This study aimed at comprehending the duty, role, and difficulty of intermediary manager through in-depth investigation of dental hygienist intermediary managers experienced over 10 years working in a dental clinic. In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 dental intermediary managers and Giorgi's analysis method was used to analyze the data. Findings revealed that the work experience of the dental hygienist intermediary managers appeared in the range of "becoming an intermediary manager through various processes", "various duties that they experience as an intermediary manager", "difficulty as an intermediary manager", "ability that they perceive as necessary for being a dental intermediary manager", and "worthiness they feel as the intermediary manager". The dental intermediary managers complained of difficulties at work, and appeared to perform various tasks such as human resource management, clinic management support, and patient's management. Accordingly, the researcher considers that research on dental intermediary managers' capacity development necessary.
Dental Clinics ; Dental Hygienists ; Humans ; Methods

This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between task performance, job satisfaction, and organizational contribution of dental hygienists, and to analyze the resulting impact on the organizational contribution of the dental hygienists. The study sample included 300 people working in a dental clinic during May 2016; data were collected through a self-questionnaire and an online questionnaire. Subsequently, 285 responses were analyzed. The results showed that a higher monthly income, business support services, and work satisfaction affect organizational contribution. The correlation of organizational contribution was the highest with business management in task performance and with work satisfaction in job satisfaction. In conclusion, a dental hygienist, who may have highest careers and is involved in the management of dental work, affects the organizational contribution of the dental clinic.
Commerce ; Dental Clinics ; Dental Hygienists* ; Humans ; Job Satisfaction* ; Task Performance and Analysis*

This study aimed to design and operate a complementary integrated health management program based on the connection between the hypertension and diabetes management programs and the oral health programs at a public health center. It also proposed to suggest the phased evaluation indicators. In this study, 48 adults registered in the hypertension and diabetes management program were selected from the Gangneung public health center. The clinic-specific programs were led by dental hygienists and operated for visitors twice every two weeks. The programs were designed based on the logical model, and indicators for evaluating the structure, process, and outcome were presented and applied to the input, process, output, and outcome. The evaluation indices consisted of quantitative and qualitative indicators, and the planning and operation, goal achievement, and effect of each program were assessed. The process evaluations were assessed by the appropriateness of the managers and the operating fidelity of the programs. Indicators for evaluating the outcomes were gingival bleeding, oral health knowledge, oral health awareness, and the satisfaction of the participant and the manager. The clinic-specific programs resulted in positive changes in the evaluated outcomes. The integrated health management of visitors to the hypertension and diabetes management program is important as the general and oral health has common risk factors. Furthermore, long-term operation and continuous monitoring of oral health programs are necessary to evaluate the common factors in chronic disease management.
Adult ; Chronic Disease ; Dental Hygienists ; Gangwon-do ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hypertension* ; Logic* ; Oral Health* ; Public Health ; Risk Factors

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between stress and oral symptoms, and quality of life in university students. This survey was performed on 452 university students in the Daejeon area. The research was conducted during 2 weeks in June 2016 using a self-reported questionnaire. The data were analyzed by PASW Statistics ver. 18.0. According to the findings of the study, higher levels of stress were detected in girls than in boys (p<0.05). Stress had a significant impact on the symptoms of dry mouth, bad breath, and temporomandibular pain (p<0.05). The high-stress group experienced a negative impact on oral impacts on daily performance (OIDP) scores as compared to the group with lower stress. Stress had a significantly positive correlation with dry mouth, bad breath, temporomandibular joint (TMJ). OIDP was a significant positive correlation with dry mouth, bad breath, TMJ and stress. The findings of the study showed that stress exerted a significant influence on the oral symptoms and quality of life in university student.
Female ; Humans ; Mouth ; Oral Health* ; Quality of Life* ; Temporomandibular Joint

Water supplied through dental unit waterlines (DUWLs) has been shown to contain high number of bacteria. To reduce the contamination of DUWLs, it is essential to develop effective disinfectants. It is, however, difficulty to obtain proper DUWL samples for studies. The purpose of this study was to establish a simple laboratory model for reproducing DUWL biofilms. The bacteria obtained from DUWLs were cultured in R2A liquid medium for 10 days, and then stored at −70℃. This stock was inoculated into R2A liquid medium and incubated in batch mode. After 5 days of culturing, it was inoculated into the biofilm formation model developed in this study. Our biofilm formation model comprised of a beaker containing R2A liquid medium and five glass rods attached to DUWL polyurethane tubing. Biofilm was allowed to form on the stir plate and the medium was replaced every 2 days. After 4 days of biofilm formation in the laboratory model, biofilm thickness, morphological characteristics and distribution of the composing bacteria were examined by confocal laser microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The mean of biofilm accumulation was 4.68×10⁴ colony forming unit/cm² and its thickness was 10~14 µm. In our laboratory model, thick bacterial lumps were observed in some parts of the tubing. To test the suitability of this biofilm model system, the effectiveness of disinfectants such as sodium hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide, and chlorhexidine, was examined by their application to the biofilm formed in our model. Lower concentrations of disinfectants were less effective in reducing the count of bacteria constituting the biofilm. These results showed that our DUWL biofilm laboratory model was appropriate for comparison of disinfectant effects. Our laboratory model is expected to be useful for various other purposes in further studies.
Bacteria ; Biofilms ; Chlorhexidine ; Disinfectants ; Glass ; Hydrogen Peroxide ; Infection Control, Dental ; Microscopy, Confocal ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; Polyurethanes ; Sodium Hypochlorite ; Water ; Water Microbiology

This study compared and analyzed the occluding effects of fluoride compounds and desensitizers, which are commonly used in dental clinics, on dentinal tubules. This study also evaluated the persistence of the active ingredients over time by performing toothbrushing with an electric toothbrush. Thirty-five molar teeth, which had been extracted within the past 3 months from healthy people without tooth decays, amalgam fillings, or dental crowns, were divided into 4 pieces each. Of these, 135 teeth pieces were used as study specimens. These specimens were divided into a control group, an untreated group, and 5 experimental groups (acidulated fluoride gel, fluoride varnish, Gluma, Super Seal, and SE-Bond). The specimens were then subjected to toothbrushing equivalent to 1 week (140 times), 2 weeks (280 times), and 4 weeks (560 times), and the occluding effects on dentinal tubules in 3 regions of each specimen were examined under a scanning electron microscope. The fluoride varnish treated group showed the highest degree of dentinal tubule occlusion effects during the first, second, and fourth weeks of toothbrushing, with the SE-Bond treated group showing the second highest degree and the Gluma treated group showing the lowest degree. After 4 weeks of toothbrushing, the Gluma treated group and the Super Seal treated group showed the lowest degrees of dentinal tubule occlusion effects. In summary, the fluoride varnish treated group and the SE-Bond treated group displayed higher occlusion effects even after 4 weeks of treatment than did the other experimental groups. Therefore, it is the authors' belief that fluoride varnish and SE-Bond are effective for treating dentinal hyperesthesia.
Crowns ; Dental Clinics ; Dentin Desensitizing Agents ; Dentin Sensitivity ; Dentin* ; Fluorides* ; Hyperesthesia ; Molar ; Paint ; Tooth ; Toothbrushing

The purpose of this study was to assess the correlation between integrated mineral loss (volume % mineral×µm, ΔZ(TMR)) determined using transverse microradiography (TMR) and integrated reflectivity (dB×µm, ΔR(OCT)) determined using optical coherence tomography (OCT) for detecting early dental caries with lesion depth more than 200 µm. Sixty tooth specimens were made from sound bovine teeth. They were immersed in a demineralized solution for 20, 30, and 40 days. The ΔR(OCT) was obtained from the cross-sectional OCT image. The ΔZ(TMR) was obtained from the TMR image. The correlation between ΔR(OCT) and ΔZ(TMR) was examined using Pearson correlation. The Bland-Altman plot was constructed using the ΔR(OCT) and ΔZ(TMR) values. A significant correlation between ΔR(OCT) and ΔZ(TMR) was confirmed (r=0.491, p=0.003). Moreover, most of the difference between ΔR(OCT) and ΔZ(TMR) was included in the error section of the Bland-Altman plot. Therefore, OCT could be used as a substitute for TMR when analyzing mineral loss in early dental caries.
Dental Caries* ; Microradiography ; Miners ; Tomography, Optical Coherence* ; Tooth

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of dental hygienist images and career advice among high school teachers. A self-reported questionnaire was administered to 212 high school teachers in Gwangju, South Korea. The questionnaire contained subject's general characteristics, images of dental hygienists, and career advice. We performed an independent t-test, the Kruskal-Wallis test, Pearson's correlation coefficient, multiple regression analysis, and logistic regression analysis using the IBM SPSS ver. 21.0 software. Using a five-point scale, the average of all the dental hygienist images was 3.50, with personal images receiving the most positive rating at 3.83 and social images receiving the least positive rating at 2.86. The images of dental hygienists were significantly more positive in instances where the subjects recognized the dental hygienist or received treatment within one year. There were positive correlations among different kinds of images. Through multiple regression analysis, occupational images were associated with business and social images. Business images were associated with occupational and personal images. Personal images were associated with business images, especially in cases where the subjects recognized the dental hygienist. Social images were associated with occupational images, especially in cases where subjects received treatment within one year. Through logistic regression analysis, career advice was associated with social and occupational images. Therefore, our study provides suggestions on how to enhance positive recognition of social images of dental hygienists.
Commerce ; Dental Hygienists* ; Gwangju ; Humans ; Korea ; Logistic Models

This study targeted 123 dental hygienists working at the university and dental hospital as well as the dental clinic in Busan. The study ran for 5 months beginning July 23, 2016. The purpose of the study was to understand the relationship between core competencies and job performance for dental hygienists. The major core competencies of dental hygienists were interpersonal relation competency (3.61) was the highest, followed by management and educational competency (3.59), organizational relation competency (3.57), and basic dental hygiene management competency (3.56). Regarding the subjects' job performance, ‘the task requested by a boss could be finished by the deadline’ (3.93) was the highest, followed by ‘there has been no case where others were harmed owing to carelessness’ (3.76). ‘The performance exceeding the targets set by the boss’ (3.11) was relatively low. The group working for dental hospitals showed higher job performance than the group working for dental clinics (p=0.009) while there were high correlations between core competencies and job performance (p=0.733). Also, analysis for understanding relevant variables of core competencies that affected job performance revealed that the interpersonal relation competency (p=0.25), self-control competency (p=0.32), and basic dental hygiene competency (p=0.15) were significant. In summary, reinforcement of the dental hygienists'S core competencies has a positive effect on job performance. Improved job performance in turn should improve patient care as well as the performance of the healthcare organization overall which will be eventually helpful to the provision of high-quality medical service to patients, and helpful for the hospital organization Helpful in making their performance better. Therefore, it would be necessary to establish administrative/educational support to facilitate dental hygiene education to develop major competencies and vocational basic abilities, as well as reinforce diverse competency educational programs for the current dental hygienists.
Busan ; Delivery of Health Care ; Dental Clinics ; Dental Hygienists ; Education ; Humans ; Interpersonal Relations ; Oral Hygiene ; Patient Care ; Self-Control ; Work Performance*

The aim of this study was to analyze in depth the standardized Clinical dental hygiene curriculum of the Fones School in the United States. We investigated the clinical dental hygiene curriculum in 2015~2016 including title, credit, hours, contents, goals, competencies, and evaluation. We obtained the course syllabus and data related to each subject, for each grade, from the professors and students at the university. The goals and competencies, of the clinical dental hygiene program, which were based on the goals of the Fones School and the mission of the University of Bridgeport, were developed in accordance with the dental hygienist practice standards proposed by the American Dental Hygienists Association. The curriculum consisted of theory to teach proper dental hygiene care procedures and incorporated practical exercises that modeled an actual clinical setting. The students had to document the procedures performed for each client/patient and improve their clinical competency through discussion with the professors. Dental hygiene care should be provided for children, adolescents, adults, elderly, and patients, which includes patients with moderate or severe periodontal status. Students were evaluated by a paper test or case study presentation and their clinical evaluation was based on their clinical competency. In particular, professors evaluated students on a rotational basis, so they could evaluate the level of achievement of clinical competency of all students and find ways to improve any weaknesses. Therefore, the current study suggested that clinical dental hygiene program in Korea could be improved if based on the curriculum of Fones School in the United States.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Clinical Competence ; Curriculum* ; Dental Hygienists ; Exercise ; Humans ; Korea* ; Oral Hygiene* ; United States*