This study assesses the extent to which faculty turnover in dental hygiene programs is related to the type of educational institution. A questionnaire was mailed to 201 dental hygiene program directors; 17 5 responded (87 percent). Nearly 47 per‐cent of the directors associated with programs in state colleges and universities indicated they had experienced some degree of difficulty retaining faculty in the past five years; less than 18 percent of those in community colleges and technical schools experienced similar problems. Faculty attrition due to personal reasons and job and salary dissatisfaction occurred to a slightly greater extent in state educational institutions than in community colleges and technical schools. Achieving tenure was perceived as a problem primarily by directors of programs in state colleges and universities. Although inadequate salary was a direct cause of attrition in some cases, the degree to which it influenced personal reasons for leaving was not determined.
The geriatric population in many parts of the United States is underserved by dentistry. Socioeconomic problems, difficult access to dental facilities, and confusion about the need for dental care often prevent the elderly from seeking dental service. Because dental diseases are not life threatening or outwardly disabling, administrators of institutions for the elderly and health legislators place a low priority on dental care for the elderly. These factors working in concert with the insidious, progressive, and cummulative nature of denture diseases contribute to the poor dental health experienced by some segments of the geriatric population. Dentistry has the manpower and the technology to improve the oral health of the elderly, but society must be made aware of the importance of dental health in the total health of elderly persons in order that dentistry be given a chance to achieve that goal.
Decreases in faculty size and declining enrollments in dental hygiene programs are, in part, reflections of the economic difficulties faced by educational institutions with which the programs are affiliated. Administrative decisions about the future of dental hygiene programs are often based on inadequate information about employment trends and about the importance of the dental hygienist in dental practices. Although the relationship between demand for dental care and the availability of personnel to meet that demand is now unclear, studies indicate that demand for dental hygiene services will remain high in the 1980s. The impact of dental hygienists on dental health care delivery in any given region must be studied carefully when decisions are made about dental hygiene programs, because it is very expensive to replace discontinued programs or those disabled by large budget cuts.
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