Date of Award

Spring 2015

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Dental Hygiene

Program/Concentration

Dental Hygiene

Committee Director

Gayle McCombs

Committee Member

Lynn Tolle

Committee Member

Aaron Arndt

Call Number for Print

Special Collections LD4331.D46 C69 2015

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine if the presence of visible tattoos could hinder employment for dental hygienists. Methods: 1,800 electronic surveys were distributed to licensed dentists in the state of Virginia. Surveys were arbitrarily assigned according to subject's birth month. Participants were shown a photograph of a dental hygienist with one of the three conditions: 1) no tattoo, 2) small tattoo, or 3) large "sleeve" tattoo. Respondents were asked to score the image based on five categories: ethical, responsible, competent, hygienic and professional, using a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Employability was scored based on how well the clinician "fit" the image of their practice, the receptiveness of their patients, and the likelihood of employment. Results: A response rate of 14% (n=226) was attained; 183 (11%) of the respondents qualified and completed the survey. Eighty percent of the respondents were male and 76% were general dentists. The majority of the respondents (80%) indicated that tattoos should be covered in the workplace; 18% were indifferent; and 2% indicated that tattoos should not be covered. Data revealed the dental hygienist with the visible large sleeve tattoo ranked the lowest in all categories. Results from ANOVA and step-down tests suggest there was no statistically significant difference among the three tattoo conditions with regard to the image appearing ethical (F=0.266, p=0.767), responsible (F= 1.808, p=0.167) or competent (F=0.549, p=0.578). However, the image with the small and large visible tattoo was significantly lower than the image with no visible tattoos with regard to appearing hygienic (F=6.209, p

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DOI

10.25777/sb4n-at94

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