Journal of Technologic Dentistry 2024; 46(4): 166-173
Published online December 30, 2024
https://doi.org/10.14347/jtd.2024.46.4.166
© Korean Academy of Dental Technology
조민정
김천대학교 치위생학과
Department of Dental Hygiene, College of Health Care, Gimcheon University, Gimcheon, Korea
Correspondence to :
Min Jeong Cho
Department of Dental Hygiene, College of Health Care, Gimcheon University, 214 Daehak-ro, Gimcheon 39528, Korea
E-mail: bada964@hanmail.net
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1761-3052
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate soldiers’ oral health practices and trust in military medical serviceswhile proposing strategies to enhance awareness and expand the roles of dental hygienists.
Methods: An online survey using Naver Forms (Naver) was conducted from June 1 to July 14, 2024, targeting soldiers in Army Unit Y. Data from 134 respondents were analyzed.
Results: Soldiers with greater interest in oral health were more likely to undergo regular dental check-ups, scaling, and brushing (p<0.05). Both dental check-ups and scaling increased post-enlistment (p<0.05), but only 15.6% of those highly interested in oral health utilized military dental services (p=0.784). Trust in military medical services declined with longer service, particularly among sergeants (p<0.001). Most soldiers primarily viewed dental hygienists as dental assistants (56.0%), reflecting limited awareness of their broader roles. Among those who used military dental facilities, 42.9% reported neutral satisfaction, whereas 57.1% expressed willingness to reuse the services.
Conclusion: These findings emphasize the need to broaden the roles of dental hygienists in the military, particularly as oral health educators, to support the development of effective education and policy initiatives for oral health promotion.
Keywords: Dental hygienists, Military personnel, Oral health, Patient satisfaction, Trust
Journal of Technologic Dentistry 2024; 46(4): 166-173
Published online December 30, 2024 https://doi.org/10.14347/jtd.2024.46.4.166
Copyright © Korean Academy of Dental Technology.
조민정
김천대학교 치위생학과
Department of Dental Hygiene, College of Health Care, Gimcheon University, Gimcheon, Korea
Correspondence to:Min Jeong Cho
Department of Dental Hygiene, College of Health Care, Gimcheon University, 214 Daehak-ro, Gimcheon 39528, Korea
E-mail: bada964@hanmail.net
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1761-3052
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate soldiers’ oral health practices and trust in military medical serviceswhile proposing strategies to enhance awareness and expand the roles of dental hygienists.
Methods: An online survey using Naver Forms (Naver) was conducted from June 1 to July 14, 2024, targeting soldiers in Army Unit Y. Data from 134 respondents were analyzed.
Results: Soldiers with greater interest in oral health were more likely to undergo regular dental check-ups, scaling, and brushing (p<0.05). Both dental check-ups and scaling increased post-enlistment (p<0.05), but only 15.6% of those highly interested in oral health utilized military dental services (p=0.784). Trust in military medical services declined with longer service, particularly among sergeants (p<0.001). Most soldiers primarily viewed dental hygienists as dental assistants (56.0%), reflecting limited awareness of their broader roles. Among those who used military dental facilities, 42.9% reported neutral satisfaction, whereas 57.1% expressed willingness to reuse the services.
Conclusion: These findings emphasize the need to broaden the roles of dental hygienists in the military, particularly as oral health educators, to support the development of effective education and policy initiatives for oral health promotion.
Keywords: Dental hygienists, Military personnel, Oral health, Patient satisfaction, Trust
Table 1 . General characteristics of subjects.
Category | n (%) |
---|---|
Age (yr) | |
≤21 | 38 (28.4) |
22~23 | 63 (47.0) |
≥24 | 33 (24.6) |
Education levels | |
High school graduation | 42 (31.3) |
≥University (college) student or graduation | 92 (68.7) |
Ranks | |
Private | 0 (0.0) |
Private first class | 33 (24.6) |
Corporal | 40 (29.9) |
Sergeant | 61 (45.5) |
Smoking status | |
Yes | 69 (51.5) |
No | 65 (48.5) |
Drinking status | |
Yes | 104 (77.6) |
No | 30 (22.4) |
Total | 134 (100.0) |
Values are presented as number (%)..
Table 2 . Oral health practices according to interest in oral health.
Category | Interest in oral health | p-value | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Low | Middle | High | ||
Regular dental examination | <0.001*** | |||
Not practice at all | 7 (36.8) | 1 (1.9) | 1 (1.6) | |
Not practice | 8 (42.1) | 1 (1.9) | 0 (0.0) | |
Normal | 2 (10.5) | 40 (76.9) | 18 (28.6) | |
Practice | 0 (0.0) | 10 (19.2) | 30 (47.6) | |
Very practice | 2 (10.5) | 0 (0.0) | 14 (22.2) | |
Regular scaling procedures | <0.001*** | |||
Not practice at all | 5 (26.3) | 1 (1.9) | 2 (3.2) | |
Not practice | 7 (36.8) | 6 (11.5) | 4 (6.3) | |
Normal | 3 (15.8) | 33 (63.5) | 10 (15.9) | |
Practice | 0 (0.0) | 10 (19.2) | 33 (52.4) | |
Very practice | 4 (21.1) | 2 (3.8) | 14 (22.2) | |
Brushing your teeth after eating snacks or late-night snacks | <0.001*** | |||
Not practice at all | 1 (5.3) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | |
Not practice | 5 (26.3) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | |
Normal | 5 (26.3) | 33 (63.5) | 3 (4.8) | |
Practice | 3 (15.8) | 12 (23.1) | 33 (52.4) | |
Very practice | 5 (26.3) | 7 (13.5) | 27 (42.9) | |
Number of toothbrushings per day | 0.018* | |||
Once | 2 (10.5) | 1 (1.9) | 2 (3.2) | |
Twice | 15 (78.9) | 22 (42.3) | 31 (49.2) | |
Three times | 1 (5.3) | 26 (50.0) | 23 (36.5) | |
Four times or more | 1 (5.3) | 3 (5.8) | 7 (11.1) | |
Total | 19 (100.0) | 52 (100.0) | 63 (100.0) |
Values are presented as number (%)..
Statistically significant differences by chi-square test α=0.05..
*p<0.05, ***p<0.001..
Table 3 . Changes in oral health promotion actions according to interest in oral health before and after military service.
Category | Regular dental examination | Regular scaling procedure | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Joining the army | Joining the army | ||||
Before | After | Before | After | ||
Oral health interest | |||||
Low | 1.84a±1.25 | 2.05a±1.22 | 2.36a±1.57 | 2.52a±1.46 | |
Middle | 2.76b±0.73 | 3.13b±0.52 | 2.90a,b±0.86 | 3.11b±0.73 | |
High | 3.34c±1.16 | 3.88c±0.80 | 3.34b,c±1.23 | 3.84c±0.95 | |
p-value | <0.001*** | <0.001*** | <0.001*** | <0.001*** | |
Total | 2.91±1.14 | 3.33±1.00 | 3.03±1.20 | 3.37±1.07 |
Values are presented as mean±standard deviation. By one-way ANOVA test at α=0.05..
a,b,cThe same characters are not statistically significant by Duncan multiple comparison at =0.05..
***p<0.001..
Table 4 . Subjective perceptions of trust in military medical services by rank before and after enlistment.
Category | Before enlistment | After enlistment | Total | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Very distrustful | Distrustful | Normal | Trustful | Very trustful | Very distrustful | Distrustful | Normai | Trustful | Very trustful | |||
Rank | ||||||||||||
Private first class | 3 (13.0) | 2 (6.5) | 20 (31.7) | 8 (61.5) | 0 (0.0) | 5 (23.8) | 2 (6.3) | 22 (32.8) | 4 (57.1) | 0 (0.0) | 33 (24.6) | |
Corporal | 9 (39.1) | 12 (38.7) | 15 (23.8) | 0 (0.0) | 4 (100.0) | 11 (52.4) | 7 (21.9) | 17 (25.4) | 1 (14.3) | 4 (57.1) | 40 (29.9) | |
Sergeant | 11 (47.8) | 17 (54.8) | 28 (44.4) | 5 (38.5) | 0 (0.0) | 5 (23.8) | 23 (71.9) | 28 (41.8) | 2 (28.6) | 3 (42.9) | 61 (45.5) | |
p-value | <0.001*** | <0.001*** | ||||||||||
Total | 23 (100.0) | 31 (100.0) | 63 (100.0) | 13 (100.0) | 4 (100.0) | 21 (100.0) | 32 (100.0) | 67 (100.0) | 7 (100.0) | 7 (100.0) | 134 (100.0) |
Values are presented as number (%)..
Statistically significant differences were determined by chi-square test with α=0.05..
***p<0.001..
Table 5 . Experience with dental treatment at military medical facilities.
Category | Experience with dental treatment at military medical facilities | p-value | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Yes | No | Total | ||
Rank | 0.784 | |||
Private first class | 6 (28.6) | 27 (23.9) | 33 (24.6) | |
Corporal | 5 (23.8) | 35 (31.0) | 40 (29.9) | |
Sergeant | 10 (47.6) | 51 (45.1) | 61 (45.5) | |
Total | 21 (100.0) | 113 (100.0) | 134 (100.0) |
Values are presented as number (%)..
Statistically significant differences were determined by chi-square test with α=0.05..
Table 6 . Dental treatment experience survey in military medical facilities.
Category | n (%) |
---|---|
Number of military dental visits | |
1 | 12 (57.1) |
2 | 6 (28.6) |
3 | 3 (14.3) |
4 or more | 0 (0.0) |
Satisfaction with military medical facilities | |
Very dissatisfied | 1 (4.8) |
Dissatisfied | 4 (19.0) |
Normal | 9 (42.9) |
Satisfied | 6 (28.6) |
Very satisfied | 1 (4.8) |
Intention to revisit military medical facilities | |
Yes | 12 (57.1) |
No | 9 (42.9) |
Dental treatment received at military medical facilities | |
Cavity treatment | 11 (52.4) |
Root canal treatment | 5 (23.8) |
Periodontal treatment | 1 (4.8) |
Tooth extraction (wisdom tooth extraction) | 4 (19.0) |
Others | 0 (0.0) |
Total | 21 (100.0) |
Values are presented as number (%)..
Table 7 . Perception of dental hygienists’ occupations and key roles by military personnel.
Category | n (%) |
---|---|
Do you know a job as a dental hygienist? | |
Yes | 105 (78.4) |
No | 29 (21.6) |
What do you think about the job of a dental hygienist? | |
Very Bad | 1 (0.7) |
Bad | 0 (0.0) |
Average | 85 (63.4) |
Good | 32 (23.9) |
Very Good | 16 (11.9) |
What do you think is the major task of a dental hygienist? | |
Dental assistant | 75 (56.0) |
Oral health educator | 22 (16.4) |
Scaling practitioner | 31 (23.1) |
Hospital operator | 6 (4.5) |
Total | 134 (100.0) |
Values are presented as number (%)..
Min Soo Han, Eun Ja Kwon, Esther Choi
Journal of Technologic Dentistry 2021; 43(3): 124-131 https://doi.org/10.14347/jtd.2021.43.3.124Lim, Hye-Jeong;Kang, Wol;Kim, Woong-Chul;Kim, Ji-Hwan;
Journal of Technologic Dentistry 2017; 39(3): 197-204 https://doi.org/10.14347/kadt.2017.39.3.197Lee, Jong-Do;
Journal of Technologic Dentistry 2003; 25(1): 161-171 https://doi.org/10.15430/JCP.2003.25.1.161