The Evolving Scope: Perspectives of Dental Students on Dental Hygienists' Expanding Roles in North Carolina.

Purpose: (1) To assess the knowledge and attitudes of dental (DDS) learners at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Adams School of Dentistry (UNC-CH ASOD) on the North Carolina (NC) dental hygiene (DH) scope of practice; (2) to evaluate intra-professional collaborative clinical experiences with DH learners; and (3) to investigate plans to utilize DHs with expanded functions in future practice.

Methods: Purposeful sampling was used to survey third-year (DDS3) and fourth-year (DDS4) dental learners at UNC-CH ASOD in February 2023. The survey collected demographic information, knowledge about the DH profession, experiences with DH learners in the clinical setting, and attitudes regarding expanded functions. Descriptive statistics, bivariate analysis, and inductive coding were used to analyze data.

Results: Survey participants (n = 75) included thirty-nine DDS3 and thiry-six DDS4 learners (41.4% response rate). The majority (67.6%, n = 50) of respondents reported having shared clinical experiences with DH learners, however, only 12.5% (n = 9) recognized working with DH learners with expanded functions. Learners reported favorable opinions on potential benefits of working with DHs with expanded functions in future practice related to willingness to hire (86.5%, n = 64) and willingness to utilize for scaling and root planing (91.9%, n = 68) or restorative procedures (78.4%, n = 58). Respondents expressed agreement that utilizing DHs with expanded functions would increase practice efficiency (91.9%, n = 68) and outputs (91.9%, n = 68).

Conclusion: Dental learners expressed limited knowledge and experience regarding DH expanded functions. DHs with expanded functions were perceived as generally positive additions to the dental team due to the potential increase in practice efficiency.