Preliminary Findings pf Consumer-Patients' Perception of Dental Hygienists' Scope of Practice/Qualifications and the Level of Care Being Rendered

Abstract

Dental hygienists perform a wide variety of procedures and there are various levels of care being rendered within the dental hygiene profession, ranging from assembly line prophylaxes to highly technical, nonsurgical periodontal and cosmetic procedures. Consequently, consumer-patients' perception of the scope of practice of dental hygienists, dental Hygienists' qualifications, and their level of education may be misunderstood and/or underestimated. There may also be a variance in the kinds of procedures and levels of care delivered by dental hygienists. The purpose of this preliminary, descriptive study was to determine whether 1) there is a significant discrepancy in the majority of consumer-patients' perception of the dental hygienist's scope of practice and educational qualifications; 2) consumer-patients are being screened for oral cancer; 3) incidence of diagnosed periodontal disease approximates well supported epidemiologic trends; and 4) there is a discrepancy in the level of care consumer-patients are currently receiving and the level of care they most value. Three hundred seventy-eight students from 13 schools of dental hygiene utilized a 16-item questionnaire to survey a random sample of 1505 adult consumer-patients in Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. A preliminary summary of the data indicated there was not a discrepancy in the majority of respondents' perception of dental Hygienists' scope of practice and educational qualifications; that over 50% of survey respondents do not recall being screened for oral cancer, periodontal disease was underdiagnosed; and there is preliminary evidence that there may be a discrepancy in the care these consumer-patients received and the level of care they most value. These findings are only preliminary in nature. However, it may be concluded that a larger scale, randomized survey, inclusive of culturally diverse samples throughout the entire United States, may provide valuable information on the quality of dental hygiene care, and perhaps yield evidence of treatment gaps.