Dentists' and Dental Assistants' Perceptions of the New Profession of Dental Hygienist in France
Abstract
Introduction The profession of dental hygienists was created in 1913. However, it does not exist yet in France. Currently, an initiative has begun with creating a high‐level professional upgrading of dental assistants into Oral Prophylaxis Assistant, similar to dental hygienists. Methods In order to determine the limits and levers influencing this new qualification and its interests in paediatric dentistry, a mixed methods study (surveys and semi‐structured interviews) was conducted. Results and Discussion 119 dental assistants and 34 dentists responded to the survey. Among these, 7 dental assistants and 6 dentists were contacted for telephone interviews. 95% of the dental assistants and 70.6% of the dentists agreed with the creation of dental hygienists in France. 97.5% of the dental assistants and 85.3% of the dentists think that dental assistants could play a bigger role in oral health. 90.8% of the dental assistants want to qualify as Assistants in Oral Medicine. Conclusion The principal interest is delegation of preventive tasks to the Oral Prophylaxis Assistant. This delegation could free up the dentist's time which could increase the oral health care accessibility. The main difficulties are, on the one hand, the training modalities, which imply new organization in dental offices. On the other hand, the salary status of Oral Prophylaxis Assistant is problematic for some dental assistants.
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BibTeX
@article{craquelin2026dentists,
title = {{Dentists' and Dental Assistants' Perceptions of the New Profession of Dental Hygienist in France}},
author = {Marie Craquelin and Thomas Quennesson and Thomas Trentesaux and Thomas Marquillier},
journal = {International Journal of Dental Hygiene},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1111/idh.70177},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05805524v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Dentists' and Dental Assistants' Perceptions of the New Profession of Dental Hygienist in France
AU - Marie Craquelin
AU - Thomas Quennesson
AU - Thomas Trentesaux
AU - Thomas Marquillier
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/17
JO - International Journal of Dental Hygiene
DO - 10.1111/idh.70177
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05805524v1
AB - Introduction The profession of dental hygienists was created in 1913. However, it does not exist yet in France. Currently, an initiative has begun with creating a high‐level professional upgrading of dental assistants into Oral Prophylaxis Assistant, similar to dental hygienists. Methods In order to determine the limits and levers influencing this new qualification and its interests in paediatric dentistry, a mixed methods study (surveys and semi‐structured interviews) was conducted. Results and Discussion 119 dental assistants and 34 dentists responded to the survey. Among these, 7 dental assistants and 6 dentists were contacted for telephone interviews. 95% of the dental assistants and 70.6% of the dentists agreed with the creation of dental hygienists in France. 97.5% of the dental assistants and 85.3% of the dentists think that dental assistants could play a bigger role in oral health. 90.8% of the dental assistants want to qualify as Assistants in Oral Medicine. Conclusion The principal interest is delegation of preventive tasks to the Oral Prophylaxis Assistant. This delegation could free up the dentist's time which could increase the oral health care accessibility. The main difficulties are, on the one hand, the training modalities, which imply new organization in dental offices. On the other hand, the salary status of Oral Prophylaxis Assistant is problematic for some dental assistants.
SN - 1601-5029
SN - 1601-5037
ER -