Dental hygiene students are different types. A study of first year students.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) was used to understand personality preferences of a sample of first year students over a 3 year period (1985, 1986, 1987) at the University of Manitoba School of Dental Hygiene. The MBTI yields four preference scores - extraversion/introversion (E-I), sensing/intuition (S-N), thinking/feeling (T-F), and judging/perception (J-P). Combinations of these four preferences yield 16 different personality types. Results indicated that the highest ranked types were ISFJ (23.6%) and ESFJ (18.1%). Temperament type results indicated that the SJ type (51.4%) was predominant. Educational implications of type differences for dental hygiene educators are suggested.