title: Attitudes of Dental Hygienists towards Independent Practice and Professional Autonomy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this cross-sectional, quantitative research was to examine if registered dental hygienists feel competent to work independently based on regulations of dental supervision.
  
  
  METHODS
  A stratified sample of 360 dental hygienists from 8 states completed the Dempster Practice Behaviors Scale survey. ANOVA and MANOVA analyses revealed how state dentist supervision level, age, degree of education, employment status, gender and years of clinical experience affect the perceived autonomy of professional dental hygienists.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The response rate included 360 dental hygienists from 8 states. According to the findings age, education level and gender affected the hygienist's level of autonomy. In all 8 states, the registered dental hygienists have a high level of autonomy and feel competent to work independently.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The DPBS scores of the sample registered dental hygienists suggest that they feel prepared and competent to perform preventive dental hygiene services without dentist supervision. The attitudes of the dental hygienist sample from each of the 4 state dentist supervision levels supports a move toward achieving professional jurisdiction of preventive dental care within the U.S.
authors.forename: April
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Catlett
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003756:Dental Hygienists / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000523:psychology; D003815:Dentists; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007193:Independent Practice Associations; D008875:Middle Aged; D011215:Practice Management, Dental; D017009:Professional Autonomy; D011364:Professional Practice / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: access to dental care; autonomy; dental hygiene; independent practice; supervision level