디지털 치과 장비에 대한 치과위생사의 인식도 분석

Analysis of Dental Hygienists’ Perception of Toward Digital Dental Devices

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of dental hygienists’ toward dental digital devices. Methods: The subjects were 170 dental hygienists in Seoul, Busan, Daejeon region, South Korea. In total, data obtained from 168 completed questionnaires were analyzed, excluding two incomplete ones. Data were analyzed by frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA using IBM SPSS version 21.0. Results: This study compared seven types of perceptions among dental hygienists using digital dental devices, based on general characteristics. The dental hygienists were categorized into six general characteristics: age group, gender, residence(geographic location of the clinic), educational level, years of clinical career, and duty organ group(Clinic, Hospital). The study compared the subjects’ perceptions of digital dental devices, based on seven factors: utilization, necessity of adopting new devices, early adoption of new devices, usage methods, usage proficiency, convenience, and effectiveness. Statistically significant variables affecting their perceptions about the necessity of adopting new digital dental devices were residence and clinical career group. For perceptions of usage methods, the statistically significant variable was duty organ group. For perceptions of convenience, it was clinical career group, and for perceptions of effectiveness, it was gender. Conclusions: The findings of the study suggest that the causes of the perceptions of dental hygienists toward dental digital devices are multifactorial. Perceptions of new digital dental equipment varied by age, clinical experience, workplace type, and region. Younger and less experienced hygienists, as well as metropolitan residents, showed higher awareness of adoption needs and early introduction. Perceptions of proficiency, convenience, and effectiveness differed by age group and professional characteristics, reflecting current awareness and utilization patterns of digital dental equipment among dental hygienists.