Comparison of the Working Conditions of Dental Hygienists Using Data from Online Job Sites

Abstract

The shortage of dental hygienists has been a long-standing problem in Korea. Small-scaled dental clinics suffer from a lack of dental hygienists, who seem to prefer working at large-scaled dental clinics. The purpose of this study was to confirm the differences in the working conditions according to the scales of dental clinics. We collected the working information registered via job advertisements through the web-sites of Korean Dental Hygienists Association, Dental Jobs, and Nurse Jobs from July to August 2016. The results were as follows: 96.7% of the advertisements wanted regular workers, while the proportion of part-time workers was the highest (34.8%) in the group with less than 3 employees. The average workdays per week was 5.32±0.55 days, and the group with less than 3 employees had significantly longer workdays than the other groups. The daily working time was 8.99±0.44 hours, and there was no difference among the groups. Night overtime hours were needed by 54.4%, 45.0%, and 31.3% of the groups with of the groups with 4∼7 employees, more than 8 employees, and less than 3 employees, respectively. Information regarding annual leave (60.5%), monthly leave (63.9%), half a day off (32.4%) and vacations (43.1%) were presented in the job advertisements, and these proportions were significantly higher by the group with more than 8 employees. Information on overtime pay (14.4%), night-work pay (13.4%), incentives (34.1%), lunches (60.2%), vacation bonuses (33.8%), and self-development (20.4%) were presented in job advertisements. The group with 4∼7 employees had significantly higher proportions in severance pay, vacation bonuses, self-development, and major national insurance. It is necessary to consider the improvement of working conditions, diversity of working styles, and welfare of dental hygienists, and it is suggested that small dental clinics provide more precise working conditions.

Occupational hazards among dental hygienists: Risk level assessment of scaling work

“…However, looking at the studies reporting the average number of daily scaling patients by dental hygienists in Korea, Seong et al 16 reported an average of 4.01 patients, and Kang et al 52 reported an average of five or more patients for 58.2% of dental hygienists, suggesting a high workload burden for some dental hygienists. In addition, since dental hygienists in Korea are full‐time (8 h a day) workers 53,54 and perform various tasks such as medical assistance, patient education, and hospital management, 55 the mental and physical workload of the dental hygienist could be even higher 56 . The increase in the number of scaling patients put pressure on work time, limiting the opportunity for work breaks, 57 or making it difficult to take time to employ infection control, which can affect the mental and physical stress of workers 58 .…”

The Subjective Musculoskeletal Symptoms of Dental Hygienists According to Their Treatment Posture

“…Regarding a type of position, 68.2% were in the position of dental hygienist. Regarding the body regions related to their subjective musculoskeletal pains, 77.5% had subjective pains on the shoulders, 73.0% on the neck, and 63.5% on the legs [6].…”