Objective: To describe the working practices and level of job satisfaction of dental hygienists in the United Kingdom.
Design: Postal questionnaire survey of 3,955 dental hygienists registered with the General Dental Council. Replies were received from 2,533 (64%).
Results: At the time of the survey only a small proportion of respondents (11%) were not working as dental hygienists, the most common reason for a current career break being child rearing. The majority of dental hygienists (78%) were employed in general dental practices, and most worked in more than one practice (64%). Approximately half worked part-time (fewer than 30 hours per week), and part-time working was more common amongst those respondents with childcare responsibilities. In the region of 60% of respondents had taken one or more career breaks during their working life, and the average total duration of career breaks was 11 months, the most common reason for all career breaks was child rearing. Additional qualifications had been gained by 35% of the sample, a high proportion (75%) had attended training courses in the previous year. The respondents expressed a high degree of job satisfaction, those who were older and who had childcare responsibilities expressed higher levels of job satisfaction.
Conclusions: Dental hygienists express a high level of job satisfaction. A proportion take breaks in their career, most commonly for pregnancy and child rearing. The majority return to part-time employment after their career break. Planning of future requirements for the training of professionals complementary to dentistry should be informed by a consideration of the working patterns of dental hygienists.