Factors of patient satisfaction/dissatisfaction in a dental faculty outpatient clinic in Turkey

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Abstract
– Objectives: Being service providers, dental professionals should satisfy their consumers/dental patients. This study investigates satisfaction with dental care among the patients of a dental faculty outpatient clinic of a major university in İzmir, Turkey. Method: The study was performed on 1001 patients of whom 674 filled out the questionnaire containing sociodemographic items and open‐ended questions to determine the factors of (dis)satisfaction. The open‐ended questions were content analyzed, and each patient was scored according to his comments: “complaining: (0)”, “both praising and complaining: (1)”, “no comment: (2)”, and “praising: (3)”. Each factor that has an impact on the decision of the study sample was determined by statistical analyses of data, using student t‐test, chi‐square test, and multiple regression analysis. Results: Most of the patients were highly educated (74.7%), had a high income (48.7%), and were young to middle‐aged (73.1%). There was a well‐balanced gender representation. The patient sample had sought care mostly for dental caries, periodontal diseases, problems with old restorations, and prosthetic rehabilitation. Of 1001 patients, 38.6% were satisfied with the dental care they received, 23.8% were both satisfied and dissatisfied, 5% were dissatisfied, and 32.7% failed to comment. No significant differences were observed between the satisfaction/dissatisfaction scores and sociodemographic variables of the patients in the groups (P>0.05). The most important components of satisfaction were found to be “relationship between dentists and patients” (PPPPPPConclusions: Despite the significant variations among the cultural and ethnic structures of different societies, personal interactions have priority in establishing satisfying dental service.

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