Time Spent on Each Care Protocol of Regular Oral Hygiene Management and Factors Related to Preventive Dental Care Time by Dental Hygienists in a Dental Hospital

Abstract

 This study aimed to measure the time required for regular oral hygiene management by dental hygienists (DHs) at a dental hospital and identify factors associated with the duration of preventive dental care. We enrolled 8 DHs with a 45-minute appointment time per patient for their cohort of 223 patients. The time taken for oral hygiene management parameters including measurement of intraoral observation, periodontal tissue examination, plaque control record (PCR), and tooth brushing instructions, were recorded for each patient. The time taken for parameters of preventive dental care including ultrasonic scaling, tooth surface polishing, subgingival irrigation, and/or pocket application of an antimicrobial drug, was also recorded. Patient-related survey items considered were age, sex, numbers of teeth and implants, teeth with periodontal depth >4 mm, sites of bleeding on probing (sites of BOP), teeth with mobility, and with or without oral dryness. In addition, preventive dental care durations with or without acute oral symptoms, medical history, and periodontal tissue examination were evaluated. Multiple linear regression analysis with the duration of preventive dental care as the dependent variable and years of work experience dental hygienists as the control variable was conducted. Patient-related factors and periodontal tissue examination were independent variables. Multivariate analysis revealed that a longer preventive dental care duration was significantly correlated with higher numbers of teeth and implants (standardized coefficient, β=0.371), more sites of BOP (β=0.240) and PCR (β=0.146), and medical history (β=0.144), and a shorter preventive dental care duration was significantly correlated with the presence of acute oral symptoms (β=-0.122). For effective use of oral hygiene management time and reduce the patient burden for preventive dental care, DHs should pre-emptively confirm the numbers of teeth/implants, BOP, PCR, and medical history.