employed a nonexperimental descriptive survey research design. Two survey instruments were developed consisting of Likert scale questions, demographic information, and closed and opened-ended questions. All registered Kansas dental hygienists, and dental assistants who had completed the training course approved by the Kansas Dental Board to perform coronal scaling of teeth, were chosen to participate. RESULTS: A total response rate of 38% for dental hygienists, and 42% for scaling assistants was achieved. Analyses were conducted to ensure validity and reliability of the two survey instruments, including factor analysis and internal reliability measures. In relation to overall satisfaction with career choices, both dental hygienists and scaling assistants reported being happy in their professions and respected by their dentist employers. The majority of dental hygiene respondents (79%) did not see HB 2724 addressing either access to care or manpower issues in the state, while in contrast a majority (89%) of scaling assistants believed that this was the best answer for Kansas in relation to access to care and manpower. In examining the impact of HB 2724 on delivery of preventive care in underserved areas of Kansas, this study found that the majority of scaling assistants reported practicing in metropolitan areas, as opposed to identified oral health care shortage areas in the state. CONCLUSIONS: While both dental hygienists and scaling assistants are satisfied with their career choices, this legislation does not appear to be addressing its main objectives-access to care and increased manpower in dentally underserved areas in Kansas.
Delivery of Health Care↗
Registered dental hygienists as dental students.
Surveys were conducted to (1) investigate how and why dental hygienists choose to become dentists, (2) evaluate their success in dental school, (3) assess the experience of those who had entered dental school, and (4) gauge the level of interest among dental hygienists and currently enrolled dental hygiene students in applying to dental school. Records of former dental hygienists who had earned a dental degree indicated that the majority performed above class averages and that none withdrew or were dismissed from school. Those enrolled in dental school agreed that prior dental hygiene experience was an asset in laboratory and clinical work; they were less certain about any academic advantage. Registered and student dental hygienists generally agreed on the attractive and unattractive aspects of becoming a dentist. Major attractions cited were increased earnings and independence; major drawbacks were the costs of dental education and stress associated with being a dentist. Those with baccalaureate degrees showed more interest in becoming dentists than did those with associate degrees. Dental schools should give dental hygienists positive consideration as applicants and advanced placement as students. In view of the observed interest in career change, dental hygiene and dental programs are encouraged to develop more sensitive career counseling.
Career Choice↗
Should dental hygienists replace dental directors in screening high-needs children?
PURPOSE: The purpose of this research was to determine whether dental hygienists are as effective as dental directors in screening high-needs children who require emergency care. METHODS: In 2000, the Community Dentistry Health Services Research Unit (CDHSRU) at the University of Toronto completed a prospective cohort study to determine whether care proposed by dental directors exposed to evidence-based practices was significantly different from the care provided by dental hygienists who screened children enrolled in the provincially mandated Children in Need of Treatment (CINOT) program. RESULTS: The dental directors and dental hygienists each prepared a treatment plan for the 71 children enrolled in this study. These plans were analyzed using a paired t-test model after being translated into relative value units (RVU). It was determined that there was no statistically significant difference between the overall dental treatment proposed by the dental hygienists and the treatment proposed by the dental directors (p=.749). A similar analysis stratified by subject site and by service type also showed no significant differences. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that dental hygienists are equally as effective as dental directors in screening high-needs children and may be capable of assuming the role of first point of contact for children within high-need dental programs.
Administrative Personnel↗
Increasing patient service by effective use of dental hygienists.
Dental hygienists are well-educated professionals. Their responsibilities generally have been limited to scaling and polishing. Expanding into other clinical techniques, as permitted by practice laws, provides diversity for hygienists, lower cost services for patients and more time for dentists to provide the services their extra education allows.
Dental Hygienists↗
Is there a shortage of dental hygienists?
Dental hygiene faculty from the Ohio State University, working under a grant from the Ohio Dental Association, surveyed licensed dentists and dental hygienists in Ohio in order to determine work-related concerns and possible solutions to perceived shortages of hygienists. There were 585 respondents from those selected through stratified systematic sampling based on state dental district for a 69% rate of dentist return and a 73% rate of hygienist return. The joint surveys assessed attitudes and documented experiences in several categories: practice background, opinion about hygiene employment shortage, compensation, aspects of hygiene satisfaction, reasons for ever terminating hygiene practice and future conditions persuading a return to hygiene practice. This article, the first in a series, presents findings from the survey of dentists relative to a perceived shortage of clinical dental hygienists. Forty-eight percent of dentist respondents believe that there is a shortage, while 52% are either not sure or believe there is no shortage. Those sensing a shortage have either tried to find a hygienist and could not believe there is a smaller pool to choose from, or have heard that colleagues have been unable to find a hygienist. Solutions to the shortage focus on better recruitment of qualified students, encouraging reentry of non-practicing hygienists, and promoting retention of hygienists in existing practices. Less frequently, dentists suggest starting new hygiene programs or training hygienists by preceptorship.
Dental Hygienists↗
Answers from dentists, dental hygienists and dental assistants to questions asked by patients concerning preventive dental matters.
142 dentists, 21 dental hygienists and 35 dental assistants were asked to fill in a questionnaire which consisted of 40 questions about preventive dental matters regularly asked by Dutch dental patients. The 40 questions were submitted to experts in the field of preventive dentistry. The experts were in agreement on 26 questions. It was decided to use these questions for analysis. The average percentage of correctly answered questions was: for the dentists 53%, for the dental hygienists 58% and for the dental assistants 37%. The group of 142 dentists was further analyzed. It appears that the knowledge about preventive dental matters increases subsequently with each year of graduation. Analysis of the dentists who graduated from Dutch dental schools in their capacity as private practitioner, as faculty member or in the school dental service, revealed that there was no difference in knowledge between these groups. With some reservations the conclusion can be stated that an obvious necessity exists for post-academic course in preventive dentistry in the groups concerned. Greater uniformity is needed between the views of the experts and the dental professionals who treat patients daily.
Dental Assistants↗
The professional socialization of dental hygienists: from dental auxiliary to professional colleague.
Dental hygiene, as an emerging profession, has identified key attributes and attitudes of the professional socialization process that are necessary to a continued growth and ability of its members to serve the needs of the public. Restraints to the professionalization process have been identified as impeding both the growth of dental hygienists and confining the delivery of dental hygiene services to traditional and supervised settings. Research has demonstrated the educational preparation of both the baccalaureate and associate/certificate degree dental hygienist can provide the opportunity for professional socialization whereby the care provider attains those attitudes deemed necessary to practice in a professional mode. Studies have also indicated that dental hygienists favor full professional status for dental hygiene through support for self-regulation and autonomy. In the light of health care reform, full utilization of all members of the health care team will be the most prudent use of health care funds. As dental hygiene emerges as a profession, registered hygienists will need to identify and define the conceptual framework for the oral hygiene practice of the future.
Attitude of Health Personnel↗
Disability self-assessment and upper quarter muscle balance between female dental hygienists and non-dental hygienists.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this pilot study was to compare disability self-assessment and upper quarter muscle balance female dental hygienists and non dental hygienist females. The upper quarter was operationally defined as the shoulder and neck region. Muscle balance was operationally defined as muscle flexibility and muscle performance. METHODS: A convenience sample of 41 working dental hygienists and 46 non dental hygienists participated in the study. Muscle flexibility of the upper quarter was measured by inclinometry or standard muscle length testing. Muscle performance was measured by timing the duration of four statically maintained positions. Subjects filled out the Northwick Park Neck Pain Questionnaire (NPNPQ), which is a disability self-assessment. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used during data analysis to adjust for the mean age difference between the dental hygienist group (38.0 years) and the non-dental hygienist group (29.3 years). RESULTS: The results of this pilot study suggest that female dental hygienists are more likely than non dental hygienist females to develop tightness in the upper trapezius (p = 0.007) and the levator scapula (p = 0.01) of the non dominant upper quarter and lower fibers of the pectoralis major of the dominant upper quarter (p = 0.03) Muscle performance trends in the dental hygienist group supported muscle balance theory that short muscles remain strong while lengthened muscles become weak. The dental hygienist group had higher disability scores in all nine parts of the NPNPQ compared to the non-dental hygienist group, five of which were statistically significant (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The results of this pilot study suggest that muscle imbalances in the upper quarter are more common in female dental hygienists than in female non dental hygienists and may contribute to the numerous upper quarter pathologies associated with the practice of dental hygiene. Further research is needed to determine if upper quarter strengthening and flexibility exercises performed by dental hygienists can reduce disability self-assessment.
Adult↗
How do we measure shortages of dental hygienists and dental assistants? Evidence from California: 1997-2005.
BACKGROUND: The authors examined the labor market for registered dental hygienists (RDHs) and dental assistants (DAs) in California from 1997 to 2005 to determine whether there was a shortage in either market. METHODS: This analysis used economic indicators interpreted within an economic framework to investigate trends in labor force numbers and market-determined wages for RDHs and DAs. Rising inflation-adjusted mean wages indicated a labor shortage, while declining inflation-adjusted mean wages indicated a labor surplus. RESULTS: From 1999 to 2002, the wages for RDHs increased 48 percent and then stabilized, indicating a shortage had occurred, after which the market achieved equilibrium. Wages for DAs increased 13.9 percent from 1997 to 2001, but then declined from 2001 to 2005, indicating a shortage that then became a surplus. The market for DAs may not have stabilized. CONCLUSIONS: Wages increased for RDHs and DAs, suggesting that labor shortages occurred in both markets. The large supply response in the market for DAs resulted in wages declining after their initial rise. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Tracking the local labor markets for RDHs and DAs will enable dental professionals to respond more efficiently to market signals.
California↗
Infection control practices and beliefs of Minnesota dental hygienists and dental assistants.
To obtain comprehensive information about the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Minnesota dental hygienists and registered dental assistants, a questionnaire was mailed to random samples of both groups in the fall of 1988. Most assistants and hygienists claimed to always wear gloves, but substantially fewer indicated always wearing a mask. Use of eye protection showed even lower compliance, with less than half of either group routinely using protective eyewear or a face shield. Assistants and hygienists reported incurring numerous needlesticks and instrument injuries. A contributing factor may be that many staff were still recapping needles with an unprotected hand. Most people who had not been vaccinated against hepatitis B said that they would be immunized if their employer or health insurance paid for it. Less than one-half of either group felt knowledgeable about infection control. Only one-third of assistants and less than one-half of hygienists claimed to be familiar with the Centers for Disease Control's "Recommended Infection Control Practices for Dentistry." This is consistent with assistants' and hygienists' reported infection control related behaviors. Other than gloving, many recommended infection control measures--masking, wearing protective eyewear and uniforms, hepatitis B immunization, and proper handling of sharps--were not employed by a substantial number of respondents. Many respondents indicated insufficient knowledge to safely and effectively care for patients with hepatitis B, hepatitis B carriers, or individuals infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This is reflected in the relatively small percentages of respondents who indicated willingness to treat these patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Communicable Disease Control↗
[Direct access to the dental hygienist 2. Opinions of dental hygienists and dentists].
In this paper the opinions from dental hygienists and dentists are described concerning the question whether patients could visit the dental hygienist without being seen by a dentist first (access without referral). Eight of ten dental hygienists have a positive attitude towards the idea of access without referral. Dentists were much more sceptical about this idea. There are different opinions about which treatment, what kind of patients, which age groups etcetera a dental hygienist could treat without referral from the dentist. When access without referral becomes relevant, pilot studies are advised before implementing the concept of access to the dental hygienist without referral from the dentist.
Clinical Competence↗
[60 years of the dental hygienist. The 1st dental hygienist school in Switzerland].
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Dental Hygienists↗
A 20-year study of dentists' and dental hygienists' assessment of dental caries lesions in bite-wing radiographs.
Epidemiological data reveal that the prevalence of dental caries in western countries has decreased in recent decades. The aim of this study was to investigate how dentists and dental hygienists assess dental caries lesions in bite-wing radiographs between 1983 and 2003. All dentists and dental hygienists in Public Dental Health in Uppsala County were offered to take part in the study. The participants assessed manifest and initial caries lesions in eight bite-wing radiographs from three patients individually. An X-ray viewer and binoculars were used. The assessments were repeated in the same radiographs every five years, a total of five times, between 1983 and 2003. In the different test occasions 80-103 dentists and 11-48 dental hygienists participated. The registration of dental caries changed between 1983 and 2003. The number of manifest lesions registered by dentists decreased between 1983 and 1988, but were stable after 1988. Dental hygienists showed no changes in the registration of manifest lesions during the study. Initial lesions registered by dentists and dental hygienists increased between 1988 and 1998. Assessments of initial caries lesions displayed a wider range than manifest lesions. Increasing age and more years in the profession resulted in fewer registered initial caries lesions. Dental hygienists had a tendency to register less caries than dentists. In conclusion, the result of the study indicate that inclusion of initial caries lesions in epidemiological reports should lead to a reduction in reliability. The changes in assessments of manifest caries lesions that took place in the 19805s should be considered when epidemiological data are evaluated.
Adult↗
Infection control practices of Rhode Island dental hygienists and certified dental assistants.
PURPOSE: Limited studies document the infection control practices of dental hygienists and dental assistants even though both groups play a vital role in the prevention of disease transmission in the dental office. The purpose of this study was to survey Rhode Island registered dental hygienists and certified dental assistants to (1) determine their current infection control practices; (2) to document attendance at an infection control course; and (3) to identify the need for additional infection control education. METHODS: In October of 1993 a fixed-response survey was mailed to a random sample of 267 registered dental hygienists (RDHs) and 260 certified dental assistants (CDAs) in Rhode Island. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations, and the chi-square statistic. RESULTS: Responses were received from 171 RDHs and 153 CDAs for adjusted response rates of 64% and 59%, respectively. Most responding RDHs and CDAs were wearing gloves but substantially fewer were utilizing one of the two acceptable combinations of personal protective barriers. Other procedures that were not always practiced by a substantial number of respondents included the use of disposable barriers, following recommended handwashing protocol, utilizing appropriate procedures for disinfection and sterilization of dental instruments and handpieces, updating medical histories, and biological monitoring of sterilization equipment. Although the majority of both groups reported having attended an infection control course within the past year, having written infection control protocols in place, and being satisfied or very satisfied with the level of infection control, many recommended procedures were not practiced routinely. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that lack of compliance with infection control guidelines is multifactorial. Even though there is a need for continuing infection control education for dental hygienists and certified dental assistants, education alone is not the answer.
Chi-Square Distribution↗