Office profile

A national study was conducted by the American Dental Hygienists' Association (ADHA) in 1986, to examine several variables related to dental hygiene practice. Questionnaires were sent to both ADHA members and nonmembers with a response rate of 49.6%. The 4,013 hygienists who responded to this survey answered 80 questions, six of which related to office profile and are reported in this paper. The responses concerning state of practice, community size, practice setting, number of office personnel, number of hours worked, and age characteristics of patients are included. Results indicate that most hygienists work primarily in traditional dental practices, live in metropolitan areas, and are most likely to treat a majority of patients between the ages of 19 and 44. Seventy-one percent of the hygienists work 20 hours or more per week and the mean number of hours worked per week is 32. This indicates that most dental hygiene practitioners work full-time.