Journal of dental hygiene : JDH / American Dental Hygienists'' Association最新文献

Purpose Forty-two states to date have passed legislation to expanded the role of dental hygienists for improved access to basic oral health services for underserved populations. Recent legislative changes in the state of Kansas have created the Extended Care Permit (ECP) I, II, and III designations. The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of registered dental hygienists in Kansas holding ECP III certificates.Methods Secondary data analysis was performed utilizing data collected from an ECP provider survey conducted in 2021. Dental hygienists in Kansas holding an Extended Care Permit III (n=88) were sent a 39-item electronic survey and informed consent was obtained prior to beginning the survey. Descriptive data analyses consisted of frequency distributions and percentages. Inferential data analysis consisted of Fisher's Exact and Chi-Square tests to evaluate associations between ECP III demographics, practice characteristics, and services provided.Results A total of 22 responses were received for a 25% response rate. The majority of the respondents (77%) were employed by a Safety Net Clinic. The practice settings reporting the highest percentage of ECP III services during the period of data collection were school-based settings, using portable equipment (68%). No associations were found between ECP III personal and practice characteristics and the provision of services specific to the ECP III permit.Conclusion Results suggest that a low percentage of ECP III permit holders are providing ECP III-specific services. Considering these findings and the outcomes of previous studies, there is speculation that barriers continue to exist that prevent permit holders from performing ECP III-specific services and providing dental hygiene services to the fullest extent of an ECP license.

Proper sample selection is based on the study purpose, research question(s), and study design. Investigators must use care to select a sample population that is representative of the source and target populations. Well-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria serve as guidance when screening potential candidates for eligibility for participation in a study. Sampling and non-sampling errors may influence study outcomes and generalizability of results. The purpose of this short report is to review common sampling errors made when designing a study and when reporting study outcomes.

Purpose Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an age-related illness that is becoming increasingly more prevalent in the United States. The purpose of this pilot study was to assess dental, allied oral health, and nursing students' perceived knowledge, comfort, and attitudes for individuals with AD.Methods A total of 851 students from a university dental and nursing school were invited to participate in this cross-sectional study. A 48-item survey comprising of demographic questions, the Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Scale (ADKS) and the Dementia Attitudes Scale (DAS) was disseminated via an electronic survey platform. Responses were summarized as means and standard deviations or counts and rates. Comparisons of survey responses by program type and exposure to AD, age group, and prior degree were performed using the chi-square test for association and analysis of variance.Results The response rate was 33.2%. Nursing students demonstrated the highest level of knowledge on AD with mean score of 25.26 (SD 2.87), followed by dental (M=23.4, SD 3.26) and allied oral health students (M=22.10, SD 2.98). Overall, students demonstrated perceived comfort in treating patients with AD and related dementias with mean scores in the "slightly agree" range. Nursing students demonstrated the highest level of perceived comfort (M=5.61, SD 0.71).Conclusions Nursing students demonstrated higher knowledge and more positive attitudes toward AD than dental and allied oral health students. There is a need for improved educational training and an expanded didactic curriculum to enhance knowledge for dental and allied oral health students. This pilot study provides a blueprint for replication on a national level.

Purpose Social media has created an environment providing readily available information that impacts how individuals seek information and make product decisions. The purpose of this study was to examine adult consumer use of social media for information seeking and the effect on intention to purchase oral health care products.Methods A cross-sectional study design with a non-probability sample of adult consumers recruited through crowdsourcing with Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk) was used to examine the effect of social media on purchasing of oral health products. Data collection included demographic, social media use, and the Information Acceptance Model (IACM) which measured information acceptance from friends and customer reviews from social media. Descriptive statistics, subgroup analysis of demographic variables, and multivariable linear regression were used to assess the relationship among variables.Results Participants (n=308) were mostly males (56.2%), average age 37 years, held bachelor's degrees (68.8%), from the southern United States, and had been to the dentist within the last two years (72.8%). Instagram (40.6%) was the most frequently used platform and social media was frequently used (36.7%) to obtain information on oral health care products. Findings from the IACM information subscale indicated high scores for information from friends and customer reviews (p<0.01). The information needs (p=0.049) and information adoption from friends (p=0.03) were slightly less for females when compared to males. Friends' recommendations (p=0.02) on social media had the greatest effect on intention to purchase among participants living in the Midwest. Multivariate regression models indicated information usefulness and information adoption had the greatest influence on purchase intention from friends (p<0.001), while information credibility, information usefulness, and information adoption had the greatest influence from customer reviews (p<0.001).Conclusion Results provided some initial insights into the way consumers may use social media for information about oral health products and the influences on them choosing to purchase the products. Oral health care providers can use this information to educate and guide patients to credible information sources in their search for oral health care products.

Purpose The intent of this inquiry was to explore the lived experiences of dental hygienists who provide restorative patient care.Methods Phenomenology was the qualitative approach used. Purposive sampling ensured participants had relevant experiences. An Interview Guide was emailed one week prior to the interview to help participants prepare responses. Informed consent included selecting a pseudonym, which was used throughout the interview and on the written transcript to protect the participants' identities. One-hour semi-structured interviews were conducted and recorded on Zoom. Data collection and analysis occurred simultaneously. Verbatim transcription accuracy was verified. Data were initially coded and then focused coding created themes. Demographic data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.Results After eight interviews data saturation was achieved. Seven females and one male participated. All participants experienced a restorative curriculum in their entry-level program and most felt well-prepared. The motivation for becoming a restorative dental hygienist included having positive restorative experiences during the entry-level program, wanting to keep restorative skills current after graduation, and having an opportunity to provide restorative care. Challenges experienced included the dentists' negative attitudes, dental hygienists' not valuing restorative abilities and not having a qualified dental assistant. Personal benefits were related to career fulfillment. Benefits to patients involved improving access, efficiency, and convenience. The benefit to the office was increased production. Differences between restorative and preventive care involved demands of care and patient care flow.Conclusion The findings provide insight into the unique experiences of dental hygienists who provided restorative patient care and a foundation for future research.

Purpose Lip prints are unique and have potential for use as a human identifier. The purpose of this study was to observe possible cheiloscopy differences of individuals with and without parafunctional oral habits such as smoking, vaping, playing a wind instrument or using an asthma inhaler.Methods This IRB approved blinded cross-sectional observation pilot study collected lip prints from sixty-six individuals, three of which were excluded. Participants cleansed their lips, then lipstick was applied to the vermillion zones of the upper and lower lips. Adhesive tape was applied to the lips and prints were transferred to white bond paper for viewing purposes. Each set of included lip prints was divided into quadrants and dichotomized into a group of those with an oral parafunctional habit or with no such habits. Each quadrant sample was then manually analyzed and classed according to the gold standard Suzuki and Tsuchihashi system.Results A total of 252 dichotomized lip print quadrants (with habits n=76, 30.2%, and without habits n=176, 69.8%) were analyzed. Type II patterns were the most common for examined quadrant samples; however, no statistically significant differences (Pearson's chi-squared test, p=0.366) were observed between pattern classifications of samples with and without parafunctional oral habits.Conclusion There is no statistically significant difference of lip print patterns between individuals with and without parafunctional oral habits. Further research on populational variations is needed for cheiloscopy to aid in human identifications.

Increased awareness of oral health disparities in the United States has highlighted the need to expand the workforce and access to both primary and preventive dental care. Achieving oral health equity will require new dental team members with appropriate clinical skills dedicated to reaching historically marginalized populations through intra and interprofessional practice. Collective efforts by health care advocates in Minnesota led to legislation that created a dental hygiene-based workforce model inspired by the vision and foresight of the American Dental Hygienists' Association's "Advanced Dental Hygiene Practitioner." In July 2023, there were 141 licensed dental therapists and 99 certified advanced dental therapists, with the majority being dual-licensed dental hygienists/dental therapists, providing primary care services in a variety of settings throughout the state. Current data confirm their contributions to increasing access to primary oral health care services for Minnesotans across the lifespan. While surmountable challenges remain, new opportunities are emerging for dental therapists within Minnesota's transforming health care system. The purpose of this paper is to describe the implementation of this new workforce model in Minnesota, its challenges and successes to assist other states in developing new models for intraprofessional dental team members.

Purpose To evaluate changes in toothbrushing behavior and plaque removal performance with usage of a next generation oscillating-rotating electric toothbrush (NG-OR).Methods This exploratory clinical study had a two-treatment, three-period, single-group, sequential design. Generally healthy adults with a screening whole mouth mean Turesky modified Quigley-Hein Plaque Index (TQHPI) score of at least 1.75 on a 0-5 scale and who were primarily OR brush users were enrolled. Participants used each OR toothbrush in A-B-B order, where a currently marketed OR brush with a traditional mechanical drive system (T-OR) was used in period A and the NG-OR brush with a linear magnetic drive was used in period B. At Visit 1, qualifying participants brushed on-site with T-OR. After a 48h washout, participants returned for Visit 2 and brushed on-site with NG-OR. Participants then used NG-OR for 1 week, twice daily, at home and returned for Visit 3 to brush on-site with NG-OR again. For all on-site brushings, participants were instructed to brush for 2min without interactive features. Each toothbrush was tagged with a transmitter chip connected to a Motion Tracking System to record movements of the toothbrush and participant using infrared light transmission to determine Isochronicity (brushing time uniformly distributed across the dentition). Plaque was measured using TQHPI. Primary variables were Isochronicity and TQHPl whole mouth mean plaque reduction (pre-brushing minus post brushing).Results Overall, 41 participants enrolled and received treatment; 40 completed the trial. NG-OR showed significantly greater Isochronicity after a single brushing (p=0.043) and after a 1-week at-home use (p=0.001) versus T-OR. NG-OR showed 41% greater whole mouth plaque removal than T-OR (p<0.001) after a single brushing. Plaque reduction by region/surface was consistent with whole mouth results.Conclusion The NG-OR brush showed greater brushing uniformity and plaque removal versus the T-OR brush.