Acceptance of oral health promotion programmes by dental hygienists and dental nurses in public dental service

• Published in: International journal of dental hygiene Vol. 10; no. 1; pp. 46 - 53
• Main Authors: Arpalahti, I, Järvinen, M, Suni, J, Pienihäkkinen, K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.02.2012; Blackwell
• Subjects: Adult; Attitude of Health Personnel; attitude to work; Biological and medical sciences; Child; confidence to work; Counseling - methods; Dental Assistants - psychology; Dental Care for Children - methods; Dental Caries - prevention & control; Dental health; dental hygiene counselling; Dental Hygienists - psychology; Epidemiology. Vaccinations; Facial bones, jaws, teeth, parodontium: diseases, semeiology; General aspects; Health promotion; Health Promotion - methods; Humans; Infectious diseases; Job Satisfaction; Medical personnel; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Models, Theoretical; motivation to work; Non tumoral diseases; Nurses; Oral Health; oral health promotion; Oral hygiene; Otorhinolaryngology. Stomatology; Patient Education as Topic - methods; Professional Practice; Program Evaluation; Public health; Public Health Dentistry - methods; transtheoretical model; Acceptance; Stomatology; Attitude; Dental disease; Health care staff; motivation to work; Dentistry; transtheoretical model; confidence to work; Oral cavity; Motivation; Bucco-dental health; Tooth; dental hygiene counselling; Hygiene; oral health promotion; Nurse; attitude to work
• ISSN: 1601-5029; 1601-5037; 1601-5037
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1601-5037.2011.00517.x

To cite this article: 
 Int J Dent Hygiene 10, 2012; 46–53 
DOI: 10.1111/j.1601‐5037.2011.00517.x 
Arpalahti I, Järvinen M, Suni J, Pienihäkkinen K. Acceptance of oral health promotion programmes by dental hygienists and dental nurses in public dental service. : Objectives:  The aim of this study was to analyse how dental hygienists and in‐service trained dental nurses accepted new health promotion programmes, how did they experience them in practice, and how did these programmes affect their attitudes to work. Methods:  The subjects were all the dental hygienists and in‐service trained dental nurses (n = 28) involved in health promotion of small children. Education and written instructions on two new programmes had been given to the professionals in two areas of Vantaa and those in the third area used the routine programme. The transtheoretical model (TTM) was selected as the theoretical framework for counselling. A structured questionnaire of 31–35 items was sent to all subjects. Independent samples Mann–Whitney U and Fisher’s exact tests were used as statistical methods. Results:  The response rate was 89%. All respondents felt that the work they had carried out had always been important during their working career. Twenty‐one of 25 respondents reported that the instructions and education were suitable for oral health promotion. The respondents within the new programmes felt they had advanced more as health professionals (P = 0.020) and acquired more confidence from the education (P = 0.018) compared with the routine programme. Conclusions:  The new programmes for small children were well accepted by the dental hygienists and the in‐service trained dental nurses, and the majority of them gained some new practices for their work.