Dutch Dental Hygienists and Their Daily Scope of Practice-A Survey Study

The Dutch government has expanded the status and scope of practice of bachelor's degree dental hygienists (DHs) compared to those with a diploma. The aim of this study is to investigate differences in the daily scope of practice of diploma and bachelor's degree DHs.

A web-based survey was emailed to all 2972 members of the Dutch Association of Dental Hygienists and distributed via social media platforms. The survey had sections on participants' demographics, educational qualifications, work environment, and scope of practice. Absolute and relative frequencies for each question were reported and statistically compared between groups.

In total, 473 DHs completed the survey, 288 in the 'Diploma' and 185 in the 'Bachelor' group. Altogether, Dutch DHs work on average 29 h per week; those with a bachelor's degree work significantly (p < 0.001) more hours. Bachelor DHs work significantly (p < 0.001) more often as paid employees in a general dental practice, a practice dedicated to periodontology, in the educational and research setting. Diploma DHs work significantly (p < 0.001) more often in their own private DH practice. Bachelor DHs are significantly more likely to perform the following activities: administer local anaesthesia, take intra-oral radiographs, and treat primary caries compared to Diploma DHs (p < 0.001).

The overall majority in both groups does not treat caries (81.3%) but does administer local anaesthesia (85.1%). Bachelor DHs are more frequently engaged in three tasks in the extended scope of practice and are more likely to work in a team setting.