OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to the ethical propensity, professionalism, and ethical job behavior of dental hygienists. METHODS: The subjects of this study were 748 dental hygienists, who are working at various types of dental hospitals and clinics around the country, from January 23 to March 30, 2012. Data were analyzed with a t-test, one-way ANOVA, Chi-square, and Stepwise multiple regression analysis SPSS 19.0. RESULTS: As for the ethical propensity of dental hygienists, their idealism scores were 3.87, which was higher than their relativism scores. The ethical job behavior and professionalism scores were higher in absolutists (3.80, 3.40 points) and situationists (3.77, 3.44 points), than subjectivists (3.49, 3.19 points) and exceptionists (3.38, 3.09 points) in the ethical types. The ethical job behavior and professionalism-related common Influence factors was idealism. CONCLUSIONS: The absolutists and situationists with a high tendency of idealism were high in the level of professionalism and ethical job behavior, according to the ethical types.
Dental Hygienists ; Humans

OBJECTIVES: The Korea Health Promotion Foundation has performed the None-Smoking Project using the Quit-Smoking Clinics in all health care centers. The success rate of quitting smoking in the Quit-Smoking Clinics have run over 40% in the self-reports. The aim of this study was to assess the success rate of quitting smoking using the nicotine and cotinine concentrations in saliva and to find out the factors that influence the success of quitting smoking. METHODS: The author collected the data of 122 participants from the Quit-Smoking Clinic in the city of Daejeon and the data 13 nonsmokers as control after their written consent in 2009-2010. Following the initial visit, the unstimulated saliva samples were collcted at the visits after 2 weeks, 2 months, 4 months and 6. The concentrations of nicotine, cotinine, and OH-cotinine were analyzed using the High Performance Liquid Chromatography. The cutoff for the cotinine concentration that distinguished the smokers from nonsmokers was set at 10 ng/ml. RESULTS: The baseline participants who visited the clinic were 84 paritcipants after 2 weeks, 65 after 2 months, 40 after 4 months, and 22 after 6 months. The median concentrations of cotinine (P=0.017) and OH-cotinine (P<0.001) decreased over time. The success rates of quitting smoking were calculated at 32.1% after 2 weeks, 41.5% after 2 months, 42.5% after 4 months, and 50.0% after 6 months, in the participants who returned to the clinic. The Cotinine level after 2 weeks correlated high-positively to the concentration of that over time (r>0.7). The amount of smoking in a day, the period of smoking, and the total amount of smoking did not correlate to the success of quitting smoking as measured in the cotinine level. CONCLUSIONS: In spite of the limitation of the high drop out rate in the participants, it was suggested that the active intervention at 2 weeks could make the success rate of quitting smoking higher, as the cotinine level at 2 weeks correlated to the concentrations after that point very positively.
Chromatography, Liquid ; Cotinine ; Delivery of Health Care ; Health Promotion ; Korea ; Nicotine ; Saliva ; Smoke ; Smoking

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess the socio-economic inequalities in the self-rated oral health status in the study group of South Koreans, as associated with other factors (health behaviors factors, psychological factors, and oral health status) on the social gradients in the self-rated oral health status. METHODS: The cross-sectional data was from the Forth Korea National Health & Nutrition Examination Survey. Subjects were 18,886 people over the age of 6 years who participated in the health interview, dental examination, and dietary survey. They were divided into four groups according to their life course: children (6-11 years), adolescents (12-18 years), adults (19-64 years), and the elderly (65 years and older). The income and education level brackets were selected as measures of socio-economic position (SEP). The complex samples logistic regression models were used to analyze the data. To assess the association of the other factors, additional models (which adjusted for the gender, age, and each of the other factors) were compared to the initial model (which adjusted for the gender and age only). RESULTS: We found that there were socio-economic differences in the self-rated oral health status at all stages of life, and that the differences were up sharply for the vulnerable social groups. Dental care utilization factors and the oral health status mainly affected the socio-economic inequalities of the poor self-rated oral health status group at all stages of life. Socio-eoconomic differences remained statistically significant in the models that controlled for all related factors except the models of household income in adults. CONCLUSIONS: There were socio-economic differences in the poor self-rated oral health status at all stages of life. But it is difficult to definitely confirm the pathway of socio-economic inequalities in the self-rated oral health status, because of the limitations of the cross sectional study and the use of restricted variables in this survey. Therefore more extensive longitudinal research is required to better address the pathways that explain the socio-economic inequalities in the self-rated oral health status throughout the life courses in the Republic of Korea.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Dental Care ; Family Characteristics ; Humans ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Oral Health ; Republic of Korea ; Socioeconomic Factors

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to compare short-term and medium-term effects of gingival index (GI) and dental plaque index (PI), according to the tooth position through the oral hygiene education in the diabetic youth. METHODS: The total number of participants were 31 diabetics and 87 controls in the city of Daegu. Oral examination and professional oral hygiene care were performed among the 31 diabetic youth who consented to the study at the first visit. The professional oral hygiene care consisted of the tooth brushing method, oral prophylaxis, scaling, fluoride application, sealant and dental auxiliary education. We collected the data from all participants for the identification of oral condition at 2 weeks and 3 months. The #11, #14, #16, #31, #34, #36 teeth were selected for the measurement of the oral hygiene conditions. GI and PI were used for oral hygiene scores. The data was analyzed with SPSS 18.0 program. RESULTS: Both GI and PI were significantly decreased in the treatment group of the 31 diabetic youth in comparison to the controls, by tooth position compared to the baseline (P<0.001). In particular, GI measurements constantly decreased upto 3 months and the PI measurements decreased upto 2 weeks and increased slightly from 2 weeks to 3 months. In the GI measurements, the decrement of #14 was the highest (48.4%) and #36 was the lowest (25.2%) among all teeth. In the PI measurements, the decrement of #14 was the highest (45.5%) and #16 was the lowest (19.8%) among all teeth. In the control group, PI increased on all tooth positions, and GI increased on some tooth positions. CONCLUSIONS: The program of professional oral hygiene care in the diabetic youth has improved the oral health care when compared to the controls. We suggest that the sites where oral hygiene is more difficult to control have more oral hygiene education than the other sites.
Adolescent ; Dental Auxiliaries ; Dental Plaque Index ; Diagnosis, Oral ; Fluorides ; Humans ; Oral Health ; Oral Hygiene ; Periodontal Index ; Tooth

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to examine and analyze the awareness of dentists of the problems of elderly life, and to provide direction for a desirable retirement plan, according to individual awareness. METHODS: A stratified sampling method was used in proportion to the number of dental clinic and dental hospitals practicing in the Seoul metropolitan area, Incheon city, and Gyeonggi province. The data was verified by the Korea Dental Association's 2010 list of dentists, and for stratified random sampling, was stratified according to the number of regional dental clinics. Dentists from 855 dental clinics and dental hospitals were selected between May and Sept. 2010 for a self-administered survey questionnaire, by mail, fax or interview. 484 valid questionnaires (56.7%) were collected from respondents for data analysis. The study used SPSS (ver. 18.0) to analyze Chi-square tests, one-way ANOVA, and independent t-tests on the collected survey data. RESULTS: The responders pointed out that 'health related problems', 'financial problems', and 'isolation from society', were, in order, the main problems of the elderly stage of life. Dentists showed the highest response to their own suitable retirement age of '60- under 70'. The more that responders recognized his or her own good personal health status, the lower the subjective degree of anxiety for financing after retirement (P<0.001). Responders who had monthly net income of 'under 1,500 ten thousand won' showed the highest degree of anxiety, and those who had 'over 2,500 ten thousand won' showed the lowest degree of anxiety, which showed statistical significance (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, 'health related problems' was the highest predicted problem for elderly dentists. Therefore, dentists should actively engage in a healthy living style to prepare for a healthy old age. Furthermore, early preparation and establishment of countermeasures to actively manage predictable problems in elderly living is needed.
Aged ; Anxiety ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Dental Clinics ; Dentists ; Humans ; Korea ; Postal Service ; Retirement ; Statistics as Topic

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess socio-economic inequalities in subjects with 20 or more natural teeth and chewing difficulty in the Korean elderly, and to assess the association of health behavior factors, psychological factors, and oral health status on social gradients of subjects with tooth loss and chewing difficulty. METHODS: Cross-sectional data were from the Fourth Korea National Health & Nutrition Examination Survey. Subjects were 3,598 people over the age of 65 years, who participated in a health interview, dental examination and dietary survey. Income status and educational status were selected as measures of socio-economic position (SEP). Logistic regression models were used to assess socio-economic inequalities of subjects with 20 or more natural teeth and chewing difficulty. To assess the association of related factors, a logistic model that was adjusted for each group of variables was compared to those that were not adjusted for it. RESULTS: We found that there were socio-economic differences in subjects with 20 or more natural teeth and chewing difficulty in Korean elderly. The social gradient for subjects with 20 or more natural teeth and chewing difficulty persisted, after adjusting for different factors. While adjusting for oral hygiene factors and smoking factors attenuated the association between 20 or more natural teeth and SEP, adjusting for oral health status and psychological factors attenuated the association between chewing difficulty and SEP. Education status was a more apparent measure than income status, in socio-economic inequalities in oral health among the Korean elderly. CONCLUSIONS: Socio-economic inequalities in oral health among the Korean elderly might be important social problems. More extensive longitudinal research to confirm the pathways that explain oral health inequalities among the elderly is required, to develop effective intervention strategies to reduce socio-economic differences in oral health among the Korean elderly.
Aged ; Educational Status ; Health Behavior ; Humans ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Mastication ; Oral Health ; Oral Hygiene ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Social Problems ; Socioeconomic Factors ; Tooth ; Tooth Loss

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to analyze the related factors to dental caries incidence and increments of DMFT index in children's permanent teeth. METHODS: The subjects were 249 elementary school children at the baseline survey. At the four-year follow-up survey, number of subjects reduced to 141. In the first year, all subjects submitted the responses of questionnaire composed of demographic variables and oral health behaviors. They also received oral examination and tests of salivary excretion rate, salivary buffer capacity, Dentocult(R) SM and Dentocult(R) LB. In the first to fourth follow-up year, they received oral examinations. The relation of oral health-related factors with caries incidence and increments of DMFT and DMFS index was analyzed by chi-square test, ANOVA, logistic regression analysis and generalized linear model analysis using Poisson distribution. RESULTS: At four-year follow-up survey, subjects whose Dentocult(R) SM was 2 or higher compared to subjects whose Dentocult(R) SM was 1 or less and subjects whose Dentocult(R) LB was 2 or higher compared to subjects whose Dentocult(R) LB was 1 or less had higher DMFT index increments. In DMFT index increments, the adjusted odds ratio of subjects whose dfs index of primary molars was 11 and more was 4.30 compared to subjects whose dfs index of primary molars was 0 adjusted for gender, daily frequency of toothbrushing and eating between meal, mother's job, oral health education, salivary excretion, salivary buffer capacity and Dentocult(R) SM test. CONCLUSIONS: It was suggested that the caries incidence and increments of DMFT index in permanent teeth should be highly associated with salivary lactobacillus count and dfs index of primary molars.
Child ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Dental Caries ; Diagnosis, Oral ; Eating ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Incidence ; Lactobacillus ; Linear Models ; Logistic Models ; Meals ; Molar ; Odds Ratio ; Oral Health ; Risk Factors ; Tooth ; Toothbrushing

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the dental erosion inhibitory effect of hangover beverage containing calcium and fluoride. METHODS: Risk factors of dental erosion in the varying concentrations of fluoride, Ca, P, pH, and the buffer capacity were measured in six groups of mixture: distilled water, Morning care, Morning care adding 3% calcium, Morning care adding 5% calcium, Morning care adding 4 ppm F, Morning care adding 3% calcium and 4 ppm F. Seventy two specimens were prepared for the microhardness tests and divided randomly into 6 groups (n=12). Each group was exposed to the six groups of the mixture for 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, 30 min. Surface microhardness was measured before and after the treatment, and the surface was observed by SEM after the treatment only. RESULTS: After 30 minutes of treatment, the surface microhardness changes were significantly different among the six groups: Distilled water (0.11+/-1.98 DeltaVHN), Morning care (100.49+/-9.66 DeltaVHN), Morning care+3% calcium (17.07+/-8.45 DeltaVHN), Morning care+5% calcium (10.35+/-7.61 DeltaVHN), Morning care+4 ppm F (93.96+/-15.13 DeltaVHN), Morning care+3% calcium+4 ppm F (14.21+/-7.97 DeltaVHN) (P<0.01). The three groups, including those treated with the mixtures of Morning care+3% calcium, Morning care+5% calcium, and Morning care+3% calcium+4 ppm F, showed no statistically significant difference on the surface microhardness change and inhibition effect on enamel erosion (P>0.05) when compared with the distilled water group. CONCLUSIONS: It is suggested that modification of the Morning care with 3% calcium could be useful for a significant protective potential with respect to dental erosion.
Beverages ; Calcium ; Dental Enamel ; Fluorides ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Risk Factors ; Water

OBJECTIVES: To assess the effect of glazing materials with different sealants on sealant surface roughness and surface hardness. METHODS: Ultraseal XT(TM) sealant (group 1) and 3M Concise(TM) sealant (group 2) were applied on the buccal surfaces of 26 bicuspid teeth per group. The buccal surface of each tooth was then divided into two half surfaces for 52 halves per group. BisCover LV(TM) glaze was applied to one of the two buccal half surfaces of randomly selected 13 teeth per group. For the other remaining 13 teeth per group, we applied Fortify(TM) glaze to one of the two half surfaces. The remaining 26 buccal half surfaces per group covered with sealant only, did not receive any glaze. The surface roughness and hardness of each sample was measured, and the average value of the three measurements from the individual sample was calculated. The sample surfaces were also observed by scanning an electron microscopy. RESULTS: Two-way ANOVA with surface roughness and hardness as the individual dependent variables identified a statistically significant interaction between the sealants and glazing materials. BisCover LV lowered Ultraseal XT surface roughness and application of surface glazing materials on 3M Concise promoted the hardness. Micro-cracks were identified on the surface in no glaze compared to being less in any glaze. CONCLUSIONS: Surface glaze material could improve the surface roughness and hardness of the selected pit and fissure sealant material. Such a sealant-reinforcing procedure, involving surface glazing, may be clinically useful.
Acrylates ; Bicuspid ; Electrons ; Hardness ; Pit and Fissure Sealants ; Resin Cements ; Tooth

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of fluoride mouthrinse with low pH on the surface microhardness of artificial incipient carious enamel. METHODS: Firstly, the concentration of sodium fluoride and pH values were measured in commercially available mouthrinse. Secondly, DOCTOR Clean & Fresh(R) (Jang In Pharm, co., LTD. KOREA) with 0.02% sodium fluoride and pH value below pH 4.0 was selected as the experimental group, 0.02% sodium as the positive control group and distilled water as the negative control group. Enamel samples of n vine teeth (n=36) were divided into the three groups respectively and treated with the mouthrinse solutions for 3 and 20 minutes. The surface microhardness (Vickers hardness number, VHN) was measured with microhardness tester before and after the treatments. RESULTS: The average pH of DOCTOR Clean & Fresh(R) was 3.45+/-0.00, and it was acidic enough to cause tooth erosion. The difference of surface microhardness (DeltaVHN) before and after the 20 minute treatment was statistically significant among the groups: DOCTOR Clean & Fresh(R) (12.77+/-2.25 DeltaVHN), distilled water (0.24+/-0.75 DeltaVHN), 0.02% sodium fluoride solution (-0.62+/-1.62 DeltaVHN) (P<0.05). The DOCTOR Clean & Fresh(R) group with low pH showed greater changes on the surface microhardness of the carious enamel than those of other groups (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: It is suggested that the mouthrinse with low pH can reduce the surface microhardness of incipient carious enamel.
Dental Enamel ; Fluorides ; Hardness ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Sodium ; Sodium Fluoride ; Tooth ; Tooth Erosion ; Water