The fifty-year history of dental hygiene education in South Korea

Noh, Hie-Jin,Mun, So-Jung,Han, Sun-Young,Yang, Ji-Hye,Jung, Eun-Ha,Lee, A-Ram,Jeong, Ju-Hui,Chung, Won-Gyun Korean Society of Dental Hygiene 2019 한국치위생학회지 Vol.19 No.5

The aim of this study was to review the history of dental hygiene education in Korea on its $50^{th}$ anniversary in 2015. Internal resources and documents from the Korean Dental Hygienists' Association and other accessible resources were examined to verify the historical facts of dental hygiene education in Korea. From 1965 to 1967, the first class of four dental hygiene students graduated, and the legal basis for dental hygiene as a profession was established, which led to the start of the profession Registered Dental Hygienist in 1971. From 1977 to 1993, 13 higher educational institutions started dental hygiene programs. The Korean Dental Hygienists' Association (1977) and Korean Association of Dental Hygiene College Professors (1987) were established in this period. From 1994 to 2006, the duration of major-intensive course programs in dental hygiene was extended to three from the two years of 1994, and the first bachelor's degree program in dental hygiene started in 2002. In this period, studies on dental hygiene became significantly active owing to vigorous activities by academic societies. The master's degree program in dental hygiene was established in 2007. Academic dental hygiene journals, the Journal of Dental Hygiene Science, and Journal of Korean Academy of Dental Hygiene Education were promoted as the registered journals of the Korean Research Foundation. From 1965 to 2015, dental hygiene education in South Korea expanded both quantitatively and qualitatively and is now ready for further progress in the future.

The Development of Problem-Based Learning Module for Clinical Dentistry in Dental Hygiene

Jeong, A-Yeon,Shin, Sun-Jung,Shin, Bo-Mi,Bae, Soo-Myoung The Korean Society of Dental Hygiene Science 2017 치위생과학회지 Vol.17 No.5

We attempted to develop a problem-based learning (PBL) module for integrated education in dental hygiene with the aim of helping students gain clinical competencies necessary for dental hygienist work. To develop the PBL Module for Clinical Dentistry in Dental Hygiene course, the researchers identified literature related to not only educational technology, but also medical science, nursing, dentistry, and dental hygiene. During the design phase of the PBL module, problem scenarios and a plan for the teaching and learning process were developed. Developing problem scenarios involved describing a problematic situation and three questions related with that situation. To cultivate competencies required in dental clinics, each question was related to the diagnosis of a dental disease, dental treatment, and dental hygiene procedures for care. Teaching-learning process plan included the designs of operating environment, operational strategies, learning resources, facilitation of problem-solving process, and evaluation. It is necessary to evaluate the PBL module for integrated education in dental hygiene to confirm its effectiveness.

Association between Drinking Behaviors and Periodontal Status in Adults by Age Group

Yu, Ji-Su,Hwang, Su-Hyun The Korean Society of Dental Hygiene Science 2017 치위생과학회지 Vol.17 No.3

The purpose of this study was to determine the association between drinking behaviors and the need for periodontal treatment. The data of 5,995 adults from the 2012 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were categorized into young adulthood (19~39 years), middle age (40~64 years), and old age (${\geq}65$ years) and analyzed. Chi-square test was performed to determine those who needed periodontal treatment by the respondents' general characteristics and drinking behaviors, and logistic regression analysis was carried out to determine the impact of each drinking behavior on the need for periodontal treatment. The results of this study have confirmed that alcohol intake is a factor adversely affecting periodontal status; therefore, patients should know the fact that excessive alcohol intake and increased frequency of drinking may affect the prevalence rate of periodontal diseases. Moreover, moderate-drinking programs that can reinforce prevention of drinking so that dental hygienists can provide good oral health care should be developed. A systematic oral health promotion program should be introduced for constant prevention with the objective of activating oral health education that focused on middle-aged and young-adult people in pursuit of healthy aging society.

Competencies for Entry into the Profession of Dental Hygiene

Bae, Soo-Myoung,Chung, Won-Gyun,Jang, Jong-Hwa,Mun, So-Jung,Shin, Bo-Mi,Shin, Sun-Jung The Korean Society of Dental Hygiene Science 2017 치위생과학회지 Vol.17 No.3

This study was conducted to derive core and detailed competencies of dental hygienists to be utilized as educational targets to be reached by graduation as well as basic data that can be reflected in the development and improvement of dental hygiene curricula. This study analyzed publication reports from the Korean Dental Hygienists Association, the International Federation of Dental Hygienists, the Commission on Dental Accreditation, and the American Dental Education Association. Based on the academic classification system for dental hygiene studies, the components of core and detailed competencies of dental hygiene school at the time of graduation were extracted and developed through expert panel discussions. This study defined competencies at the graduation level of dental hygiene school and derived eight core competencies and their 52 detailed competencies to serve as educational objectives from four areas: professionalism, communication, clinical practice, and community and health promotion. In the future, it will be necessary to conduct self-assessments of competencies based on those developed in this study, at time of the graduation from dental hygiene school, as well as to continuously develop competency-based curricula according to entry level, knowledge level, and graduation level. Thus, it is urgently necessary to develop a system that can evaluate the competencies of dental hygienists after graduation and put this system into practical use.

Analysis of liberal arts education based on NCS and K-CESA in dental hygiene

Yoo, Jin-Ah,Jang, Jong-Hwa Korean Society of Dental Hygiene 2019 한국치위생학회지 Vol.19 No.5

Objectives: This literature review seeks to identify the current status of the liberal arts education of dental hygiene majors offered by universities in Korea and the U.S. and provide a comparative analysis of the data on liberal arts education in both countries. Methods: From April 3, 2017 to May 1, 2017, research data on curriculum topics were collected from 60 selected universities. The data were collected from university websites, which also provided the universities' emails and dental hygiene major descriptions. We calculated the descriptive statistics of the variables and performed independent t-tests on the data. Results: In all the domains of the NCS and K-CESA, the dental hygiene major currently offers courses on language and communication and general education, focusing on self-management and development. Few universities offer subjects from other disciplines. Conclusions: Pro-actively exploring strategies is a prerequisite to the systematic operation of standardized dental hygiene education. It is imperative to conduct research consistently on relevant topics, such as teaching methods, general education standards, and connectivity between major subjects and the goals and effects of exposure to a general education.

The effects of CPR education on CPR knowledge and self-efficacy for dental hygiene students from different regions

Lee, Young-Soo Korean Society of Dental Hygiene 2017 한국치위생학회지 Vol.17 No.6

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate the knowledge and self-efficacy of dental hygiene students after cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) education. Methods: A self-reported questionnaire was filled out by 260 dental hygiene students in the period between 5 November 2015 and 30 December 2015. The data analysis was performed by SPSS win 22.0 program for frequency analysis, chi-square analysis, and dichotomies multiple response analysis. Results: Self-efficacy and knowledge increased after CPR education. Most of the dental hygiene students are statistically significant difference in self-efficacy depending on CPR knowledge. Conclusions: Based on the results of this study, we suggest that the theory and practice of CPR, if taught to dental hygiene students, will boost their self-efficacy, and enable them to perform it correctly when faced with and emergency situation.

Survey of the real-world re-use of disposable dental supplies in dental offices

Park, Bo-Young,Mun, So-Jung,Chung, Won-Gyun,Choi, Eun-Sil,Noh, Hie-Jin Korean Society of Dental Hygiene 2019 한국치위생학회지 Vol.19 No.1

Objectives: To investigate the real-world re-use of disposable dental supplies (DDS) in dental offices and assess the relationship between general characteristics of dental hygienists and reuse of DDS, with respect to infection control characteristics. Methods: A questionnaire was administered to 277 dental hygienists to assess their general characteristics, awareness of infection control/DDS management, and re-use of DDS. Nine DDS were categorized into the following categories based on their purpose: Critical, Semicritical, Noncritical, and Personal protective equipment (PPE). The association between general characteristics of dental hygienists and re-use of DDS, with respect to infection control characteristics, was assessed using the chi-squared test. Results: All 9 DDS were re-used to different extents. The highest reuse rate of supplies were for masks (64.6%), prophylaxis cups (61.0%) and plastic saliva ejectors (30.0%). Overall, 89.5% of the participants re-used DDS; subgroup analysis showed the following proportions of specific DDS re-use: PPE 66.4%; Semicritical DDS 63.9%; Noncritical DDS 19.5%; and Critical DDS 1.8%. Based on the type of clinic, the rate of re-use was higher in dental clinics than dental hospitals. Thus, the re-use of DDS may be caused by inappropriate or nonexistent guidelines or habitual practice, rather than the awareness or attitude of dental hygienists. Conclusions: In order to ensure a safe environment within the dental clinic, DDS classifications must be clearly outlined in the dental infection control guidelines; moreover, additional studies are needed regarding the regulations for DDS re-use and disposal.

Proposal for dementia-related curriculum development for dental hygiene degree programs in Korea

Lee, Kyeong-Hee,Choi, Yoon-Young,Jung, Eun-Seo Korean Society of Dental Hygiene 2019 한국치위생학회지 Vol.19 No.6

Objectives: The objective of this study was to examine the current state of dementia-related education for dental hygiene degree programs in Korea, as well as to develop a dementia-related curriculum for dental hygiene programs suitable for the social characteristics of Korea. Methods: The study was conducted between April and November 2018. First, the current state of dementia-related education for dental hygiene programs in colleges throughout Korea and dementia-related education for other health care-related fields were investigated. Based on the initial findings, the basic content of the preliminary curriculum was constructed. Second, based on the opinion of the dementia-related curriculum development committee comprising 10 professors of dental hygiene, the operations of dementia-related courses and relevant details were constructed. Third, these operations and relevant details were assessed and revised based on focus-group interviews. Fourth, the dementia-related curriculum was developed based on the study findings and literature review. Results: The name of the course in the developed curriculum was set as "Elderly Dental Hygiene and Practicum." The course was established as a "major elective," and was offered as two units with two instructional sessions of two hours each. The learning goal for this course was acquiring the methods for understanding and managing the characteristics of the elderly. A consensus was reached regarding conducting the theoretical and practical lessons on some of the dementia-related content. The dementia-related curriculum comprised 10 "required contents" which is to be conducted over three weeks of theoretical lessons and two weeks of practical lessons. Conclusions: With the growing elderly population, the development and operation of the curriculum for geriatric oral health interventions are warranted in dental hygiene education. However, continued discussions and improvements are needed on the extent of educational content, considering various dementia-related symptoms and general geriatric systemic diseases.

Association between interpersonal relationships and 4C (communication, critical thinking, collaborative self-efficacy, and creative problem-solving) core competencies of dental hygiene students

Jang, Kyeung-Ae,Lee, Jung-Hwa,Kim, Ji-Soo Korean Society of Dental Hygiene 2021 한국치위생학회지 Vol.21 No.2

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the association between interpersonal relationships and the 4C core competencies of dental hygiene students. It also examined how interpersonal competence can be enhanced by the development and application of programs so that the 4C core competencies of university students can be improved. Methods: A survey was conducted from March to May 2019 on students from the Department of dental hygiene in Busan, South Korea, and 177 valid responses were analyzed. The general characteristics of the students were calculated using frequency and percentage, and their degree of 4C core competencies and interpersonal abilities were expressed as means (±standard deviation). Multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the effects of interpersonal competence on the 4C core competencies. Results: The findings revealed the factors affecting the 4C core competencies as; (a) communication ability was affected by interpersonal cognition and confidence building; (b) critical thinking ability was affected by person-oriented, self-expression, and confidence building; (c) creative problem-solving ability was affected by self-confidence, person-orientation, self-expression, and confidence building, and (d) cooperative self-efficacy was affected by person-oriented and confidence building. Conclusions: Based on the above findings, it is necessary to develop systematic program items and education systems that can effectively develop interpersonal competency, and thereby improve 4C core competencies among students.

Effect of Repeated Oral Health Education on the Oral Health of Preschool Children

Lee, Jee-Won,Choi, Ha-Na The Korean Society of Dental Hygiene Science 2017 치위생과학회지 Vol.17 No.5

This study aimed to investigate the effect of repeated oral health education on the oral health of preschool children. This study classified the control group of children of 5~6 years of age where the oral health education was conducted one time, and the experiment group where the oral health education was conducted 4 times. The oral health conditions of each group and their risk of developing dental caries were also assessed. No significant difference was observed in the participants in terms of general characteristics, oral health conditions, risk of developing dental caries, and oral health behavior after oral health education. The two groups did not show a significant difference (p<0.001) in dental plaque index before and after oral health education, and showed a significant difference (p<0.001) according to the number of education sessions. Before oral health education, the participants in both groups were brushing their teeth incorrectly. However, after the third session, 56.7% of the participants in the experimental group and 9.4% in the control group used the correct method of tooth brushing. A significant difference was observed between the two groups (p<0.05). In addition, when the tooth-brushing time was compared, the two groups showed a significant difference (p<0.001), and a significant difference was observed in terms of the number of education sessions (p<0.05). In summary, repeated oral health education had significant influences on the dental plaque index, tooth-brushing method, brushing occlusal surfaces, and tooth-brushing time. Therefore, when oral health education is carried out, repeated oral health education in children is more effective than one-time oral health education as reflected in the changes in dental plaque index and oral health behavior. Moreover, oral health education is considered effective in changing the oral health behavior of children when conducted at least 3 times.