Browsing by Author "Itäluoto, Jussi"

The language of medicine and dentistry has changed from medical Latin towards the use of English terminology. English is considered the global lingua franca and the contemporary international language used in dentistry. The growing globalization and immigration have constantly increased the number of patient encounters where Finnish dentists use English. The aim of this study was to find out Finnish dentists’ attitudes towards the use of English as professional lingua franca. There are only few studies done on the topic to date and a research gap to be filled. The research was carried out as a survey. The survey was conducted using a questionnaire of 26 items as an instrument of data collection. The target group consisted of university dental students completing their final two years of study, university teachers and professors of dentistry, and professional dentists who work in the City of Helsinki public health care. The number of respondents was 146, and the total response rate was 35.43 percent. The results show that Finnish dentists’ and dental students’ attitudes towards English are positive. This result was also proven to be statistically significant. The biggest problem that dentists reported to have with English was with professional writing in English. Of the background factors studied, higher age, higher number of languages used at work, and higher number of years of English studied or lived in an English-speaking country correlated with a more positive attitude towards English as professional lingua franca. Most respondents like to use English professionally, and many of them would like to have more training in dental English use. The survey was directed to dentists only, but the results support the need to study other oral health professionals as well. The current situation of dental language guidelines is quite unclear and requires improvement. In brief, further research is required.