Abstract
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the differences of dental hygienists in how they view their work and how they rate their emotional labor and occupational stress. Gathering this data was an effort to provide information on how to increase occupational satisfaction and improve work environments for dental hygienists. Methods: We analyzed data collected from 178 dental hygienists. The dental hygienists were randomly selected by convenience sampling from dental hospitals. Results: Our results showed that pediatric hygienists had more negative responses in regard to their views on their work. As for emotional labor, dental hygienists from pediatric dental clinics experienced heavier emotional labor than those from general dental clinics. On the other hand, dental hygienists from general dental clinics suffered more from occupational stress than pediatric dental hygienists did. Conclusions: Given the findings of this study, effective and ideal programs that promote occupational satisfaction for dental hygienists should be prepared, and strategies should be developed to resolve emotional labor and improve their work environments, as well.
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