(1) Dental hygienist system of Korea

• ① Method of acquisition of license

  According to the Law on medical technicians, etc., one must acquire license issued by the Minister of Health & Welfare after having passed the national qualification examination for medical technician, etc. in order to become a dental hygienist in Korea. However, it is limited to those who have graduated from a college and/or university with major in the areas that correspond to the license they wish to acquire.
  Currently, there are 82 schools that offer education on dental hygiene throughout the country (as of Feb. 5, 2016) and approximately 80% of students who graduate from such school with major in dental hygiene successfully acquire license by passing the national qualification examination.

  • Law on medical technicians

    Article 4 (License) ① To become a medical technician, etc., one must correspond to any one of the following and acquire license issued by the Minister of Health & Welfare after having passed the national qualification examination as a medical technician, etc. (hereinafter, referred to as the "national examination").

    • 1. Those who have graduated from university, college or industrial college with the major in the area of public health and medical services that corresponds to the license they wish to acquire.

• ② Employment outlook

  The total number of dental clinics and hospitals throughout the country is 16,645 as of the 2nd quarter of 2015 while the number of the licensed dental hygienists in 2016 is 66,741. The number of dental hygienists currently working at dental clinics and hospitals is 28,134.
  There is a trend of broadening of the career of the dental hygienists not only in the area of dental clinics and hospitals but also into the areas of public health clinics, general hospitals and manufacturer of medical equipment and materials, etc., making the outlook for employment in the future very bright.