Dentists' and Dental Assistants' Perceptions of the New Profession of Dental Hygienist in France

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction The profession of dental hygienists was created in 1913. However, it does not exist yet in France. Currently, an initiative has begun with creating a high‐level professional upgrading of dental assistants into Oral Prophylaxis Assistant, similar to dental hygienists. Methods In order to determine the limits and levers influencing this new qualification and its interests in paediatric dentistry, a mixed methods study (surveys and semi‐structured interviews) was conducted. Results and Discussion 119 dental assistants and 34 dentists responded to the survey. Among these, 7 dental assistants and 6 dentists were contacted for telephone interviews. 95% of the dental assistants and 70.6% of the dentists agreed with the creation of dental hygienists in France. 97.5% of the dental assistants and 85.3% of the dentists think that dental assistants could play a bigger role in oral health. 90.8% of the dental assistants want to qualify as Assistants in Oral Medicine. Conclusion The principal interest is delegation of preventive tasks to the Oral Prophylaxis Assistant. This delegation could free up the dentist's time which could increase the oral health care accessibility. The main difficulties are, on the one hand, the training modalities, which imply new organization in dental offices. On the other hand, the salary status of Oral Prophylaxis Assistant is problematic for some dental assistants.