Background: This study identified and analyzed the effect of critical thinking disposition on ethical values for dental hygiene students who will become prospective dental hygienists. In the future, we intend to provide basic data that can be helpful ...
Background: This study identified and analyzed the effect of critical thinking disposition on ethical values for dental hygiene students who will become prospective dental hygienists. In the future, we intend to provide basic data that can be helpful in preparing a way to establish ethical values that can be approached in the dental hygiene ethics education curriculum.
Methods: The subjects of this study were 154 students in the 3rd and 4th grades from May 11th to May 25th, 2021, enrolled in the dental hygiene departments of two universities, extracted from universities in Gyeonggi-do. A survey was conducted using a selfreported Google questionnaire.
Results: The effects of critical thinking appeared as a factor of influence on ethical values, and it was statistically significant, and the subdomains of the effects of critical thinking were intellectual integration (p<0.05) and prudence (p<0.01), this was consistent with the results of correlation.
Conclusion: Ethical values are a necessary competency for dental hygienists, and it is necessary to develop a curriculum and teaching strategy that can strengthen dental hygiene ethics education and improve the effects of critical thinking.