Objectives: This study aims to understand the perceptions regarding preventive dental services among dental professionals.
Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with three groups of dental professionals―dentists, dental hygienists, and dental hygienists that specialized in preventive service―who were selected using a convenience sampling method.
Results: First, there was limited awareness among dentists regarding the need for preventive care, because of the treatment-oriented philosophy and scarcity of preventive care success models. Second, dental hygienists commented that there was a lack of the person in charge and systematic process for preventive services. It would not help when they decided to change working place even though they had high anxiety working for preventive care. However, both these professionals agreed that preventive treatment is important as the core of care and that it was important to develop various improvement methods to promote preventive services.
Conclusions: To activate preventive services in dental clinics, it is essential to improve the operating system and encourage dental professionals to realize the importance of preventive services.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to identify the association between oral examinations and out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditures on dental care by age groups.
Methods: The Korea Health Panel 2011-2018 data were used to aggregate eight-year outpatient data for 12,684 individuals who were household members that responded to the 2011 survey. The final study subjects included 5,305 individuals who have been retained in the panel with at least one OOP expenditure on dental care over eight years. The dependent and independent variables were the individual's average OOP dental care expenditures and oral examination, respectively. For age-stratification analysis, they were categorized into seven age groups: 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65-74, and 75+years. The difference in OOP expenditures on dental care by subject characteristics was analyzed using t-tests and ANOVA. Log-linear regression models were used to analyze the effect of oral examinations on OOP expenditures on dental care.
Results: Individuals who underwent an oral examination had an approximately 1.4% higher OOP expenditure on dental care than their counterparts (β=0.014, P =0.0072). Age-stratified analyses showed that among people in the 55-64 group those who underwent an oral examination had an approximately 2.3% higher OOP expenditure on dental care than non-examiners (β=0.023, P =0.0218).
Conclusions: There was no evidence that oral examination could lead to increased OOP expenditure on dental care, except among those aged 55-64.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to develop policy tasks and approaches for the integration of oral health care systems in South and North Korea on the basis of a literature research, and to verify their validity through a Delphi survey of an expert panel.
Methods: Twelve policy tasks and 11 approaches for South-North Korea integration were developed by a comparative model of oral health care systems. Two rounds of Delphi surveys were conducted via e-mail on May 20 and June 16, 2020, targeting 10 experts with experience in inter-Korean oral health care exchange and cooperation or related research. The mean, coefficient of variation (CV), and content validity ration (CVR) were calculated for each item. The validity of each item was judged based on the CVR.
Results: The five policy tasks that meet the consensus of experts are: the integration of dental college education, the integration of activity qualifications and supply/demand for general dentists, the integration of education and training for auxiliary dental personnel, the integration of activity qualifications and supply/demand for auxiliary dental personnel, and the integration of oral health care financing. The nine approaches of the consensus of experts are: sharing the philosophy, values, and strategies, guaranteeing geographic access for residents, standardized oral health care delivery, an integrated performance management system, an integrated computerized information system, an integrated governance structure, the installation and operation of an integrated organization, the re-education and re-qualification of active oral health care personnel, and integrated goals for oral health outcomes.
Conclusions: The expert panel showed a relatively high degree of agreement with policy tasks and approaches for the integration of the South-North Korea oral health care systems. It is necessary to develop more realistic contents based on more reliable North Korean data in the future.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify whether stress experienced by those working in the local civil service was related to their oral health during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: A survey was conducted on 431 civil servants from eight districts, currently working in the Daegu City Hall had COVID-19 related work duties during the pandemic.
Results: Several factors associated with oral health related quality of life were explored. Demographic details revealed that men had significantly better oral health related life quality as compared to women; further, being younger, being unmarried, and having a lower position had better outcomes for oral health related quality of life. Regarding the relationship between oral health behavior and oral health related quality of life, it was found that the better the subjective oral health, the higher the rate of not visiting the dentist in the past year. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a particularly important time to explore in order to understand how the stress experienced by local government officials is related to their oral health. It has been especially noted that the higher the work stress, the worse the oral health related quality of life amongst individuals.
Conclusions: Results of this study emphasize that at a time when fatigue among civil servants is increasing due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, oral conditions caused by stress should be identified and greater awareness should be created about oral health care.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of the high-risk group for dental caries among 12- and 15-year-old children in Laos.
Methods: Oral health survey was conducted on 12-year-old (N=537) and 15-year-old (N=490) children in Laos. The oral examination data were listed from highest to highest based on the permanent caries experience index. Then the caries experience permanent index of the participants corresponding to the top third was calculated. In the final high-risk group, 179 and 163 children aged 12 and 15 years, respectively, were analyzed for the Significant Caries (SiC) Index.
Results: The Decayed, Missing and Filled Teeth (DMFT) index of 12-year-old children in Laos was 1.59 (urban area 1.72, rural area 1.46), and the SiC index of the high-risk group for dental caries was 3.93 (urban area 4.01, rural area 3.85). DMFT index of the 15-year-old group was 2.04 (2.37 in urban areas, 1.74 in rural areas), and the SiC index of the high-risk group for dental caries was 5.17 (5.90 in urban areas, 4.49 in rural areas).
Conclusions: Children aged 12 and 15 in the high-risk group for dental caries in Laos showed a higher caries experience permanence index than the overall average in the high-risk group. Based on the outcome of the investigation that the high-risk group had a lot of experience with dental caries, it is thought that the priority dental caries prevention project for the high-risk group of dental caries should be carried out.

Objectives: This study aims to examine the factors affecting resilience in dental hygiene students.
Methods: The participants were 200 dental hygiene students. Data were collected from June 1 to August 30, 2021 and analyzed using t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and multiple regression by using PASW Statistics 26.0.
Results: Subjects' mean scores of resilience, self-esteem, social support, and emotional intelligence were 2.99, 3.61, 3.78, and 3.25, respectively. There were significant differences in the level of resilience among credit, stress relief methods, subject health status, satisfaction of major, and aptitude for dental hygiene (P<0.05). The resilience showed a significant relationship with self-esteem (r=0.673), social support (r=0.673), and emotional intelligence (r=.804). The results of the multiple regression analysis showed that self-esteem was the highest impact predictor for resilience which explained 57.4% of the total variance (F=68.021, P<0.001).
Conclusions: The current findings indicate that self-esteem and social support are related with resilience in dental hygiene students. Therefore, intervention strategies should be developed for improving the resilience of dental hygiene students.