Dental hygiene in Australia: a global perspective.
OBJECTIVE
This article reports on the practice of dental hygiene in Australia from a global perspective. The aim is to examine how access to qualified dental hygiene care could be improved and how current professional challenges might be met.


METHODS
Secondary source data were obtained from a survey questionnaire presented to members of the House of Delegates of the IFDH or by fax and e-mail to experts involved in the national professional and educational organization of dental hygiene in non-IFDH member countries. Responses were followed-up by interviews, e-mail correspondence, visits to international universities, and a review of supporting studies and reference literature.


RESULTS
The introduction of dental hygiene in Australia was inspired by the delivery of preventive care in Great Britain. Today dental hygiene is a paramedical profession, generally studied at institutions of higher education. Study duration is 2 (diploma and associate degree programmes) and 3 years (Bachelor of Oral Health Programs). A recent trend to combine dental therapy and dental hygiene education poses the challenge to maintain a stand-alone degree in dental hygiene as it is practiced worldwide. Low access to qualified dental hygiene care may be a result of insufficient funding for preventive services, social and cultural lack of awareness of the benefits of preventive care, and of limitations inherent in the legal constraints preventing unsupervised dental hygiene practice. These may be a result of gender politics affecting a female dominated profession and of a perception that dental hygiene is auxiliary to dental care. Changes are expected to reflect the global trend towards a decrease in supervision and towards higher education. An example of innovative practice of public health is the involvement of dental hygienists in the educational process of aboriginal health workers in order to promote access to oral health education for indigenous populations.
Luciak-Donsberger
C
C
Department of Periodontology, University of Vienna School of Dentistry, Vienna, Austria. donsberger@paro-wien.at
Aldenhoven
S
S
D001294:Attitude to Health; D001315:Australia; D003150:Community Health Workers / Q000193:education; D003726:Dental Assistants / Q000193:education; D003752:Dental Health Services; D003756:Dental Hygienists / Q000193:education / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D005378:Financial Support; D006267:Health Education, Dental; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D011287:Prejudice; D011313:Preventive Dentistry; D011364:Professional Practice / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D011636:Public Health Dentistry / Q000193:education; D013997:Time Factors