Abstract
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to develop applicable standards for clinical dental hygiene practice in Korea and to evaluate their validity. Methods: Based on the standards for clinical dental hygiene practice developed in the United States and Canada, the standards were adapted to be applicable in Korea. The validity of the standards was evaluated by a self-writing questionnaire among 14 professors and 10 clinicians using a developed tool for evaluating the standards. A focus group interview was additionally conducted for clinicians to increase the validity of the standards. Descriptive statistics and Mann-Whitney test were performed using SPSS 25.0. To analyze the content of the focus group interviews, content analysis was conducted. Results: The standards for clinical dental hygiene practice consisted of five elements of professionalism for dental hygienists and a total of 28 items to perform the five stages of dental hygiene process of care (assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation) and included conceptual meaning, clinical significance, and application methods with examples for each item. Conclusions: The standards for clinical dental hygiene practice developed in this study could contribute to standardizing dental clinical practices provided by dental hygienists. It is necessary to consistently improve the standards that are highly practical, to prevent oral diseases and maintain oral health of the public, based on the results of this validity evaluation.
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