Level of Awareness and Conditions of Performance regarding Ultrasonic Scaling by Clinical Dental Hygienists

Abstract

Background/Objectives: The present study attempted to establish source data for strengthening their expertise as oral health promoters by examining the awareness and performance of dental hygienists toward ultrasonic scaling.

Methods/Statistical analysis: The study conducted a survey on awareness and performance regarding ultrasonic scaling by surveying clinical dental hygienists working in the Busan and Gyeongsangnam-do region between June 1 and October 2020. A total of 228 were ultimately used as samples. SPSS 25.0 was used for statistics.

Findings: Dental hygienists demonstrated a high level of awareness toward ultrasonic scaling, but an observation of their actual performance shows that they failed to adequately select tips for each case and replace tips following a schedule. Furthermore, many places lacked personnel exclusively in charge of scaling, and more years of experience in scaling was identified as being connected to a higher level of understanding toward scaling.

Improvements/Applications: Many hands-on courses must be opened to expand educational opportunities so that dental hygienists can perform ultrasonic scaling tasks according to each year in their career.