Associations of Insurance-Related Perceptions and Practice Factors with Job Satisfaction among Dental Hygienists in South Korea: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: In this study, we investigated the associations between dental insurance-related perceptions, clinical practice factors, and job satisfaction among Korean dental hygienists, under the evolving landscape of National Health Insurance coverage and private dental insurance.Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 250 dental hygienists working in dental institutions in South Korea.Based on Andersen's behavioral model, the independent variables were classified into predisposing, enabling, and need factors.Job satisfaction items were developed with reference to the conceptual domains of the Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14) rather than through direct application of the original OHIP-14 instrument.Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, one-way analysis of variance with Duncan's post-hoc test, Pearson's correlation analysis, and hierarchical regression analysis using IBM SPSS Windows 28.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA).Results: Insurance-related factors were positively associated with job satisfaction.In the final hierarchical regression model, organizational support showed the strongest association with job satisfaction.Insurance education and perceived insurance expertise were also significantly associated with job satisfaction.Working in a general or tertiary hospital was negatively associated with job satisfaction compared to working in a dental clinic.Practical competency and perceived practice burden were not significant in the final model.Conclusion: Organizational support, insurance education, and perceived insurance expertise were significantly associated with job satisfaction, whereas practical competency and perceived practice burden were not significant in the final model.These findings suggest that dental institutions should provide standardized insurance guidelines, regular case-based insurance education, and structured organizational support to improve job satisfaction among dental hygienists.