[Consumers view of treatment by dental hygienists in private practice]

Questionnaires were sent to 22 dental practitioners. Each dentist was sent two types of questionnaires, one to be completed by the hygienist and the other one by the patients. The sampling was done by selecting at random approximately every sixth clinic employing a dental hygienist. Of 1100 questionnaires 710 were completed and returned. The investigation illustrates the patients opinion on different aspects of the dental hygienist's technical and social skills and of the cost of care. There was an overwhelming consumer satisfaction regarding the quality, as well as the cost, of dental care performed by a hygienist. Therefore, a broad use of well qualified dental hygienists as an auxilliary to a dentist is one way to lower the cost of dental health care in the future.