TY - JOUR T1 - Practice Trends of Dental Hygiene Students Completing Specialty Tracks JF - American Dental Hygienists Association JO - J Dent Hyg SP - 4 LP - 4 VL - 78 IS - 3 AU - Jennifer M Ledford AU - Rebecca S Wilder AU - Stacey R Chichester AU - Mary C George Y1 - 2004/06/01 UR - http://jdh.adha.org/content/78/3/4.abstract N2 - Purpose: The purpose of this research was to determine the practice trends of dental hygiene baccalaureate degree recipients who participated in a specialty track. Methods: A survey was developed, pilot tested, revised, and mailed to a sample of 265 dental hygienists who graduated from the baccalaureate degree dental hygiene program at University of North Carolina (UNC)-Chapel Hill School of Dentistry between 1987 and 1998. Analysis included descriptive statistics, a non-parametric analysis of variance for the ordinal-scaled responses, and a chi-square to compare nominal responses. Results: Survey responses along with telephone interviews yielded a response rate of 68% (n=181). Seventy percent of the respondents had been practicing dental hygiene for six or more years. Ninety-six percent had worked in general private dental practice, 29% in a periodontal dental practice, and 18% in a pediatric dental setting. The top three specialty tracks completed were hospital dentistry (24%), periodontology (20%), and pediatric dentistry (19%). Fifty-six percent of respondents would like to obtain a specialty track position if given the opportunity. Forty-four percent (n=16) of those who experienced the periodontal specialty track have worked in a periodontal setting, and 36% (n=12) of those who participated in the pediatric specialty track have worked in a pediatric office. Eighty-eight percent agreed or strongly agreed that the specialty track was an important part of their dental hygiene education. Conclusion: The results imply that the specialty track is a positive learning experience for students and should be continued. Data from this survey has implications to other dental hygiene programs offering or planning to offer specialty tracks. ER -