Date of Award

Spring 2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Dental Hygiene (MSDH)

Department

Dental Hygiene

Committee Director

Emily Ludwig

Committee Member

Jessica Suedbeck

Committee Member

Brenda Bradshaw

Abstract

Background: There is a perceived national dental hygiene shortage causing delays in receiving preventive treatment and potentially increasing oral disease risk. States are proposing alternative pathways to allow less-trained individuals to provide dental hygiene care to fill this perceived gap. There is no research to support whether such measures would mitigate the shortage issue. Purpose: Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of United States (U.S.) dentists and dental hygienists (DH) towards the implementation of new workforce shortage policies and contributing factors and solutions to the workforce shortage. Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study included a convenience sample of 6,810 U.S. dental professionals (3,373 DH; 3,437 dentists) and was determined exempt by a University Institutional Review Board (2399857-1). An anonymous survey link with the “Attitudes of United States Dentists and Dental Hygienists Toward Internationally Trained Dentists and OPAs” questionnaire was emailed to the sample with additional investigator-developed questions regarding causes and solutions to the shortage. Descriptive statistics were utilized to analyze response frequency. Results: Seventy-seven survey responses from U.S. dentists and DH were included the analyses. DH opposed OPAs (63.3%) and internationally trained dentists (44.9%) and related legislation whereas dentists showed support (OPAs: 32.1% strongly agree). DH identified burnout, high workload, and physical strain as the primary factor (69.4%), while dentists emphasized few dental hygiene programs (35.7% agree) and dismissed wages as a factor (11, 39.3% strongly disagree). For geographic regions, burnout was the highest-rated contributor among DH (Northeast M = 6.7, SD = 0.816; Midwest M = 6.8, SD = 0.441), while dentists emphasized too few dental hygiene programs (South M = 6.2, SD = 0.632). Conclusions: Results from this study suggest a divide between U.S. dentists and DH towards the implementation of new workforce shortage policies with DH showing concerns related to professional impact, patient safety, and the adequacy of training. The findings highlight a need for further research with an expanded sample size to determine the perceptions of dentists and DH towards the implementation of new workforce shortage policies as well as the contributing factors and viable solutions that maintain high standards of care.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

DOI

https://doi.org/10.25777/52kj-2q75

ISBN

9798197809292

Download

Share

COinS