2023, Vol.23, No.1

Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 0.8

pISSN : 2287-1705 / eISSN : 2288-2294
https://journal.kci.go.kr/jksdh

Objectives: This study analyzed a total of 30 domestic research trends related to dental infection control from 2013 to 2022. Methods: Two researchers analyzed the research question, “What are the research trends on infection control in dental hygiene at dental clinics and dental hygiene education institutions?” The selected literature was classified according to the research subject and the purpose of the study. Results: The study sample comprised 63% dental hygienists, 30% dental hygiene students, and 7% dental workers. The research topics on dental infection control were classified into knowledge, awareness, practice, infection control education, clinic environment, and infection control personnel. The largest proportion of research on dental infection control were about awareness and practice of infection control (69%). Clinic environment, knowledge, infection control education, and infection control personnel appeared in order. Conclusions: It is believed that this can be used as a reference material to present the direction of research design for researchers studying in infection control in the field of dental hygiene in the future.

Objectives: This case study was conducted to assess the changes in the oral health status of older individuals with hearing and visual impairments through home oral health care based on community care. Methods: The participants were two older adults with hearing and visual impairments. Through home visits, an oral health intervention program, including oral hygiene care and training on strengthening of oral function, was conducted once a week for 5 months. Dental hygienists performed special oral health interventions such as dental plaque control through individual tooth brushing and interdental care, training on strengthening of intraoral and extraoral muscle function, and denture care for the individuals with visual-hearing impairments. Results: The overall periodontal health status and oral muscle function improved in older adults with hearing and visual impairments. In the case of the visually impaired individuals, changes in the oral health status were oral mucosal moisture (30.1 and 37.2 points before and after intervention, respectively), salivary secretion (3.5 and 4.0 cm before and after intervention, respectively), and maximum tongue pressure (20.5 and 26.2 kPa before and after intervention, respectively). Changes in the oral health status of the hearing impaired individuals increased from 28.3 points before the intervention to 38.4 points after the intervention, and the maximum tongue pressure increased from 1.85 kPa to 23.5 kPa after the intervention. Conclusions: Oral health intervention activities contributed to improving the periodontal health and oral function of older adults with hearing and visual impairments. To improve their overall and oral health, it is necessary to prepare measures to activate customized oral health intervention programs.

Objectives: This study performed a comparative evaluation of the effects of oil pulling on the periodontal health of smokers. Methods: The experimental (15 subjects) and control (15 subjects) were provided coconut oil and distilled water, respectively. We evaluated the pocket depth (≥4 mm), bleeding on exploration, and Patient Hygiene Performance (PHP) index in both groups following the interventions. Clinical parameters were assessed at baseline, after 4 weeks, and after 8 weeks. Dry mouth and oral health-related quality of life were evaluated at baseline and after 8 weeks. Results: Bleeding on exploring in the control group decreased from 26.17 to 18.33 and from 26.07 to 12.53 in the experimental group (p=0.030), with significant differences in measurement time (p<0.001), and the interaction between group and measurement time (p=0.002). The PHP index in the control group decreased from 24.50 to 16.17 and from 24.00 to 9.83 in the experimental group (p=0.027), with significant differences in measurement time (p<0.001), and the interaction between group and measurement time (p=0.001). Furthermore, the experimental group showed a significant decrease in dry mouth (p<0.001) and a significant increase in oral health-related quality of life (p=0.025). Conclusions: The coconut oil intervention positively affected the periodontal health of smokers.