Methods: We performed a survey research on licensed Japanese dental hygienists. The self-administered questionnaire was mailed to a sample of 3,095 dental hygienists through the four alumni associations of the dental hygienist schools. A response rate was 50.4% (N=1,477).
Results: A rate of currently practicing dental hygienists was 60.3%, and 39.7% was not practicing. 31.9% of those who was not practicing stated intentions of returning to the work place if circumstances change. The top three major barriers for re-entry were the lack of necessary skills, the need to care for family members, and poor working atmosphere. On the other hand, only 12.0% of inactive hygienists with hope to re-entry belonged to the Japan Dental Hygienists’ Association, and 41.3% of those had experiences to attend the training workshops.
Conclusions: There are not many dental hygienists hoping to return to the dental field. Most of them faced to the several barriers to carry on working. These findings suggested that strategies to encourage non-practicing dental hygienists to re-entry should be emphasized in flexible working atmosphere, in easy access to information on how to return to practice, and in guidance on how to maintain professionalism during inactivity.